Reprinted from Senior Perspective
September 2020, with permission
There are two poems and the prayer printed on this page by Roger Zajicek of Hutchinson. They were given to Rev. Richard C. Gross and are printed with permission from the family.
“The first one, entitled Miracle, was written on June 3, 1991, when Roger returned from the hospital for cancer treatment,” wrote Rev. Gross, “Roger’s wife Lorraine was a dedicated Catholic parishioner at St. Anastasia, Hutchinson, where I was pastor. She was concerned about Roger and his illness, because he had never been baptized. He called me and asked if he could be baptized. I gave him a “crash course” in the Catholic faith, and he asked to be baptized. He was baptized in the hospital with all his family present, as he noted in one of the poems.”
Roger was baptized June 16, 1991, the same day he wrote the first poem in the hospital. He had a heart attack, according to Rev. Gross.
Roger died Nov. 11, 1993, of cancer and was buried Nov. 8,
1993, from the Church of
St. Anastasia, Hutchinson.
God
By the late Roger Ivan Zajicek
of Hutchinson (June 3, 1991,
upon returning from the
hospital again)
Can it be that there are
no two things on earth alike,
Not even a tree?
Can it be that there is
no one the likes of me?
Can it be that there are no two plants,
or birds, fish,
or even a bee, exactly alike.
Not even a bee exactly alike.
Not even in the sea?
Oh God, can that be … ?
Miracle
By the late Roger Ivan Zajicek
of Hutchinson June 3, 1991
Sunset, Sunrise;
Every blade of grass,
Every living thing
On earth,
Earth itself,
A miracle …
Enjoy!
My Prayer
(June 15, 1991, in hospital after heart attack).
My prayer the day I was baptized in the hospital with all the kids there – Bill, Ronnie, Andrew, Tom, Ben and Anna, Barb, Lorraine, and Father Gross. I wanted to recite this prayer but I couldn’t get it out without crying.
Lord my God, creator of the universe with no beginning or ending, the creator of our sun and moon, our beautiful earth – why have you taken the strength from my hands? So that I may no longer plant a tree, or build a shelter, or be a builder I used to be. God, why has this happened to me?
My God, why do we have those that are evil and greedy, that will kill, that want to destroy our rivers, lakes and oceans, the air we breathe?
Oh God, What have I done that my strength has been taken from me?
Oh God, please forgive me.
Amen.
Roger Zajicek