Prison poem from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Who Am I...
This morning I flipped open this old copy of Cost of Discipleship that I had for years, tore up cover held together with some clear packing tape, and as I read through the introduction, I came across the poem entitled "Who Am I." It is a wonderful meditation on the very earthly struggle between one's own flesh and spirit, which occurs deep within the soul. Bonhoeffer writes,
Who Am IGod bless...
Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
like a squire from his country-house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
freely and friendly and clearly,
as though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
equally, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
struggling for breath, as though hands were
yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
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!
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