I am a patriot, I defend the country,
I call fellow citizens to battle,
If need be, I will die for her,
A worn sofa will not let me lie.
But today in a district
Where everyone is a stranger,
I was updating a conscript’s particulars.
When suddenly someone on the reverse
On the quota-form
Confessed to ardent love.

Now I see the questionnaire, now a blank page,
But the love note is where it was, it is there.
The clerk confessed — she is that woman,
And my reciprocity as a family man
Through betrayal will cancel my dossier,

In a romantic establishment I kiss lips
And caress intimate places,
I saved myself, but in my soul I grieve,
For conscience just now burned to the ground.