Benedictus

No one knows the wonder
Your child awoke in you,
Your heart a perfect cradle
To hold its presence,
Inside and outside became one
As new waves of love
Kept surprising your soul

You will wear his absence
Like a secret locket,
Always wondering why
Such a new soul
Was taken home so soon. 

Let the silent tears flow
And when your eyes clear
Perhaps you will glimpse
How your eternal child
Has become the unseen angel
Who parents the heart
And persuades the moon
To send new gifts ashore 

Poem extract from Benedictus - A Book of Blessings
By John O’Donohue

Mosaic from The Church of Spilled Blood,
St Petersburg