day of ashes

Posted on 10 Feb 2016 by

22 Comments

source: photoart abstract: Ash Wednesday

After Mammon’s merry making
and a drear winter of discontent
comes atonement

burn the fronds of frenzied welcome
in token of man’s forgetfulness

mark well the signs of commitment
for fear our cause will be lost

make fast all appetites
else conscience is swept by sensation

shroud the icons in purple
lest we fail to consider beyond

sift particles of memory
for stardust harbingers of sin

today a new start with a beginning
suspended between what never was
and what will forever be

in the desert we too can rejoice
let the temptations begin

An abstraction of Lententide for the Midweek Motif: The Inanimate & the Non Human

Category: poemsTags: , ,

22 Comments on “day of ashes”

  1. Ash Wednesday – of course – it is so early this year..so quickly it passes as you age..reminds me of how tenderly the Mother is wrapped up in the little church here..maybe it’s not what you believe but how you believe in it which counts.. any relief is welcome perhaps..skilfully written and thoughtful (as always)

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    • well said – the how is the half of it Jae Rose –

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    • these are touching times Sanaa – thank you

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    • and to you Gillena and snap with our posts too!

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    • evoking the sense of Lent’s light at the end of the tunnel

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  5. Yes, in the desert we can all rejoice. Despite the present darkness of lent, we know that the end of the story is glorious!

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    • yes Mary – the end is joyous but I also like the quiet contemplation of the desert

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  6. Sadly most will make use of the season for their own pleasures rather than as a period of reflection and fasting (even in a token form). Still we do have hope don’t we?

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    • there is less and less room it seems for matters beyond the everyday today

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  7. this made me think of all that will be given up for the season of lent. and how grueling the temptations will be. ohhh Lord have mercy!

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  9. we have a spiritual self, much above the material and intellectual…and on special moments like these we do reflect…”today a new start with a beginning / suspended between what never was / and what will forever be”…my favorite part…

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    • almost a relief to have the time set aside for such matters Sumana – and thank you for the prompt!

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  11. we can only hope that which each fall and new beginning that we fall less often – never forgetting the grace.

    Thanks for sharing Laura

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    • so true – hope never to be tempted to just give up and stay down

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