INVICTUS

In the long ago days of my youth, the high school I attended in Buffalo N.Y. had assemblies every week and one of the highlights of that was group singing. All of those students assembled would join in various songs. I remember "The Bells of St. Marys " is one we sang with much gusto, but the one that has been a part of my being is a poem by Edgar Allen Poe that had been set to music. To help my readers better understand where I am going with this, I have to write it out although not in stanza form. Here goes:

"Out of the night that covers me, Black as a 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 or cried aloud, Under the bludgeoning of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed. It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishment the scroll, I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul".

That sounds a little heavy for a bunch of high school students but as I said, we made a lot of noise singing that. But to explain the reason I am writing this is, in a manner of speaking, that has been my mantra throughout my life. I know that sounds as though I am patronizing myself, but I, seriously, tried to keep my life in control at all times. I adopted that thinking when I was in the Navy and faced some difficult times. Remaining confident of my abilities, helped me to overcome some of those times. I always told myself that during the most trying of days, everything would work out for the best. No matter how dark the situation, there would be the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. I'm sure old Edgar never thought of the manner in which I adopted his poem but it worked for me and I have remembered his words for sixty-eight years. Thanks Mr. Poe. You have meant a lot to me.