A splendid sunrise captured from the train, somewhere between Wuerzburg and Nuremberg, on the way to Munich. (Feb 2015)

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.

– William Ernest Henley

This is one of my oft-read poems. I came across this first, when I watched the movie Invictus. It reminds me to be humble, but also strong. To face whatever life throws at me with courage and fortitude. To hold my head high. There will always be a dawn – even in the coldest, darkest times, there is nothing that can hold the light back.