In tribute to the passing of the Nelson Mandela, I am sending a poem that the mother of one my student’s reminded me helped sustain Mr. Mandela during his years of unjust imprisonment.
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.
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.
William Ernest Henley
Global poet laureate, Daisaku Ikeda’s friendship with Mr. Mandela while in prison and after his release has long been an inspiration. I had the opportunity to fight apartheid alongside the San Francisco Antiapartheid committee and heped with the “Rivonia” documentary. I was also a founding member of SGI-USA’s Africa 2000.
Thank you.
With my deepest respect,
B. Tina Ebey
“Aesthetics in Motion” – NOV 7th, 2013