Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025

The words of the prophets
Lord have mercy
are written on the
chambers of the heart
Christ have mercy.

Save us from flailing
on the hot-air waves,
plummeting through
the darkness,
cupping against despair

the flickering light
of a high, cold star,
inexplicable hope
that will not let us go
Ashes, Ashes.

We tell you over and over
and over again, my friend,
on the eve of destruction,
we will not all fall down.

*Echoes of Song Lyrics, A Nursery Rhyme, and a Short Story Image:

Bob Dylan, “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, “The Sound Of Silence”
Stephen Crane, “The Open Boat,” Doubleday & McClure Co., 1898: “A high cold star”
Children’s Nursery Rhyme: “Ring Around The Rosie”
Barry McGuire, “Eve Of Destruction,” written by P. F. Sloan