Lord let me suffer much

and then die

Let me walk through silence

and leave nothing behind not even fear

Make the world continue

let the ocean kiss the sand just as before

Let 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 love

Make the day rise brightly

as if there were no more pain

And let my poem stand clear as a windowpane

bumped by the bumblebee’s head.

Translated from Polish by Stanislaw Baranczak & Clare Cavanagh

ANNA KAMIENSKA 1920- 1986 was a Polish poet, writer, translator and literary critic who wrote many books for children and adolescents. She explored the meaning of love and grief, the yearning for love and a gratitude for human existence.

Answered prayers … when we are children we are encouraged to believe that if we ask persistently, if we cry loud enough, if we pout long enough, we will eventually get what we want. After all, isn’t that what works with our parents. We frequently carry this lesson with us through adulthood and transfer our requests to a heavenly Parent. “Dear Lord, please give me … please take away … please help …” Inevitably, at some point, our fervent prayer goes unanswered and we doubt if God has really heard, really loves us, if He/She exists at all.

In this poem Anna Kamienska tells us there are prayers that are always answered – and this can be proven in each person’s life. We do suffer, we are lonely, we lose our loves, we feel pain. There are no exceptions. This clear sightedness is refreshing – as a windowpane – and has the power to awaken us.

It reminds me of Ramana Maharashi’s injunction, “We thank God for the good things that happen to us but not the bad. That is where we go wrong.” In other words, acceptance of the present can bring peace, rather than praying for what might be or what was; that the bad is no less acceptable than the good.

I particularly like her powerful image of the grass staying green, “so that someone can bury his face in it and sob out his love.” She gives a deeper purpose to something already existing. You can feel her deep gratitude for life at the same time she is mindful of its pain and poignancy.