Ash Wednesday
Today is the beginning of Lent. This is a time to remember that we will die, that Christ died for us to take the sting from death, and that it was our sins that put him on the cross. In honor of the day and of the season, I’ll be sharing poems throughout Lent from my book Liturgical Entanglements. Today’s poem is fittingly titled, “Ash Wednesday”.
“Ash Wednesday” The love that moves the sun and other stars Now moves me to my end and to my death. It moves my lungs to take their final breath. Fasting, weeping, mourning, sighing are Not able to do me good. Just like Macbeth, My sins are my undoing. There is nothing left, No prayer to save my soul, to remove these scars. But then, the ashes touch my head, and I Am brought to life. I can return with heart Made clean by the joy of the Lord born in a stall, Whose unending love makes sin and darkness die. But I must repent, give myself, every part. For God will have me whole, or not at all.