A Blessing by James Wright

A Blessing
James Wright

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,

Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.

And the eyes of those two Indian ponies

Darken with kindness.

They have come gladly out of the willows

To welcome my friend and me.

We step over the barbed wire into the pasture

Where they have been grazing all day, alone.

They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness

That we have come.

They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.

There is no loneliness like theirs.

At home once more,

They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.

I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,

For she has walked over to me

And nuzzled my left hand.

She is black and white,

Her mane falls wild on her forehead,

And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear

That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.

Suddenly I realize

That if I stepped out of my body I would break

Into blossom.

MARGINALIA

1.
Think I can count on my fingers how many times I have stepped over the barbed wire of my life and into the beyond, where happiness has come to meet me. When I was much younger, I thought myself the purveyor of the spontaneous, but now I am more cautious about approaching joy as if it is a creature about to bolt away from me.

2.
Sometimes I miss who I used to be.

3.
Have you ever arrived at wonder, and what was it that you were looking at?

4.
When your eyes rake over me with tenderness, when your hand cups my cheek ever so gently—I can’t bring back who I was but I can still wear this body, I can still break open, I can still be held.