Blessing That Meets You in Love — Jan Richardson
It is true that / every blessing begins / with love,
that whatever else / it might say,
love is always / precisely its point.
But it should be noted / that this blessing
has come today / especially to tell you
it is crazy about you.
That it has been / in love with you / forever.
That it has never / not wanted / to see your face,
to go through this world / in your company.
This blessing thought / it was high time
it told you so, just to make sure / you know.
If it has been shy / in saying this,
it has not been / for any lack of / wanting to.
It’s just that / this blessing / knows the risk
of offering itself / in a way that / will so alter you—
not because it thinks / you could stand / some improving,
but because this is / simply where / loving leads.
This blessing knows / how love undoes us,
unhinges us, unhides us.
It knows / how loving
can sometimes feel / like dying.
But today / this blessing / has come to tell you / the secret
that sends it / to your door:
that it gives itself / only to those / willing to come alive;
that it vows itself / only to those
ready to be / born anew.