Inspire

December 5, 2013

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.

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. 

I still remember memorizing Invictus.

I also remember posting this on June 10, 2010

We went to Nelson Mandela Square this morning after we picked up our game tickets.. . . .As I was looking for fans worth photographing, I spotted an ancient woman wearing a tall yellow and green hat, being led through the crowd by a young woman and man. I stopped to let them pass in front of me and saw that she was blind, crying, and smiling. Her young friend/relative explained that she had waited for years to come and touch the 20 foot statue of Nelson Mandela. She was 86 years old and had lived a very hard life under apartheid. Now she was gripped by the World Cup and ready to follow every match on the radio.

And this on June 29, 2010