“With these friends let it bless you”
Blessing for Wedding - Jane Hirschfield | Harvest Bay Coconut Water with Pineapple
The Poem
Blessing for Wedding - Jane Hirschfield
Today when persimmons ripen
Today when fox-kits come out of their den into snow
Today when the spotted egg releases its wren song
Today when the maple sets down its red leaves
Today when windows keep their promise to open
Today when fire keeps its promise to warm
Today when someone you love has died
or someone you never met has died
Today when someone you love has been born
or someone you will not meet has been born
Today when rain leaps to the waiting of roots in their dryness
Today when starlight bends to the roofs of the hungry and tired
Today when someone sits long inside his last sorrow
Today when someone steps into the heat of her first embrace
Today, let this light bless you
With these friends let it bless you
With snow-scent and lavender bless you
Let the vow of this day keep itself wildly and wholly
Spoken and silent, surprise you inside your ears
Sleeping and waking, unfold itself inside your eyes
Let its fierceness and tenderness hold you
Let its vastness be undisguised in all your days
The Beverage
Harvest Bay Coconut Water with Pineapple
Hello. I almost typed “Help” there, which also would have been appropriate. I am quite hungover today. I went to a very, very fun wedding last night, and it was beautiful. I cried a number of times, surprising no one. There are many beautiful things about weddings, and this Jane Hirschfield poem is one of my favorite ways to express some of them. A couple in love, surrounded in love by people who love them. It’s such a bold act, so specific and universal at once.
Apparently the way I cope with all that love and emotion is by getting extremely trashed on the signature gin and sparkling wine cocktail, red wine, white wine, tequila, and beer while also not really eating dinner. Okay, typing that out really solidified why I am so hungover today. I get it. That list has a whole slew of red flags in it. Let’s not revisit it. But I do have to say, this liter of coconut water with pineapple is really helping me feel human again. It tastes great, in my opinion, though I know some people think coconut water tastes like rotten bubblegum. The pineapple helps, too.
In the past, I have been a supporter of Big Gatorade. (I still love Gatorade, actually.) Going coconut water makes me feel like I’m an adult who has some modicum of healthy habits instead of an overgrown undergrad who cannot be trusted to get herself home from the after-party. (True, I had to be walked home last night.) (I cannot be trusted.) (I love my friends so much.) (I love weddings so much.) (I love DC SO MUCH.)