08 Oct For National Poetry Day

On National Poetry Day, here is a poem I only came across in the last couple of weeks, by John O’Donohue the late Irish Poet, Philosopher and former priest. It was written for his Mother on the occasion of his Father’s death.

A poem for everyone, but especially for anyone who has lost someone, or finds themselves in a dark place. A blessing for you.

The poem is below, but better still – listen to John reading it – here

Bennacht

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.

“A New Year Blessing”
Benedictus (To Bless The Space Between Us)