Avium

I need to start this off by letting you know that this isn’t my story to tell

And from this point on the words I speak are from the mouth of somebody else

It was pineapple of the Friday nights spent in the living room in

Of the house I grew up in

But I could tell with every call on my mother’s phone

That something was different

And then she told me what happened

They had to break into

The door through her living room

‘Cause she lived alone

When she had the stroke

And she had been on the hardwood floor for days

Before anybody got through the door and

She had just turned 75

Which is still too young to have to fight for life

And before long, before the stroke

There was no sign

That this was the way that it would go

Although her body was aging

Her heart was younger than most of the family’s

That’s why this was such a surprise

But we know who wins the fight between body and mind

I thought, “this can’t be possible”

On the way to the hospital

‘Cause if I had known that she had a stroke

Maybe I could’ve called and stopped it all

I could’ve come by, and said hello

Instead I had no clue

Of the things she was going through

And as I sat at home

She tried to grab the phone

But her body couldn’t handle the way

She picked herself up

But then her legs were shaking

She pulled the phone cord

Clean out of the wall

As I sat beside the hospital bed

And I wondered all the things

That went through your head

Cold and alone

With the screen door open

And no salvation in sight

And for four days

You fought through the night

As everybody carried on

With their lives

The neighbours were outside

And the mailman came to the door

But with valient attempts to create noise

You were failed by your weak voice

And where was I

As the sun rose and sun set

If there ever was a time

That you needed God

It was then

And I can’t

Begin to imagine

The hopelessness

Turn on the light

Turn on the light

Don’t give up the fight

Give up the fight

Turn on the light

Turn on the light

This can’t be right

This can’t be right