Why is everything so different? Looks like everything is in its place: That same sky, blue once again. The same forest, same water, and the same air, Only he didn’t return from the battle. Now I can’t understand, which one of us was right In our arguments without rest and sleep. I only began to miss him right now, When he didn’t return from the battle. He was silent sometimes, and did not sing with me, He always spoke about something different. He did not let me sleep, he would wake up at dawn, And yesterday he didn’t return from the battle. What looks empty now, the conversation isn’t about that: All of a sudden I noticed - there were two of us... To me it was like wind, blowing the fire away, When he didn’t return from the battle. Now the spring broke loose, like from captivity. I tried to call him by mistake: "Pal, leave me a cigarette," and silence answered to me... Last night he didn’t return from the battle. Our dead ones will never leave us in trouble, Our killed ones are like sentries on duty... The sky reflects in the forest, like in the water, And the trees are standing all blue. Even the trench was big for the two of us, For us the time ran equally... I am all alone now, only it seems to melt was I who didn’t return from the battle.
© Nathan Mer. Translation, 1991