Blessing for a Child born in Autumn

Born into the color of chrysanthemums –

umber and amber,

purple and gold and bronze,

may you have color in life.

Born into the leaf-falling

and the life-clarifying time,

of the scarlet-chasing of maples,

and the dark true silhouettes

of oak and elm,

bare as bones,

may you always be able to shed the

scattered things,

and find roots deep,

to outline in the glow of sunset

the naked beauty of your soul.

Born into the abundance of pumpkin

and Indian corn, of squash,

and apples, red as joy,

born into a ripeness,

when the earth is warmer

than the wind, born into

the grey and weathered ingathering

of working fields and barns,

and the shabby rich fruition

of roadside farmstands,

may you have harvest, and touch

the bounty you have planted.

Born into the season of all souls,

ghosts and saints, season

of bonfires to hallow the hunting dark

and lanterns to shine

the wandering spirits in,

may you have wandering in you,

and a holiness no cloister

can define;

may a great creative fire

be kindled on the horizon of you;

and, yet, may there always be windows

where love lights a candle

to welcome you home.

 

— Maren Tirabassi