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 full 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 Henley~

I seem to be getting PMS'es a lot these days. Sometimes, doing volunteer work gives life meaning, enriches the soul like nothing else can. Often find it therapeutic. Unfortunately, today wasn't one of those days. When you see patients for no charge at a free clinic, which provides medications for free, and when these patients turn around and start making demands about how they can't get 200 insulin syringes for free etc., it can really spoil your day. Really. Especially since you're pulling a 14 hour day.

You go as far as asking yourself why you even bothered in the first place. Next time just have them pay US$300 to see you at your clinic.

Days like this I go over my collection of poems. Stuff I've been collecting since medschool. Of all the material I have, I like this one the most. Invictus. By Henley.

Other favourites include If by Kipling, The Road Not Taken by Frost.

Nope, I'm hardly a cultured person. But I do find these to be a source of inspiration. A means of escape from the dreary, unkind world.