Sunrise

Sunrise
Sunrise on Sunset Beach

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Jessica's Blessing

Mirador, Costa Rica
March 10, 2010; updated September 21, 2023

Trapped in the din of exuberance
I shrink behind a stoic smile
as children of Mirador
shake the sanctuary walls,
submerging my senses,
drowning thought
in waves of chaos washing by,
composed of shouts
and soccer balls,
giggling swirls of almond girls,
rice krispie squares and lemonade,
the dreams they share 
of lives unfurled 
beyond the world of Mirador.

But can we ever comprehend
the calculus of blessings?
How karma comes so well
disguised. How butterflies
somewhere will sway,
the wind will shift another way,
and through the swirling
stardust currents, God speaks
Child to empire’s fringe.
How echoes anchor minds
that wander, crack the armor,
fill the arms that ache to cradle,
fill the lives that ache for more.
And how the winds of Mirador
bestow in trust a brown-eyed boy
to bind my soul a blessed hour
adrift on complicated tides
unbidden thoughts impressed inside 
from child or God I cannot say –

Are you among the modern magi, 
those who wander far-off byways 
searching for a holy child 
to bless with gifts then walk away, 
to one day join a jeering band 
in casting lots for what remains 
when charity gets out of hand, 
declares ‘shalom’ then works for change?

At the open church door, threshold
to the gleaming muddy world beyond,
a red-dress girl but five feet tall
lays down her youth, reclaims her child
and lifts the face of timid grace
to offer what she holds inside
her blessing, a beatitude —
Be happy, spoken word for me
from God or girl I cannot say.
Madonna child of fourteen years
squares her back and turns away,
with watchful baby over shoulder
skips past puddles, rounds the corner,
treading lightly on the pathway
down her mud and gravel days.