The Mystery

From The Topeka State Journal, January 12, 1915. By Edward H. Pfeiffer.

I am a coward, that I know.
    I am a nothingness, sham;
    And yet withal I feel I am
Fine-chiseled as a cameo.

I am a crust of slimy mire,
    A slave to fear, to doubt, to shame;
    And yet I feel within my flame
A soaring spark of solar fire.

I am a clotted, earthly clod,
    A shade, a mere nonentity;
    I know the beast that lurks in me,
And yet I feel that I am God!