For the Artist at the Start of Day

May this be a morning of innocent beginning,
When the gift within you slips clear
Of the sticky web of the personal
With its hurt and hauntings,
And fixed fortress corners,

A morning when you become a pure vessel
For what wants to ascend from silence,

May your imagination know
The grace of perfect danger,

To reach beyond imitation,
And the wheel of repetition,

Deep into the call of all
The unfinished and unsolved

Until the veil of the unknown yields
And something original begins
To stir toward your senses
And grow stronger in your heart...

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from 'For the Artist at the Start of Day' from book
TO BLESS THE SPACE BETWEEN US

(Photo of sunrise from Ke'e Beach in Kauai, 2013)