I was reading a book (The Bell and the Blackbird) by one of my favorite poets, David Whyte, and I came across this poem that resonated with me deeply. It’s about unrequited love, but can also be about any sort of lost relationship. I thought I’d share it here just because it’s touching and there’s so much wisdom in the idea of wishing blessings on those who hurt us or leave us.

BLESSING FOR UNREQUITED LOVE

A blessing on the eyes that do not see me as I wish.
A blessing to the ears that can never hear the far inward
footfall of my own shy heart. Blessings to the life
in you that will live without me, to the open door
that now and forever takes you away from me,
blessings to the path that you follow alone and blessings
to the path that awaits you with another.

A blessing to the way you will not know me
in the years to come [……] Let me be
generous enough and large enough and brave enough
to say goodbye to you without any understanding,
to let you go into your own understanding,
to live fully in your understanding, and to gift
your understanding. May you always be
in the sweet, central, hidden shadow of my memory
without needing to know — who you were when
you first came — who you were when you stayed —
and who you will become in your freedom now
that you have passed through my life and gone.

–David Whyte
from The Bell and the Blackbird