Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Got this from the movie" Invictus" and found it really inspirational. This was written by the poet on hospital bed when his leg had to be amputated below the knee.

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.

I am my own host,and faithful witness
Or shall the shadows of hell learey me through the night,
So I will take this sword, and banish it in the afterlife

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.

My new shoes

Gathering dust was
my new pair of shoes
still in the box
with the price tag.
I bought thinking
that I would run
change my life
feed my soul with
the breath of energy
flash of rush.
Those were just not a pair of shoes.

Lying in the box
for over six months
I look at them every
evening
those were a good buy
just $20 in clearance
What a steal!

Realizing
that I bought them
to change my life
change my looks
change my image
and here all am doing
still thinking
what a steal
it was.