Pink roses appreciated and Polish poetry translated

Rose garden


Rose bath 




Rose circle


...
A poem opening a collection of Polish poetry translated by Jarek Zawadzki:

THANKSGIVING PRAYER WITH A REPROACH

You haven’t made me blind

Thanks be to You oh, Lord

You haven’t made me hunchbacked

Thanks be to You oh, Lord

You haven’t made me a child of an alcoholic

Thanks be to You oh, Lord

You haven’t made me a hydrocephalic

Thanks be to You oh, Lord

You haven’t made me a stutterer a cripple a dwarf an epileptic

a hermaphrodite a horse or moss or any other specimen of flora and fauna

Thanks be to You oh, Lord

But why have You made me Polish?

Andrzej Bursa (1932

–

1957

Towards the end of the selection you will find a poem by Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, a poet, painter and thinker known as Witkacy. It refers to his unique business enterprise: a portrait company where you could have your portrait painted in a very unusual manner. Recently I've come across a portrait of Ezra Pound by Sheri Martinelli.

A PORTRAIT COMPANY

by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) (1885–1939)

Today or tomorrow

On a claret paper clean and smug,

I have to get it done

With your sucker’s mug.

What a filthy trade it is to paint.

What a filthy, filthy trade,

To limn each puss with no complaint,

And only to be poorly paid

1

.

It’s no great fun, I say,

To paint a janitor all day,

And for some bread

Explore the stupid head

__________________

1

This stanza is originally in French:

Quel sâle métier que la peinture.

Quel sâle, quel sâle métier.

On peint chaque geule sans murmure,

Pour avoir un peu de la monnaie.
 

 Here is the original:

FIRMA PORTRETOWA

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) (1885–1939)

Dziś albo jutro

Na bordo papierze

Muszę się uporać

Z twą mordą frajerze.

Quel sâle métier que la peinture

Quel sâle, quel sâle métier

On peint chaque geule sans murmure

Pour avoir un peu de la monnaie.

Nie jest to przyjemność duża

Cały dzień malować stróża

I za taki marny zysk

Zgłębiać taki głupi pysk.