After witnessing those close to me and strangers afar experience unfathomable suffering, I don’t know what I believe in these days — but flying through this made me feel something I hadn’t felt before. It reminded me of the following poem by Charles Bukowski: “your life is your life don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission. be on the watch. there are ways out. there is a light somewhere. it may not be much light but it beats the darkness. be on the watch. the gods will offer you chances. know them. take them. you can’t beat death but you can beat death in life, sometimes. and the more often you learn to do it, the more light there will be. your life is your life. know it while you have it. you are marvelous the gods wait to delight in you.” —Charles Bukowski