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.

That is one powerful fucking poem I tell you. I know it inspires me, and it is one of things that kept Nelson Mandela going during his 25 years in prison. The film Invictus from 2009 directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon is a good movie. Is it a great movie hmmmm.....well some of my biggest problems with the movie are things that actually are true, so I don't know what to think. I mean Nelson Mandela chooses a rugby team to be the symbol of cooperation and reconciliation after apartheid, and then shortly thereafter they host the world cup and he in part Drives the team to victory and gets the country to rally together black and white behind this one cause. Well I would normally say come on I can write better fiction in my sleep. However, it pretty much went down that way, so what can you do but heap another log on the grand fire that is the legend of Nelson Mandela. Morgan Freeman does a spot on Mandela and it helps they do kind of look alike. I liked this movie, I didn't love this movie, nor do I think it is a classic in the making, but with time maybe my mind will change. In any event I learned a really kick ass poem.