If I Had Known

IF I HAD KNOWN If I had known what I know now Could turn back time, erase somehow My world would have a different view Not black and white, some color, hue If I had known. If I had known it's not the end When lover leaves you for a friend. There's no safe place for you to hide, And life's a broken theme park ride. If I had known. If I had known that given time You can begin to heal, to climb Up from the mire of deep despair And find new life, and love, and care. If I had known. If I had known this tree could bloom One thousand years, but for the doom That left a noose's subtle stain And family filled with endless pain. If I had known. If I had known this broken soul Had any chance of being whole. But 16-year-old hearts are sure: There was no future and no cure. If I had known. Instead I took my final stroll Alone and crying, death my goal And dangling lifeless from a tree Never another day to see. If I had known. If I had known out there somewhere Were people trained in such despair. There is no shame in fighting on Though pain returns most every dawn. If I had known. Now YOU know. Please call the Suicide Hotline in the U.S. at: 800-273-8255 if you are considering harming yourself.