Invictus

Invictus
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.

William Ernest Henley

I'm not sure what took me so long to ever read this poem. Maybe I have but the meaning wasn't probably the same for me back then or maybe I just didn't read it loud enough. You see, this poem serves great meaning to me today. Why? Because I am in a bit of a pickle. My degree is being tested every Thursday when I sit in the back of classrooms at Mineola H.S. The battle with myself is constantly at the highest peak of war and i ( the doubtful side) is winning against I.

I wish I could say that I have not "winced nor cried aloud" but indeed, i have. You will not find me unafraid, the truth is that i am. I fight everyday just like everyone else who fights every day. We fight because of who we are, because of what we look like, how we smell, what we wear, how we speak...everyone is fighting. Sometimes though,i believe we are mainly fighting ourselves for letting our souls become victims.

The word invisible usually has a negative connotation but right now, to me it means that my soul is so unconquerable that you just can't see it.

You can't see it because I am the captain of my being.