ASH

Lent 2016

ASH

I would build a fire
with wishes and dreams,
set them to blaze 

against the night's darkness,
and stand close as the wind swirls up
in the frozen landscape
of our wintered world.
I would ask you to come
and add the kindling
of your own heart's desires,
and we would laugh, warmed through,
as the light flickered up and out
into the cosmic emptiness.
At last, of course, the flames would die,
our fire turned to ashes.
But we would still be there, together,
held in the splendid heat of love
as we thumbed the ashes on our faces,
dusted by those dreams
which death cannot erase.

--Timothy Haut, Feb. 10, 2016