A promise lasts as long as you are alive

Through many ways it can be spoken

One that through death and life will thrive

One that hurts its bearers when broken

One of adolescence, one of youth

Through many things for adolesence

A declaration to the loss of every tooth

An assurance of love despite imperfection

An oath tied by the curling of fingers

A guarantee for any childish thing

And as the touch of it lingers

And the fingers still cling

One of love, to many in your life

Friends, family, they will remain by your side

Through it all and despite all the strife

A declaration that they will remain, with no snide

An assurance tied through many different rings

An oath as the rings remain on fingers

An guarantee for this love, as could be anything

And as the ring lingers

The words will still cling

One of shame, of something possibly uncouth

Something that will remain with your name

A declaration to hide a truth

An assurance through pinning blame

An oath aided by the crossing of fingers

A guarantee for a shameful thing

And as the words linger

The guilt will still cling

One of grief, one of vengeance 

Or a selfish wish of another

A declaration of sentence 

An assurance from a widowed mother

An oath guided by the fists balled

In cloth or air, holding onto something

The love will still cling

One of hope, through the pain

As you swear through a declaration

That despite it all you will still remain

And not submit no matter the desperation 

A swearing of assurance

That you will one day hear the birds sing

To your neverending endurance

As the hope continues to cling

A promise is a beautiful, painful thing

And through it all it remains unable to bend

Time and time again it will ring

A promise is a thing that will cling even beyond the end.