Stanisław Jerzy Dołżyk

Let him be blessed,
who stands before her, lost in thought a moment,
Let it be saved,
that soul bound in original sin.
Let them be healed,
those who stray, the proud, drunk on their own folly,
Let them finally rest,
the lost, the weary, human Angels.

At the edge of the forest, a weathered old shrine
built to the glory of Mary,
Just a bench, a clearing,
and on its little roof a cross, and Him she brought into the world.
From the rain we shelter at their feet
— I, a wet snail, the insects.
We look at one another without a word,
such a shared prayer.

Let the days be like flowers laid before You,
colourful, like a fragrant meadow,
Let the hearth, by the grace of incense,
burn on in love without end.
Let the gifts of fruit, berries and honey
never let us know hunger,
Let health never run short,
nor mercy, nor a year fruitful in harvest.

Well then, the last day of the plein-air in Zwierzyniec is passing,
There were butterflies, the Devil’s Fields, carefreeness
and the eternal course of rivers.
There were stars, angels,
and that good soul, laden with scrap metal, Jens…,
He knew how to…

Let them always be with us, Lares, Penates, and Jens.

For the painting “Lares, Penates and Jens” — oil on canvas, diptych 80×124 cm. Plein-air in Zwierzyniec, 2015.