You’re taught may things as you grow,
You’re taught right from wrong,
You’re taught how to walk and talk
You’re taught math and sent to school to put you on the path to greatness.
Still, you are lost.

You do not know the cost and you are just tossed into the world.
Blind, you are forced to decide, without time, the rest of your life.
What you choose may cause you to lose your hope, your faith, yourself.
Still, you choose.

Day in and day out you start to doubt,
But you cannot change, you bring home the pay,
Your daughter and son they rely on you, while you work your life away, slowly dying.
Still, you try.

Now they are grown, you tried your best to help them pass the test,
Keep them from your mistake, but still,  your choice was incorrect.
You have lost their respect.
They too were blind and by the time you tried, by the time you realized, it was too late.
Still, you decide.

You are weak and your knees creak,
Your speech is like gravel, your mind unravels.
You try to remember when you had stood tall, but all you can remember is how you have fallen.
How your decision has caused you to lose your hope, your faith, yourself.
Still, you die.

As you lie dying, you remember your trying,
Your failures remind you of how you didn’t live,
How you chose money and fortune, but all your life it was for nothing,
To watch time fly by but still you tried.
Still, you have died.

Now that you are gone, you will live on.
The strength you showed to your children,
They know how hard you fought, how strong you stood even when you didn’t think you could.
Still, you are remembered.

Your life is not a waste, all of us have our place.
Your daughter lived to be a teacher, your son became a preacher.
Although you felt ashamed your family remembers your name,
Your fame lives in them, you still tried, you didn’t lie, so even though you died
Still, you're alive.