Helmut hums “Complainte de la Seine”
His head still revolving from last night
The platoon threw him a farewell party
Final night in Paris, final twilight of life

Promoted, given a new command - east!
In 39 he greeted the Russian allies in Lublin
Ironically he will meet them again in Odessa
This time fighting for a retreating fatherland

The searchlights dance around the bombers
The enemy artillery sets the pulsation of time
Remembering his wife vaporised in Dresden
And his brother Hans, lost under the Atlantic

Here he was never an alien, just a foreigner
One closing dinner at a favourite restaurant
Sharing the camaraderie of a vacant chair
Tonight Helmut preferred to exist forlorn

Outside, the Place Blanche is unaffected
The girls will still laugh at the jokes of soldiers
Just the insignias on their uniforms will change
He was born in a defeated land, so he is tranquil

The streets of the continent are again profaned
American and English boots marching over Europe
Helmut is ready to dance to the tune of the century
Although often he asks: “is the composer sane?”
 

M.Daedalus