“Let calm be this house

The quiet of the Master’s breath

Rule over and bless this house.

May the wind blow the chaff

Far past this house,

And the wheat of peace, fullness

Plenty and beauty walk

The floors of this house,

And may the Graces of the angels

And the ripe and the good

Touch each stone of this house

So all within

Will be gentled as the stilled cloud

After the storms have passed over

Leaving newborn and fresh

For the outstretched hand

The dew that shall ever make

Each new world in the dawns

For us creatures made of clay,

Heavy of heart,

Heavy with breath

Longing, always longing

The sweet return

Of our joy of wings.”

-William Desmond O’Brien

August 25, 2003.

(To my beloved daughter, Mary Yasoda O’Brien 9/29/2003)