Ash Wednesday 22
Published in
Mar 3, 2022
March 2, 2022
Ashes descending, float down from the sky.
They rise again from earth below,
caught within the burning breezes
encircling and burning — consuming our homes.
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust,
we lay our broken bodies down,
tired and worn in crowded spaces:
the mass graves beneath our towns.
This is the day for us to turn
from darkness that hides within our hearts;
to recognize that all have sinned
and will return once more to the earth.
Today we require no bowls of ash,
for when we woke, it covered our heads.
Now we trace the cross with our tears
and weep for the living and for the dead.
© Darryl Willis, March 2, 2022
