A Blessing for Thanksgiving, written after Beethoven (Kayleen Asbo)

 May I have the eyes to see

The sacred ordinary miracles that weave their web of light

Around each darkening day:

The dappled dew-dropped leaves that decorate each dawn,

The shimmering sunrise on the glistening grass,

The symphony of birdsong that greets each new morn

And the owl’s lament as the moon rises and sets.

May I be mindful of all the graces I did not deserve

and yet fell upon my thirsty soul:

For the beauty that ran to embrace my hurried, harried eyes and ears,

For the kindness of strangers that softened the shadows of sorrow,

For the loyalty of friends who saw my need and wordlessly offered

their tender touch,

For the courage that Beethoven kindles across the centuries

As he shows us the way

To compose a life of hope in the midst of despair,

Joy in the midst of sorrow,

Love in the midst of loneliness.

No matter what may come,

May my soul, too, remember

To sing a song of Thanksgiving

Until my last, grateful breath.

--Kayleen Asbo,

A Blessing for Thanksgiving, written after Beethoven

www.kayleenasbo.com

To hear the Alban Berg Quartet perform Beethoven's Quartet in A minor Op. 132, Heiliger Dankgesang, which inspired this poem, click on the video below:

 

Image source:  http://room5huiarange.blogspot.com/2012/09/spider-poetry.html