blessing party

I am grateful for
and feeling reconnected to
some of the men's ritual circles I've stood in

a part of healthy masculinity
enjoyable but less common these days
is the stretch to stand up in public

interrupt the flow of the ordinary
and bless


tonight I called together a circle of partygoers
and sang a song of blessing
to a child soon to be


I started off by honoring everyone in attendance
by acknowledging how touched I felt
meeting so many giving people

and witnessing how well the parents to be
are held in so many ways
by a strong and caring community


I later heard that some of the folks there
were dog park acquaintances

and intially thought I might have
well
overshot the mark on the toast

only to be reassured that while initially
meetings happened at the dog park

people had begun bringing food over
more and more often
to the mother to be

and how indeed we are all longing for
and recreating community


the song that came to me
I had never played before

it was a folk song
from the Basque culture
gathered by friends of mine

and used to bless others
by naming those being celebrated

amidst a groovy little beat


afterwards someone invited us to speak
or just give a word of blessing
into the circle

and so it was for a few minutes
til another song came to mind

seemingly appropriate
especially amidst old hippies

and now I know even
the older Spanish folks know
teach your children

and so concluded the brief ritual


people so enjoyed the focus
and offered appreciations
the rest of the evening

including the grandma to be
who went out of her way
to say many kind words to me
as we were packing up

celebrating the community
she had now met


after an afternoon of jamming with
some really pleasant young folks
I'd just met

I thought hey this musician's life
is really not too bad


if it can contribute to a deeper level
of community connection

making the contact between us
just that much more interactive
beautiful memorable

or just fun


then that is something I am moved by

and honored
to contribute