Ash-Wednesday

A deeply contemplative poem of spiritual reckoning, this work follows a speaker turning away from ambition, memory, and the restless pursuit of worldly fulfillment. In spare yet musical language, it explores the difficult discipline of accepting what cannot be recovered and learning to remain still before mystery. Repeated prayers and invocations give the poem the atmosphere of a private confession shaped by religious devotion.

Its journey moves through stark, dreamlike images: dry landscapes, scattered bones, white-robed figures, silent gardens, twisting stairways, and a flute heard beyond the reach of ordinary time. These visions suggest an inward pilgrimage, where desire, despair, forgetfulness, and grace continually confront one another. Best experienced slowly, the work rewards attentive listening to its rhythms, repetitions, and shifting voices as they seek a form of peace beyond certainty.