Erich Fried
What Happens
It has happened
and it goes on happening
and will happen again
if nothing happens to stop it
The innocent know nothing
because they are too innocent
and the guilty know nothing
because they are too guilty
The poor do not notice
because they are too poor
and the rich do not notice
because they are too rich
The stupid shrug their shoulders
because they are too stupid
and the clever shrug their shoulders
because they are too clever
The young do not care
because they are too young
and the old do not care
because they are too old
That is why nothing happens
to stop it
and that is why it has happened
and goes on happening and will happen again
German; trans. Stuart Hood
Erich Fried, 100 Poems Without a Country, Red Dust, Inc., 1980.