POEM: Ash Wednesday, 2016

Ash Wednesday, 2016

Today

in church

the priest
reminded

us

in his homily

that

in order to

obtain

eternal life,

first,

we must

die.

Death,

he said,

is an inevitable

fact

of

our

lives.

He

anointed

our

foreheads

with

ash,

then

later,

gave

communion.

After

mass,

I

went out

with

my mother and

step-father

to eat

at

an Italian restaurant—

no

meat,

not

for me, not today.

Now,

I am sitting

alone

in my parents’

warm,

grey Honda Accord

in

late afternoon

on

this cold winter day,

sitting

inside

in

the early evening

sun,

with the engine

off,

sitting

and

listening

to

classical piano

by

Johann Sebastian Bach,

playing

over

the

SiriusXM

car

satellite radio,

Channel 76,

Symphony

Hall.

I was

going

into

a

café

for

coffee,

but

now,

I

cannot bring

myself

to

leave

this

music

in the

car—

so

beautiful.

Today

is

the first day

of

Lent,

the

priest

mentioned,

also,

a

season of

self-

sacrifice

and

asceticism,

as

we follow

Christ

with our lives,

and

as we lead up to

the

celebration

of

Easter.

 

—Nicholas Patti

Charlotte, NC