May 11 – A Prayer That Will Be Answered by Anna Kamieńska
Lord let me suffer much
and then dieLet me walk through silence
and leave nothing behind not even fearMake the world continue
let the ocean kiss the sand just as beforeLet the grass stay green
so that the frogs can hide in it
so that someone can bury his face in it
and sob out his loveMake the day rise brightly
as if there were no more painAnd let my poem stand clear as a windowpane
bumped by a bumblebee’s head
Translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanaugh
Bóg daj mi cierpieć wiele
a potem daj mi umrzećPozwól mi iść przez ciszę
niech nie zostanie po mnie nawet lękSpraw niech dalej dzieje się świat
niech morze całuje brzegiNiech trawa będzie nadal zielona
aby mogła się w niej ukryć żabka
i aby ktoś mógł w niej zanurzyć twarz
i wypłakać miłośćSpraw niech wzejdzie dzień tak jasny
jakby już nie było cierpieniaA mój wiersz niech stoi przezroczysty jak szyba
o którą tłucze główką zbłąkana pszczoła
Deacon Jim, I LOVE your page, and have already stolen from it for my Facebook page. I’m Polish. I was ordained in ’94 in St. Louis, MO, and now live in Grand Rapids, MI. I have a wife of 34 years, and 2 grown daughters, who still live at home. Since 2006, I’m a nursing home chaplain. I’ve worked as a funeral pre-arrangement counselor, and for 10 years, as a PR person for the St. Louis archdiocese. From 73-85 we owned 4 radio stations. In 2008, I DIED at my desk, and had a quadruple bypass. Today, I’m healthy as horse. M wife had a 10 pound cancerous tumor removed about 3 mmonths ago. She is cancer free, today. God is amazing. Keep up the good work, and especially the Kamienska poems.