Lenten Observances

No sun shines--
Evening deepens on this,
a gray day:
gray landscape and sky,
gray road along the river,
gray car driving by,
gray guardrail and gravel
in the parking lot,
gray roofs on houses below,
gray stripes, a black gown--
From dust we come,
To dust we shall return--
ash cross on the forehead,
gray solemnity settling
in the heart.

This, the day to remember
the brevity of passage and
our bright hope.