Beyond This Place of Wrath and Tears

 

Oscar,
A few days ago my wife and I took our 7 year old son to school chapel. We live in the highlands of Kenya, apparently not far from where your mother’s family came from. During the ceremony the poem ‘Invictus’ was read out, I’m sure you’re well versed with this particular poem. My wife leant across with tears in her eyes and whispered “Oscar” to me.
This poem is larger than life, as you are Oscar.

You can do this.

Never forget that you are the master of your soul.

Just keep going.

Kindest, Andrew

INVICTUS – Unconquerable soul

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.

Hope: Laura

Love and blessings,

Laura

Hope: Mira

‘Hope Is The Thing With Feathers’

‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops—at all

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm

I’ve heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest Sea
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.

      ~ by Emily Dickinson

We Always Will Believe!

Oscar, another date marked off the sentence, another day of pain,
even though I’m not with you, I always feel your strain,
time is slowly passing, no truth to be believed,
another date off the time, we always will believe!

Happy new year from me and my family who follow you every day 💖

Paula BoydBraid
Edinburgh UK x

Merry Christmas: Laura

Wishing you a merry Christmas, Oscar, and a happy New Year.

Love and blessings,

Laura (UK)

Happy 30th Birthday: sarahsangel78

Happy birthday!

So many people will say it, will they mean it whom knows for sure.  All I know is there are many whom care with hearts that are honest and pure.
The troubled times you are going through they are harsh, outrageous, unkind.
What’s done is done, what will be will be, stay strong in heart and mind.

In your mind to make you relax imagine a place you would want to be,  imagine the smell the sights and sounds and let your spirit fly free.
Imagine u r running in your own race, no one behind you, or beside you giving chase.

I think I can almost see you on a beach running by the sea, sitting on a pier watching the sun go down on your face I could see a smile and there would be no frown.
I know at the moment people offer kind words, and some are from people you have never known. Some people are even in different countries, the support for you has grown and grown.
When yr on your own this birthday , when you’ve  hopefully seen some of your family.  Please know there are some people in the UK whom care and one of them is me.

Welcome to the over 30 club. Xxx
Love sarahsangel78. X

The Panther – Life in Captivity

Dear Oscar,
I could tell something about wild animals, exotic species in circuses and zoos, – creatures who have been hounded, trapped, caught, exposed and humiliated just for the selfish purpose of men’s amusement.
Instead I like to share a poem that often comes into my mind when I am thinking about you. Rainer Maria Rilke, a Bohemian-Austrian poet who lived at the turn of the last century, put these thoughts down in writing.

pic © wikipedia (L’Illustration, 1902)

Der Panther
Im ‚Jardin des Plantes‘, Paris (1902/03)
Sein Blick ist vom Vorübergehn der Stäbe
so müd geworden, daß er nichts mehr hält.
Ihm ist, als ob es tausend Stäbe gäbe
und hinter tausend Stäben keine Welt.

Der weiche Gang geschmeidig starker Schritte,
der sich im allerkleinsten Kreise dreht,
ist wie ein Tanz von Kraft um eine Mitte,
in der betäubt ein großer Wille steht.

Nur manchmal schiebt der Vorhang der Pupille
sich lautlos auf –. Dann geht ein Bild hinein,
geht durch der Glieder angespannte Stille –
und hört im Herzen auf zu sein.

The Panther
In the ‚Jardin des plantes’, Paris
His vision, from the constantly passing bars,
has grown so weary that it cannot hold
anything else. It seems to him there are
a thousand bars, and behind the bars, no world.

As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,
the movement of his powerful soft strides
is like a ritual dance around a center
in which a mighty will stands paralyzed.

Only at times, the curtain of the pupils
lifts, quietly—. An image enters in,
rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles,
– plunges into the heart, and is gone.

(Stephen Mitchell)

I imagine that even life under house arrest is not always easy.

Still in your support,
Deborah (Germany)

Christmas Blessings: Anelize

My Christmas wish for you, Oscar
Is not a simple one
For I wish you hope and joy and peace
Days filled with warmth and sun

I wish you love and friendship too
Throughout the coming year
Lots of laughter and happiness
To fill your world with cheer

May you count your blessings, one by one
And when totaled by the lot
May you find all you’ve been given
To be more than what you sought

May your journeys be short, your burdens light
May your spirit never grow old
May all your clouds have silver linings
And your rainbows pots of gold

I wish this all and so much more
May all your dreams come true
May you have a Merry Christmas dear Oscar
And a happy New Year, too ..!

~ click image to enlarge ~

You, An Incredible Sky

For you, Oscar with love and continuing support.

YOU, AN INCREDIBLE SKY

Be like the sky.
Be present. Be presence itself.
Be what you are.
Let rain, snow, the most ferocious storm,
pass through, moment by moment.
You can withstand anything.
You were built to live.
Breathe into your pain.
Oxygenate your sorrow.
Invite awareness deep into your rage.
Trust that it is here.
Trust that it shall pass.
Trust that you will remain.
Trust that you always have.
Trust that sometimes
you forget how to trust.
Trust your doubts.
Trust in what comes.
Trust in what leaves.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Rest in your unchanging nature.
Be like the sky.
Be present. Be presence itself.
Be what you are.
Vast. Free. And so damn courageous.
       ~ Jeff Foster

With much love
Susanna 
(Olcpfriends)  

Poem: Home Time

It’s been a year since you went away
It should have been sooner but there’s been a delay

Those days have been ticked off and now in the past
The moment you’ve longed for is here at last

Be safe dear Oscar and try to stay strong
I fear you’ll be hounded I hope I’m wrong

So I wish you peace and all the best
Back home with your family and all the rest

Support and Believe
Julie (UK)