ash wednesday.

[camberblue]

We sat in the church
we found on a map
in order to have strange ashes
drawn onto our foreheads
(mine looked like teardrops
dripped into my eyes
and, later, the man in the restaurant
screamed a little at the sight of me.
He never recovered, either
kept glancing our way
with wary eyes waiting
for something awful to happen)

We sat in the church
whispering about
the wine I had the night before
(which led me to a funny story)
and then we noticed
the way the light played on the windows
(beautiful)
and the kids went first
bouncing up to the front
the adults dressed nicely
dipping fingers in bowls
of mystery
smearing us with penitence
or holiness or something
I bowed my head
when it came to my turn
and the palm remnants
mixed with the grease of my forehead
above my eyes
left me suddenly marked-
aware
of something that I could not see
and the priest
raised his hand in blessing
and the air swelled
with sighs and prayers like
symphonies.