Ash Wednesday Arrives Again

carefully carrying a history

of Jesus asking his followers

to drape themselves in doing

difficult things like “love

your enemy” and “be not

afraid,” none of which ever

gets any easier than the first

time you heard it, or the last

time you tried to put it into

practice while the wind at night

and hard stares from strangers

kept speaking with sandpaper

voices through sharp, yellow

teeth eager to devour you.

And you think, “That’s a lot 

to ask of dust held together

with vibrating particles of light.”

But there’s still more to this world

than danger and unwavering trouble.

We just have to turn around to see it.