Whether by misfortune or by luck, the truth is simple: never go back to the places you once knew

Whether by misfortune or by luck,
The truth is simple:
Never return
To the former places.
Even if the burnt-out site
Looks quite decent,
What we are looking for cannot be found,
Neither by you nor by me.
A journey backwards
I would forbid,
I ask you as a brother,
Do not stir up the soul.
Or else I will dash off along the trail,
Who will bring me back?
And in felt boots I will go away
Into the year forty-five.
In forty-five I will guess,
There, where, my God,
Mother will be young
And father alive.

Literal translation

Gennady Shpalikov

Illustration: Family in the Snow, Gerhard Richter, 1966