"Poems, Prayers, & Promises" #20

Featuring Jane Hirshfield, Kathryn Stott, and Yo-Yo Ma

Aug 28, 2023

Welcome to another day of “Poems, Prayers, & Promises”

Remember, you’re the co-creator of this dive. Do as much or as little as you’d like, when you’d like, how you’d like, with the materials I provide. Just keep gentle faith with yourself.

Registered yet for “Rafter Refuge”?

September 5, 6:30-8:00PM Central (7:30 ET, 5:30 MT, 4:30 PT)

As we approach the close of “Poems, Prayers, & Promises,” please register for our final sharing time on Zoom. We’ll reflect together on our experience of this Deep Dive. Please bring something brief to contribute to the free-flowing gathering, such as . . .

“shimmering words” from a poem that especially resonated with you
an insight that broke into your awareness
an excerpt from something you wrote
a promise you made to yourself that you want to speak aloud . . .

☀️ Registration is required for this celebration.

Set your intention

Take a moment to name the primary intention you have for this month-long deep dive and/or this particular session. Take a quiet moment to center yourself in that intention.

Enter the music

Read the poem

I invite you to read this poem twice—aloud, at least once. You may also listen to Jane Hirshfield’s reading of the poem, perhaps with your eyes closed. (At the link, click the ▶️ or “play” button at the far left.)

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published


A BLESSING FOR WEDDING
Jane Hirshfield

Today when persimmons ripen
Today when fox-kits come out of their den into snow
Today when the spotted egg releases its wren song
Today when the maple sets down its red leaves
Today when windows keep their promise to open
Today when fire keeps its promise to warm
Today when someone you love has died
     or someone you never met has died
Today when someone you love has been born
     or someone you will not meet has been born
Today when rain leaps to the waiting of roots in their dryness
Today when starlight bends to the roofs of the hungry and tired
Today when someone sits long inside his last sorrow
Today when someone steps into the heat of her first embrace
Today, let this light bless you
With these friends let it bless you
With snow-scent and lavender bless you
Let the vow of this day keep itself wildly and wholly
Spoken and silent, surprise you inside your ears
Sleeping and waking, unfold itself inside your eyes
Let its fierceness and tenderness hold you
Let its vastness be undisguised in all your days


(from Tricycle magazine, 2010)

Contemplate/Create

Use any of these questions however you wish—e.g., as openings for meditation or prayer, as prompts for journaling or poetry-writing, as sparks for drawing or painting, as catalysts for change-making . . . You may also ignore my questions altogether to go off in other directions!

While this blessing prayer is often used in wedding ceremonies, I invite you to consider it today in a more general sense—as a pledge of intention in relation to your own life, lived with others.
How does the repetition of “Today” at the beginning of so many lines in the poem affect you? How does that repetition resonate with the final three words of the poem?
Write a poem, prayer or journal entry making repeated use of “Today when,” followed by “let ___ bless me.” Or let the blessing fall on someone else.
What would you like your “vow of this day” to be? Let it “surprise you inside your ears.” I.e., move beyond the predictable and expected to the deeply true.
Create/write a love blessing to give away.
Does your consideration of this poem move you to make any kind of promise to yourself or someone else?

Want to visit with other Rafters in the Deep Dive?

Here are two options: either leave a comment on this post using the button, or join the chat thread dedicated to this Deep Dive. (Note: if you haven’t created a Substack profile yet, you’ll be asked to do so before you can comment or chat.)

Join us on September 5 for “Rafter Refuge”!

6:30-8:00PM Central (7:30 ET, 5:30 MT, 4:30 PT)

Let’s close this Deep Dive with a time of sharing. Come and reflect with other Rafters on “Poems, Prayers, & Promises.” Registration is required for this celebration.