Am I True To Myself

I have to live with myself and so,
I want to be fit for myself to know,
I want to be able as days go by,
Always to look myself in the eye;
I don’t want to stand, with the setting sun,
And hate myself for the things I have done.

I don’t want to keep on a closet shelf,
A whole lot of secrets about myself,
And fool myself as I come and go,
Into thinking that nobody will know,
The kind of man that I really am;
I don’t want to dress myself in sham.

I want to go out with my head held erect,
I want to deserve all men’s respect;
But here in the struggle for fame and wealth,
I want to be able to like myself.
Whatever happens I want to be,
Self-respecting and conscious free.

by Edgar A. Guest