[Verse 1] How good it is to meet the dark And feel no bargain in my blood, No prayer for mercy on my lips, No wish to turn from what I stood for. The night may close around my name, The walls may learn my final breath, But there are things they cannot take — I do not bow before my death. [Verse 2] I carried silence like a stone, I wore the winter like a coat, And every road they closed to me Became a road inside my soul. They searched my hands, they searched my words, They counted every step I made, But never found the hidden place Where freedom lived without their aid. [Chorus] I do not fear the final door, I do not ask the night for more. Let judgment come, let silence fall — I have not betrayed myself at all. And if my voice is buried deep, The earth will know the words I keep. Beyond the wire, beyond the stone, My heart still knows the way back home. [Verse 3] There is a country in my chest, A field beneath a burning sky, A road that disappears in snow, A name I whisper when I rise. I see the faces left behind, The quiet windows, evening rain, And every mile that keeps us far Only makes the homeland speak again. [Verse 4] Do not remember me as grief, Do not make sorrow of my name. I chose the difficult straight road And walked it knowing what it claimed. A man may lose his room, his books, His sleep, his years, his place, his breath — But if he keeps his inner truth, He has already conquered death. [Bridge] No monument. No crown. No kneeling crowd. Just let me stand Where I once stood — Unbent, Unbought, Unbowed. And somewhere far beyond these walls Let morning touch the Ukrainian ground. [Final Chorus] I do not fear the final door, There is no chain that reaches more Than flesh, than bone, than passing years — It cannot reach what perseveres. And if my voice is buried deep, The earth will know the vow I keep. Beyond the wire, beyond the stone, My heart has never left its home. [Outro] Let darkness come. I know its name. Let silence come. I stay the same. And when the earth receives my breath, I will not bow. I do not fear death.
