John O’Donohue

Beannacht/Blessing

—John O’Donohue, Ireland (1956 – 2008)

For Josie, my mother

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets into you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green
and azure blue,
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

Sláinte agus beannachtaí dár ndomhan, gach lá!

Health and blessings to our world, every day!

Thank you for reading today’s sublime and sublimely Irish poem/blessing.

On this most Irish day, with our world starving for blessings, how could I not return to the soul nourishment

that John so richly, richly offers? And that we can offer to one another?

John O’Donohue was an Irish poet, author, priest, and Hegelian philosopher.

He was a native Irish speaker, and as an author is best known for popularising Celtic spirituality.

My favourite book of his is Anam Cara