For Sasha 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