Marianna Mądra

1809 Bytów - 1904 Pine Creek

A widow at age forty-six, I sold the farm in Róg, such as it was.
A beautiful but barren waste where thirty years' worth of seed
Could find no purchase. Far more satisfying my work
As the local midwife, bringing forth countless children
Doomed to grind out their lives attempting
To wring an existence from this so-called "homeland."
Guiding my three adult daughters and their husbands and families
And bringing my two girls with me, we reached America
All endless hills, trees and streams,
A land where my daughters and their families
Could breathe freely, worship, and bring forth young.
Well into my eighties I would answer the call
Though with cloudy eyes and unsteady step
When another expectant mother sent for me
And I still came (with my daughter) to help them
Fill this wonderful, endlessly fruitful land
With more of the children it craved and deserved.
All praise to the Father and to the Son
And to the Holy Spirit, which guides God's people
For the gift of this wonderful land
And letting me help it to fruition!