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

`Auhea iho nei o Leialoha

Ku`u hoa i ka nani a`o nâ pua

Eia mai au `o suipa lilo

Ka ipo i ke aka pua aniani

He aniani wale `o hâli`a loko

Nowelo mao `ole i ka pu`uwai

Nâ wai nô `oe e a pakele aku
I ka wai o ka pânini pua kea

Ha`ina `ia mai ana ka puana
Ku`u ipo i ka nani a`o nâ pua

John Almeida wrote those words, and their poetry is just haunting.

i only wanted to exist in a world
where no one knew I existed.

i only wanted to be,
in a place where no one wanted me to be.

i only wanted,
when no one wanted me to have.

i am only

Jimmy Turner, ladies and gentlemen! A good guy then and now, and talented with the words.

Then if my friendships break and bend,
There’s little need to cry
The while I know that every foe
Is faithful till I die.

From “The Leal.”

The pretty stuff you’re made of
Will crack and crease and dry.
The thing you are afraid of
Will look from every eye.

From “Braggart.”

Inertia creeps…

There is no mercy in the shifting year,
No beauty wraps me tenderly about.
I turn to little words – so you, my dear,
Can spell them out.

Ah, Dorothy, she was so brilliant. When I was a teenager, sometimes I pretended that my middle name was after her instead of my horrible grandmother. Sigh.

From “Little Words.”

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it’s always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.

From “One Perfect Rose.”

Three be the things I shall never attain:
Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.

From “Inventory” in Enough Rope.

This usually runs through my head when I’m drinking.