Bard's Song

Website of a Modern day Warrior-Bard

Inviticus

William Earnest Henley.  1849 - 1903

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 nor cried aloud,
Under the bludgeoning 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.

 

 

Inviticus means "unconquerable" in Latin.  W.E. Henley wrote this during his 20 month battle with tuberculosis, which he survived.  This was the first poem I ever remembered and it stayed with me through the years; I am not completely sure why, save that it reminds me that life is fleeting, and yet I have the power to direct it while it belongs to me. 

"I am the master of my fate, and I am the captain of my soul!"

Life is too damned short to be worrying about how another person will affect your life.  As writer, David Gerrold stated:  "Life is hard, then you die, then they throw dirt in your face, then the worms eat you.  Be grateful it happens in that order!".  I have been a soldier, student, writer, entertainer, programmer, teacher/instructor, minister, laborer, advisor, and a few other fields from politics to street hustling (or maybe that's the same thing!).  I've lived all over the United States, Central and South America, and I am here to tell you that it does not get any better unless you learn to love yourself.  If you can't love yourself, how in the hell do you expect someone else to. 

 

Happiness comes from within.  Everyone else is there for your own amusement.  People outside yourself are merely the hallucinations created by your own mind to keep you preoccupied.  After all, in a 24 hour day, the only person you always see is you!  People with attitude don't truly exist.  Just remember, "My karma just ran over your dogma!", take the bump in the middle of the road, and watch out for any more potential road pizzas out there on the highway of life, and continue on your journey.  If you see an M-1 Tank on that highway, well that's my armored karma squashing other dogmas out there!  The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguards

Pearls of Wisdom: 

Most of these "pearls" comes from Mr. Gerrold via a character he has in one of his books known as Solomon Short or a compilation of famous individuals.  I am going to be ask him to put up some quotes from this character next time I correspond with him.  The last place I saw some of these quotes were at his old site, Great Quotes by Great Folks! and I went ahead and set up a Solomon Short site (see below).  His books are a must read!  To DG:  Thanks for the inspiration.  I hope you don't mind and would appreciate any feedback.

Solomon Short:   "A man of God should be identifiable as a man of God in spite of his religion, not because of it."  Set the example with deeds and action, that is what true leadership is.  It is the ability to inspire others.  Everything else is just talk and holds little to no weight.

The only time I truly watch TV is to watch Babylon 5.  One pearl I received from it was:

Babylon 5: "Understanding is a 3-edged sword."  There are 3 truths.  My (our) truth, your (their) truth, and "the truth".  It is a simple matter of how close is one's truth to the actual truth that makes him/her more correct than the other.  Most of the time, our own truths are tainted by our own pride and bias.  Those few individuals that are considered wise are the ones who have learned to separate themselves from their own truths and seek "the truths". 

And of course, I have my own pearls of wisdom to offer: 

The Law of Entropy states that no laws can be placed upon the absolute randomness of an entropic state of being.  (SL Chandler)

Those who draw a "Line of Death" in the sand seldom realize that the death part occurs on their side of the line.  (SL Chandler)

Here is some free advice.  Nothing in this world is freely given.  (SL Chandler)

Your friend is a friend in spite of you, until you piss them off!  (SL Chandler)

Love is a feeling that a woman gives a man, that makes a man make an ass of himself.  (unknown)

Like minds think dirty! (SL Chandler)

A prostitute has never given anyone a disease.  It was bought and paid for.  (SL Chandler)

The Geneva-Hague Convention forbids the use of "inhumane weapons".  Is there a "humane" weapon?  (SL Chandler)

All nations shall perish because lawmakers will always make one law too many in order to retain their jobs.  This is the same branch of government that decides their own job salary.  (SL Chandler)

A politician is Nature's way of ensuring that humans remain within the food chain.  (SL Chandler)

The phallic design of an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile is man's way of symbolizing that he can screw Mother Nature as well.  (SL Chandler)

Scientist are incorrect in stating that Light is a constant in the universe.  In truth, Darkness is the constant.  Stars do not radiate light, they absorb darkness.  How else would you explain the darkness of Space.  The speed of light is in actuality, a measurement in which the universe can absorb a quantity of darkness based on size and intensity of the star.  As a star ages, it grows larger and absorbs with less intensity, becoming less bright in the process because it is reaching its maximum capacity of absorption.  Therefore not surprisingly,  "The Universe Sucks!".  (SL Chandler)

And the Meek shall inherit the earth!  (In 6' x 3' plots)  (unknown)