Albert Speer Jr.

Albert Speer Jr. 1934-2017

Every boy wants to be his father
To be his equal and to further his reflection
But could blood be less thick than water?
A needle of evil, a Fuhrer injection

“My whole life I have tried
To distance myself from him.”
The Reich and his father long ago died
Yet the harsh light does not dim

The father was an architect
Hitler’s right-hand man
The son too took to that art and yet
Had a very different master plan

One designed structures
That sought to diminish the sky
The other was somewhat subtler:
A university in Shanghai

One designed The People’s Hall
To accommodate 180K
For a thousand years it would not fall
Where is it today?

The other had a more common touch
And took a different route
Made sure all his plans were such
He would not fill his father’s boots

We all have childhood movies
We see from where we came
“Oh you were such a cutie!
Who is that in the frame?”

“Oh, him, yeah, my father’s boss.
The projector just died! Oh no!
Yes…right…the Holocaust
Wait! Do you have to go?”

If Albert Speer were my father
I would be full of shame
The past? I would not bother
I would change my name

In a world of challenged facts
Every day we are gas lighted
Though he never discussed the past
Never would he deny it

He confronted darkness in his youth
And knew blood does not outweigh water
But arrived at a bitter, essential truth:
We are stronger than our fathers