A Blessing Beannacht - John O'Donohue Poem

Beannacht — A Blessing 
by John O’Donohue

Thank you to my friend Gibby Keys for reminding me of this glorious Irish poem.

Shortly before his death in 2008, the late Irish poet John O'Donohue recited his poem  Beannacht, meaning blessing, during an interview with Krista Tippett. Woven throughout this reading are his close friends' photographs of him in his Celtic landscapes.

John wrote Beannacht for his mother, Josie O'Donohue 
Beautifully delivered by John in his soft Irish lilt - each verse a gem to be treasured.




Beannacht — A 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 gray window
       And the ghost of loss
       Gets in to you,
       May a flock of colors,
       Indigo, red, green
       And azure blue
       Come to awaken in you
       A meadow of delight.

                When the canvas frays
              In the curach 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,
                      And 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.

From Anam Cara by John O’Donohue
Also printed in To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings by same author
And in Echoes of Memory (a book of poetry) also by same author
Beannacht - A Blessing for Josie

Amazon: Book - Echoes of Memory