| From the chimneys of the Vatican, white smoke rises— | |
| a sign the cardinals have chosen themselves a pope. | |
| From the crematoria of Auschwitz, black smoke rises— | |
| a sign the conclave of Gods has not yet chosen | |
| the chosen people. | 5 |
| After Auschwitz, no theology: | |
| the numbers on the forearms | |
| of the inmates of extermination | |
| are the telephone numbers of God, | |
| numbers that do not answer | 10 |
| and now are disconnected, one by one. | |
| | |
| After Auschwitz, a new theology: | |
| the Jews who died in the Shoah | |
| have now come to be like their God, | |
| who has no likeness of a body and has no body. | 15 |
| They have no likeness of a body and they have no body. | |
| | |
| trans. from Hebrew by Chana Bloch & Chana Kronfeld | |