O Captain! My Captain!

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;

It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Leaves of Grass. 1900.

Am on the last leg of preparing my bid. Have worked through two weekends and Merdeka, had the entire crew rowing all the way and some have rebelled and jumped ship. The pain of what I have went through, the toll on my physical being and emotional state is one that I have never experience before.

I have to admit, I lost a lot of confidence in myself and felt like that I wasn't cut-out for this role, but I had good support from my team and my management. This was the cushion of comfort that carried me through. The other thing that helped?

This blog.

And the other blogs I have dropped by and visit. I suddenly felt that there is more to what I am doing, and life is life. We are all equal, and blogs reflects that. You don't know who are behind the words most of the time, and the sense of belonging is a rush.

Thanks to some of you, who was kind enough to drop by and put in some words, and I shall surely return to your world too.

As for now, I have about 39 hours to go before submission, and am looking forward to hopefully completing everything my mid-day tomorrow.

I think Walt Whitman (one of my favorites) sums it up well for me. Hopefully, I suffer not the fate of reaching my destination, and miss the bounty.

Cheers.