At the Helm
At the beginning of every week, I
outline ideas for possible posts. If the muse manifests, however, I might
venture a different direction…and save my outline for another
week. This week went upside down on me as I faced more obligations than I had time. So when I looked at my outline last
night and saw my notation Read a poem and memorize a line, I
was ready to do something else. But synchronicity promenaded herself
before I could hatch a new thought, and I was compelled to google a
poem I had recently heard about but never read. Oh, how I LOVE these
inspired moments…the soul gives you marching orders…and you comply
willingly and openly! Invictus by William Ernest Henley is short, but its message universal, breath-taking, and ever-so timely. I was left wondering, "How have I not read this poem before?"…because the last 2 lines I will now carry with me forever:
I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.
Find time this weekend to
peruse the poetry section of your local bookstore…or…become
reacquainted with a long forgotten poem…or…ask someone if they have a
personal favorite. If all else fails, look up Maya Angelou or Robert
Frost or Shel Silverstein. When you have a poem that holds your breath,
find the line that resonates the strongest, commit it to memory, and believe it to be a talisman in your pocket…words, as you know, can render magical
results!
INVICTUS by William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
