“Parable of a Father” by Janusz St. Pasierb (Polish priest and art historian)

When you try to forget
he remembers

when you cannot fall asleep
he waits for you to wake

when you do not think of returning
he is on the watch for you

when you cannot see the way out
he opens the gates
when you are dying of hunger
he has the table set for you

when you huddle in rags
he chooses a robe for you

when you say: ‘I will rise and go’
he sets out to meet you

when you rub your eyes, as dry as stones,
he weeps over you

when you do not dare to stretch your hand
his arms are around you
when your brother reproaches that you went
away he will reply that you have just come back

Pasierb held the chair of history of art at the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw in the 1980s

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