My Favorite Poem

There has been a lot of talk in the news from the Iranian leadership, denying the Holocaust ever took place. Nancy and I visited Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland in '93 and we have vivid memories and photos. However, I thought I would post my favorite poem today. It's close to the authors' Centenary birthday and is very appropriate. It's called Who Am I, and it was written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer while he was in prison during World War II. He was a German pastor who objected to the war perpetrated by Hitler and the Nazi's. Because of his strong stance and criticism he was put in prison by the Nazis. He was eventually put to death April 6, 1945 right before the war's end. The poem is taken from Letters and Papers From Prison.

Who am I? The often tell me
I would step from my cell's confinement
calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
like a squire from his county-house.

Who am I? They often tell me
I would talk to my warders
freely and friendly and clearly,
as though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me
I would bear the days of misfortune
equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I know of myself,
restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
trembling with anger at despotisms and petty humiliation,
tossing in expectation of great events,
powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today, and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
and before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, thou knowest, O God, I am thine.