Ash Wednesday 2014 Poem by oluchukwu ifechukwu

Ash is solemn sobriety
and
a birthlong cultivated contrition

Wednesday is felicitous midweek
for backward-and-forward-looking
over every individual day
every roundly reflexive doing
of week-life

And there are emotive memories
of non-imputable days
when mother-clinging lads
queued enchantedly up
for inscription with the ascetic season
immersion in mindful mournfulness
saddled in sack clothes

Now perfumed participants
pricey ointment
poured on their heads
their foreheads
take in choice cosmetic stride
ash-shines
of cultured contrition.