Lenten Sonnet I, 2025

Ash Wednesday, 2025

Remember Death. Thus begins the journey.
Forty days I travel downward, weaving
Through the headstones of the shadowed valley,
Adding my own dirge to the din, grieving
The grim reality of Death’s power.
My soul is bright with love, candle held high
And fragile in the face of this dark hour
When for a little while the springs are dry.
Let this thirst for light and water remind,
Restore, recalibrate my heart’s compass,
And guide my hungry soul until I find
A well, a fire, a feast at Easter mass.
You alone, Lord, are life, and light, and breath.
You and only you can dismember Death.