Ash Wednesday Poem

By Michaela Youngson

I feel the gritty reality of ash

beneath my thumb

ready to be placed

with care upon the head of

person, after person,

standing before me.

Each made in God's image.

Each made from dust.

Each with their own understanding, 

view, perspective

on what is taking place.

Eye to eye, soul to soul

words capture a universe breadth 

of creedal wondering

and experience.

I offer the priestly words

content to challenge lifestyle,

affirm mortality, 

offer absolution.

Only when an ash laden thumb

is placed on my head

does the meaning for myself

become clear.

I am limited by linear time,

death will come,

yet caught up also

in the eternal pattern 

of God's creating.

For more poems and reflections on Ash Wednesday visit Abbey of the Arts.