A sin — to keep reminding of the war,
A sin — to forget it entirely,
A sin — to flee, abandon and betray,
A sin — to stay, not to hear the warnings.

A sin — to wait in a hopeless place,
A sin — to run headlong into the flame,
A sin — desertion in a hurry,
Not to run to the bomb shelter, to burn in the apartment.

Sin in everything, and where is holiness?…
… To remind and to forget,
To hold and to abandon.
If only we could get our bearings,
To listen or to ignore.
Let childhood guess, let old age not stumble —
To hide or to run out.
When to drown and where to burn —
To know with certainty.
Not to err among the tribunes of heaven.