Ash Wednesday Prayer

At the place of intersection

Where the waves uproot the earth

And crash away, are gone;

At the place of silence

Where the rushing wind is paused

And I fall into myself;

At the place of burning

Where light, unavoidable, streams

And the dark lies trembling;

In this place, hear my prayer.

At the place of unclothing,

Where I struggle with filthy rags

And avert my shrinking gaze;

At the place of beseeching,

Where I account my beggared state

And have nothing in my hands;

At the place of forgetting,

Where the map won’t fit this country

And I know no compass points:

In this place, hear my prayer.

At the place of congestion,

Where the haggling voices drown me

And my lips have no words left;

At the place of desertion,

Where love vanishes in quicksand

And I castigate my heart;

At the place of ignorance,

Where assumptions turn to mock me

And relentless truth stares down;

In this place, hear my prayer.

And may mercy fall like rain.