Blessing for Myself and for You, by Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit

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ט״ו באדר ה׳תש״פ (2020-03-11) under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Well-being, health, and caregiving

Tags:

תחינות teḥinot, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Prayers as poems, English vernacular prayer, teḥinot in English

A poem-blessing for trailblazers of many kinds, to honor everyday courage and to inspire trust and self-compassion. May we get the support we need as we midwife the world to come.

[Financial contributions are most welcome, and support further creation and sharing of Ilana’s creative work. Venmo to @Ilana-Streit.]

may you keep breathing
each moment
in and out

may more and more of your cells
be kissed by oxygen

may you keep trusting your feet, your path, your heart,
your feet, your breath, your heart,
may you feel and trust in everything that helps you breathe easier

may your bare feet be caressed by
cool stones
may you stop often to bask on sun-warmed stone

may you know that the path of trailblazing has been walked by many souls ahead of you

may your roots
be your roots
may they descend from your feet
and know that they belong just to you

may you inhabit the crown
that is yours to wear

may you ḥevruta with Esther, making banquet after banquet
for as long as necessary
and then with one breath, altering the course
of history-herstory (whether real or imaginary)

may your fruits
be your fruits
may you taste them, may you share them
and may their seeds spread, until everyone has juice
dribbling down their chins

“Blessing for Myself and for You” (alternately: “The Trailblazer’s Blessing”) was written by Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit in January 2016.

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“Blessing for Myself and for You, by Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit” is shared by the living contributor(s) with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Ilana Streit

Weaver of Blessings: poet, liturgist, singer-songwriter. Interpretive, radical, earthy, feminist. Based in Greater Boston, MA.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established."–Psalms 90:17