The NYC jobs were brutal.  One was a snake pit, the other a shark tank.  At the tender age of 36, I develop shingles from the stress.  I woke up one morning and half my body is on fire.  No need for additional details on these places, I’m just glad to be away.

To somewhat make it through the day, I would put photos of the beautiful places I’ve visited on my PC monitor as wallpaper (a ton of Prague).  My daughter’s school picture where she appears to be making a gang sign; son looking like a thug.  And some sayings and poems. 

When I left, I would take everything down except the poem “Belisarius” by Longfellow.  An “I was in this daytime prison cell” memento and also maybe to inspire the next prisoner.

Belisarius was a great commander.  He repeatedly wins for his country, saves them from invasion, etc.  And for all that, he was not only ignored, but punished.  Unfortunately for him, he had the misfortune of serving an insecure emperor, who would demote or imprison him.  

Perhaps an apocryphal story, but at the end of his life, he is blind and begging under the gate commemorating one of his greatest victories.  Oh, and his wife (one of those political types) cheated on him with some high priest.  The last line of Longfellow’s poem, however, chronicles this powerful man’s courage and strength.  Despite it all, he still  issays “This, too, the unconquerable will can bear.  I still am Belisarius!”

I explained this poem to a colleague and he was moved.