For Sasha in Joan Baez

Here by my window in Germany
A morning bird flies close to me
On his wing I see a yellow star
The lights are on in the factory
The frost is hung on the linden tree
And I remember where we are

And I remember the holocaust
I remember all we lost
The families torn and the borders crossed
And I sing of it now for Sasha

A young German officer lies in his bed
Bandages from toe to head
A prisoner of the camps draws nigh
If you are Abel and I am Cain
Forgive me from my bed of pain
I know not why we die

It was I who ordered the building burned
The job was over and as I turned
A father and his son
Caught in the flames high above the ground
From cradled arms the boy looked down
One leap and their lives were done

And I remember the holocaust
I remember all we lost
The children gone and the borders crossed
And I sing of it now for Sasha

You in frozen streets of Heidelberg
Your youth unbearded takes form in words
And the ghosts of the past are kind
For this was your university
The years were long but the spirits free
And your river runs to the Rhine

The smoke filled taverns that you once roamed
With the discontented who'd stayed at home
You must have whiskey or you'll die
The beer garden under the old chateau
Our faces now in the candle glow
See the memories how they shine

But you remember the holocaust
You remember all we lost
The families torn and the borders crossed
And we'll sing of it now for Sasha