Sailor's We Must Stop Poem by Uwe Kolbe

We really have to stop.
It's Spring, and we must really stop.
Everything ends and we must
stop like everything else.
I have not read the letter you sent.
We really have to stop.
We are hurting one another.
It is Spring and we're hurting each other.
Everything ends. In Spring the cycle
starts anew. We must,
must, must stop.
Us also, that ‘us' will stop.
That is not a formal declaration.
It's horrible. It causes pain.
It does less hurt than it would
to each other, if we didn't
stop. Not just us it hurts
but causes pain to others
and hurts as the stopping
starts, if we can
the ‘us' will cease when we stop.
We do have the power, the strength.
I didn't read your letter.
We can stop, stop
even in the Spring
when everything is beginning again
as it does; even at such a time
we can stop.
That's good, very good.
It does not hurt, it
stops.

English translation by Mick Standen & Jo Tudor