A Blessing off the Beaten Path

I bless you to adorn yourself in the courage

of forgiveness, bravely worn

and to make friends with your thoughts,

your thoughts reaching out with praise.

I bless you to see the sprinklings of God

in places others would never deem worthy.

I bless you to take the path unmarked

and to stumble upon a significant view,

to wrap garlands of faith in your hair

and rest in a simple knowing of God.

I bless you to send out prayers for love's sake

and not only for what it is you want,

to feel love grow around you rampant

when you walk off the broad road of success.

I bless you to find what you are looking for

by going inward, to the place you call here.

I bless you to embrace your dark and light

and to lose a desire for perfection.

I bless you to drink from the nectar of dreams

and to believe in them, every one

and for the first song heard on the earth

to be brought forth to your recollection.

Jenneth Graser

Photography Aneta Ivanova Unsplash

It Is Not So Hard to Go Within After All

It is not so hard to go within after all.

Open the gate of my garden home,

breathe on top of the morning chill, a song.

I feel you urge me towards the sanctuary.

It is more thorough than before, 

when I was so busy searching for what is lost.

The windows frame what is so familiar

and yet, it's all become a platform of the spectacular.

The shadows on the curtain were not there before

and now they are pulsing on the fabric cascade.

The jasmin that was closed in bud

is now a flush of white stars flung into the kitchen.

I was looking to move on, feel different,

get on with mid-life into whatever's next

and now I've been surprised into your face.

I've come to the grass under the knee,

I've come to the flowers in the grass

and all that lives under the grass.

I've come to the smallness of life

where your largeness is hidden.

Your face is growing with the roots

quietly interlaced and drinking

all the earth has to offer.

Jenneth Graser

Photography Aaron Burden Unsplash

The Waters of the Year

May my days be baptised in love.

I anchored myself in your harbour
and you gave me sails hand woven
to navigate the waters of the year.

You did not promise me absolutes,
that I would know the outcome
before the day I set sail, no.

You promised me your presence
at the helm.

You didn't tell me where we would
be headed,
but you have the map and are open
to suggestions.

There is a way to go but many possible
options on how to get there
and you taught me to enjoy the salty air,
watch for seagulls and how life
surprises you on any given day.

We have learned to go slow
when slow is required
and to listen for the weather.

We have learned to respect the elements
that are greater
and find ourselves in prayer.

All silent with you on deck
going with the swell,
lying on our backs and counting things celestial,
waiting for nothing,
because everything we need is here.

May my days be baptised in love.

Jenneth Graser

Photography Unsplash - Armando Castillejos

Listen to The Voyage by Amanda Cook