Representing Ash Wednesday Poem by Mukesh Williams

When the palm crosses are burnt
And repentance turns to ashes
We draw with our fingers
Signs on the forehead of a man and
Anoint him with catechumens oil,
Dust thou art and
Unto dust thou shall return!

We stand in the naves of ancient cathedrals
In desperation looking into the isles
For the clawed movement of light,
But hear only dark stone echoes,
Or the font gurgling in the apse,
The rewards of atonement,
Miserere mei deus!

We supplicate the Penitential psalms
With enough gusto to ignite
The religious iconography of a polyptych,
Apprehend the penumbra of contrition,
In the stained panels of the reredos, and
Go beyond the Rembrandtian chiaroscuros,
Have mercy on me, O God!