Many years ago now, there was a brief period when I became sort of an honorary member of the Irish-Irish (as distinct from the Irish-American) community in San Francisco.
It’s a long story, which I won’t go into, but during that rich and expansive time I became acquainted with the writings of John O’Donohue and even had the blessing of hearing him speak in person.
I hadn’t thought of him in many years, but was very moved to find this beautiful blessing for the new year. I was even more delighted to discover a recording of him reading the poem himself.
(Interestingly, I learned that I’m posting this on his birthday — January 1st — and that he was born in the same year I was.)
[Note: “Beannacht” is the Gaelic word for “blessing.” A “currach” is a large boat used on the west coast of Ireland.]
Beannacht: A Blessing for the New Year
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.
~John O’Donohue