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| Clockwise from top left: Charley's first communion portrait; wearing his Little League uniform; in front of former childhood home. |
a poem by Marshall S. Harth
Moving to Bloomfield, to the "Country"
Was like entering another country
Everything was not the same
I even had to change my name!
Why was that, because of shame?
Who's responsible, who to blame?
I missed my friends, my neighborhood
I had to lie, do what I could
Not my choice, only what I should
But, being me, I held my own
I recognized how I had grown
New vistas opened up to me
I saw, eventually, who I could be,
And that's the tale of my "Identity"!
Copyright Marshall S. Harth 18 October 2019
After reading my autobiographical account about moving from New York City to Bloomfield for a book project, my friend Marshall wrote this poem for me. A Jewish German/Lithuanian-American who was more fortunate than some of his family members who perished during the Holocaust, I am grateful to Marshall for understanding the twisting and turning journey of people's identities through immigration, separation, condemnation, and assimilation.
