Beannacht, John O’Donohue, 1956-2008, Irish poet

from Benedictus:  A Book of Blessings, Transworld Publishers, 2007

 

 

 

Janus Headdress, wood, hide, pigment, cane, horn, nails; 19th-20th century

Ejagham or Bale Peoples; Lower Cross River region, Nigeria.  Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

 

 

For Josie

 

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.

 

 

Janus Headdress, wood, hide, pigment, cane, horn, nails; 19th-20th century

Ejagham or Bale Peoples; Lower Cross River region, Nigeria.  Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY