Monica Rhodes - Keepers of Human Light (Raise a Glass)

I raise a glass to the brave in the line of the fire,
To the rescuers climbing the heart’s broken wire.
To the badge and the white coat, the aid in the rain,
I lift up my glass to the healers of pain.
No capes in the sky, just a hand held out wide,
For the heroes who walk with the truth on their side
So I’m lifting this glass in the hush of the room,
To the sirens that cut through the midnight gloom.
To the badge in the dust and the coat stained with grey,
To the ones trading peace just to buy us a day.
To the hands in the rain, to the hearts on the line,
Turning the water of fear into wine.
No gold on their shoulders, no stars in their eyes,
Just the quietest way that a soul stays alive
They hold up the sky when the clouds start to fall,
Standing like shadows against the tall wall.
While the world is asleep, they’re watching the gate,
Refusing to leave our lives to fate
A hand in the dark, a light in the cold,
A story of courage that’s seldomly told
So I raise my glass to the shadows of grace,
To the fire’s breath and the officer’s face.
To the healers in white and the hands that reach out,
A toast to the quiet who silence the doubt.
For every life saved in the dead of the night,
I drink to the keepers of human light
And the papers won’t print how you held that man’s hand,
In the wreckage of metal, in the shift of the sand.
They won’t see the way that your fingertips shook,
Or the weight of the life that you saved with a look.
You’re not a god, you’re a heart in a vest,
Put to the ultimate, terrifying test.
And while we’re all building our castles of glass,
You’re the only thing solid when the shadows all pass
We raised a toast to the heroes,
To the names in the dark,
To the ones who left shadows and a permanent mark.
But the champagne goes flat and the crowd slips away,
Leaving you with the ash and the ghost of the day.
You’re just a heart in a uniform, a soul in the rain,
Learning how to go home and outrun the pain.