lenten journal

lenten journal: digging in

Milton Brasher-Cunningham

05 Mar 2014 — 1 min read

my job tonight was

to mix the ashes
and the oil making
from the charred remains
a paste of penitence

the sacred soot stared
from the bottom of
the plate as I poured
olive oil from home
and began to stir

the ashes stuck to
me like skin like they
knew me turning the
lines across my palm
into an ancient

map of heart I looked
as though I had been
digging in the dirt
even now my nails
are outlined by an

ashy shadow a
call to dig a grave
to plant a new bulb
in the same motion
a farmer of faith

Peace,
Milton

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faithful failures

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consider the sunflowers

asking for a friend