Alongside original poems, we also invite illustrated versions of older poems. Lav Patel is a student in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the Ohio State University, and he created this poster of William Ernest Henley’s poem ‘Invictus’ to lift people up during the pandemic. He is aware that this was in fact one of Nelson Mandela’s favorite poems when he was in prison under Apartheid in South Africa. The poster features a person seen from behind, surrounding them blackness, and holding a small lantern. We cannot make out who the person is – in fact it could be any of us during this difficult time.
