Never Surrender

[Xipe Totec]

This is a poem I once got from my mother. Yes, my mother. Bravest woman I ever met.

After her second bout with breast cancer.

PS: She is still alive.

(I don't think I should have to explain why I'm posting this on this particular forum...)



Do not surrender even when defeated,
and do not be a slave even in bondage,
trembling with fear advance bravely,
and attack with fury, though badly wounded.

Be as stubborn as a rusting nail,
that refuses to yield though old and ruined,
and do not envy the peacock's plumage,
that drops in fear at the first noise.

Be as a god that never cries,
or as a devil that never prays,
or as the oak whose mighty canopy,
needs of water but does not beg it.

Even when it rolls to the dust,
let your head scowl and bite,
and scream for vengeance.

- Pedro Palacios Almafuerte
Argentinian poet 1854-1917

[kwassa]

1. and then there is the wisdom of Al Swearengen

from the HBO series "Deadwood"

"Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair or fucking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back."

and in a related vein:

"In life you have to do a lot of things you don’t fucking want to do. Many times, that’s what the fuck life is… one vile fucking task after another."

[Xipe Totec]

3. By that measure, my mother packs a bigger pair than most men

But then again, she is Mexican.

And she has made and lost more fortunes than many have even seen.

But we digress...

[kwassa]

4. I was thinking of a Haitian woman

very moving piece the other day ... pulled out from under the rubble after all these days. Her husband was convinced she was alive and never gave up on her. She herself was convinced she would survive, and broke into song after she was finally dug out, a traditional Haitian song about death, her reaction to being liberated. Then, a little while later, climbs into the passenger seat of a car and waves as she is driven away.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

2. It felt tough last night, but the cause will definitely endure here.

[pscot]

5. This foot soldier isn't planning to surrender

but I have my doubts about what the generals are up to.