The speaker starts by agreeing with a familiar piece of advice: don't promise what you can't keep, because broken promises hurt people. Then the poem turns. The speaker decides to make a promise anyway, this time to themselves, even though they admit they have no idea whether they can keep it.
What the promise is for becomes clear in the middle. It is "a symbol of hope," something to aim at in order to "survive" and "keep myself alive." That wording suggests the speaker is going through a dark stretch. The promise itself is simple: to get better, to become the person they want to be, to understand the world more, and to see their home and life improve.
The mood is quiet, honest, and a little fragile. The plain language and the doubt feel real rather than polished. The final lines repeat the opening worry, then end on "Yet I promise," which feels like a small act of courage.