To Emilia (April 1943, Quijara) – Photo taken from Jan Domański Memoirs by Krysia Janiga.
To may daughter Emilia!
My dearest Emilia,
You must have grown?
Like a beautiful spring flower,
Do you remember your missing father,
Whom you have not seen for several years now?
O my dear daughter,
You probably work hard,
Helping your mother with many chores,
Making your mother cheerful and happy,
Whose life is filled with misery and despair.
My loving child,
Did I ever think,
That our happiness will soon disappear,
That unfortunate war will take me away,
For such a long time and so far away.
My precious one,
I can still see you,
You are my beautiful flower,
You were my delightful spring love,
You were my ray of bright sunshine.
It’s nothing my child,
That I’m far away,
That we are apart by few thousand miles,
I’ll walk long roads lined with sharp thorns,
One day I will be back and then we will smile.
Then I will be filled,
With your caresses,
My dearest Emilia, you will again be with your dad,
We will rejoice together, be happy and sing,
We will plant roses in the garden beside our shed.
Father, Jan Domański. I wrote this poem on Palm Sunday, April 18,1943 in Quijara, Iraq.
(Translated from Polish by John Janiga)
To my dear Jania. Photo taken from Jan Domański memoirs by Krysia Janiga.
To my Dear Jania.
When my dearest Jania arrived on this world,
It was then so calm and bright,
It seems that those days were just a dream,
Everything has changed and seemed not real.
Today, I’m far away and you remained,
Probably asking, where is my daddy?
I also think of you every night and day,
Our dear memories in my heart I carry.
I constantly think about you my child,
Because you have been my valuable treasure.
You made my life simple, joyful and free,
You were my sunshine, my flower you were.
You were my delight, beautiful and sweet,
You were my bird flying high in the blue sky.
I kissed you and loved you much more than life,
I covered your little body when I rose at dawn.
The years went by among the joys of life,
Then my dear Jania seven years you had.
Seven years just finished and eighth began,
It was then, when I kissed your teary eyes.
When that tragic night I was driven out,
From you my Jania, and the family house.
When the boyec bayonet pushed me out,
He dragged me as a villain to the frosty land.
It was very painfully hard to move away from you.
My heart was breaking, my golden flower,
God will give me health and perseverance,
I will come back to you soon, my dearest.
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