Shadowed by the light that blinds me,
Purple aura glows from head to toe,
I rue this Infinity
For my limited role.
In the whirlwinds of change
I face the gale, often fail,
Hidden behind circumstance,
My body bruised, I break down-
Only to moor in the cove of Covetousness.
Sharing in the commonwealth of golden sunsets
Still, those ropes of regret, tangled and taut
Hold fast under threat.
Now I see, reflected in tranquility
Of calm waters-grandaughters-
Cutting this rope, intrepidly, victoriously
Is my only strand of Hope.
(This poem was inspired by the poem Invictus, written by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) which was one of my grandfathers favorite poems and was included in his memorial, the original poem & audio is linked and follows below)
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.
Image By Sidney Sime [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, The Ship of Yoharneth, (1911).
