Blessed, wounded

A poem

Photo by Arya Praditya on Unsplash

My student
found the word
blessed
in a reading.

Wounded?
she asked,
remembering her French,
blessé.

It struck me how the two
seemed similar but opposite.
Perhaps a common root?
Not so, it seems.

Blessed comes from
the Old English
for blood,
which was used
for consecration,
but was later related
to the Latin
for praise, worship
and at one point
was associated with bliss.

Both words
had links to sacrifice.
Will that explanation
suffice?

He was wounded
for our blessing.
I am wounded
and also healed
by his suffering.

This
is bliss.