Pietà [English translation]

At the corner of the square

just outside the station

beneath the black baldachin

created by the chimney

numb from the pain

she stood over the drain -

Madonna with a dead son

martyred

She stood confused

from the sudden noise

on her hands it was raining

like the tears of a high priest

a bit terrified -

of the tipsy regiment

that didn't look like a winner at all

Standing next to the Pietà

they smoke cigarettes

and with schnapps they quenched their thirst

kilometre by trot

couplets from the cabaret

they sang for the Pietà

and when they'd finished

they jolted in disgust

They had ostensories

stolen on their path

and pics for families

they haven't seen in years,

local scum's -

infected with the war -

few vegetables

they envied

With girls from the streets

they made out

and then they paid them

with a bayonet handle,

ammunition depots

they thoroughly closed

and then they sat down

beneath the Pietà

Sitting down beneath the Pietà

they gorged on omelette

they loudly cursed

at the stupid boredom,

they scribbled on the Pietà

the greetings for Marietta

whom they shared

unaware of the shame

One sunday

camp they wrapped up

the last postcard

they sent to relatives

Then they drove off

without paying,

while on the railroad

they were falling asleep

No one cried

no one pitied

no one was hurt

that they drove without the goodbyes,

some conceded

other agreed,

no one was missing

the bossing

And beneath the Pietà

a girl of five years

was intrigued by the letters

scribbled by a chalk,

she couldn't read

so she caressed lettering,

letters she blurred,

the rest was washed away by the rain

the rest was washed away by the rain

• Artist:Karel Kryl
• Album:Bratříčku, zavírej vrátka