So Long As There’s Breath (For Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer, Bishops and Martyrs)

So long as there’s breath –
And what breath have we that’s not His –
So long as we can stand and speak,
Though our faint tongues be silenced;

So long as we have light to give
(And we’ll light this day a candle);
So long as light is still alight;
So long as truth is still the truth;

So long as there is breath and then
Beyond the passing of our breath;
So long as life is still in us,
And longer, for He is our life;

So long as our two legs can stand;
So long as this wood holds us tall;
So long as flames can burn, we’ll burn
For He has said that He knows us;

So long as there is breath – O God,
My heart is faint beside their flame;
So long as there is grace, I too
May stand for that for which they stood.