Ash Wednesday

We are not “but dust”

But “from dust”

From dust

Mixed with red blood

Shaped by stories told around tables and fires

Decorated with laughter

Glazed in the tears of our grandmothers

And forged in experience, pain and love

We connect in breath

And touch

And song

And jokes

And prayer

Our dust mingles

With the that of those we touch

Who touch us

And leave indelible marks

We shall return

To dust

To earth

And water

And air

What we were will be breathed in

And expelled

When our tall tales, our songs, our prayers

Fall from the lips of others

Brought from dust

Into the light for a time