Not Us - Nicolae Labiș

Some of us have overcome
our mistakes, lies and fears;
but there is still some way to go
to reach the oasis hanging on the horizon.
Dried-up generations die off,
young people laugh at the stars.
Who will be the first to lose faith
in victory, on these shifting path?

Which of us will die
before his body is dead?
Who will drop his heart in the dust
like a pack too heavy to carry?
Like an ill wind or an insult
the question comes down the ranks:
"listen, listen, listen...!
Not us! Never! Not us!"

To All - Nicolae Labiș

He set forth from the mountains - a young spring
Bright in the sunshine, headlong, roaring loud;
From high he comes back, changed into a cloud,
Pouring warm rain on every living thing.

He gives the gnarled, dried root its sap to drink,
Brings clear the trot of deer o'er ditch and knoll;
Yet when he washes clean the grassy brink,
Grey, turbid waves roll down into his soul.

He's not all for himself: I and the flower
And fir-trees claim him, and the ripe vine bower,
And yet he is so much himself, and One!

He never shows what sparks in him aspire
Save when, at rest and bathing in the sun,
Unwittingly, his rainbows come on fire.