Offer me your pale white hand.
All my words are flowing teardrops.
I would place them in your hand.
Gone the luster from their brightness,
Seen through morbid cellar view,
–
And I no longer have my own space
To reflect them back to you.
My devoted God I offer
Everything that I possess.
As the fire that I suffer
Fills each fiery day I pass.
Only in the holes and cellars
With deadly rest my days I share.
I run higher – over spire
Searching where are you, oh where?
I am chased by phantom beings
Stairs and courtyards goad me too.
There I hang a broken bowstring –
And I sing once more to you:
Under your white starry heaven
Offer me your pale white hand.
All my words are flowing teardrops,
I would place them in your hand.
-----------------
One of the most beautiful songs to have come out of the Vilna ghetto, 'Unter dayne vayse shtern' (Under your white stars) was written by the poet Avraham Sutzkever and set to music by Avrom Brudno.
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