Beannacht / Blessing

By John O’Donohue

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 in to 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.