A poem for Ash Wednesday

On my way

You said return to me
so here I am
skin and bones held

together
with memories and a little
bit of duct tape.

I am bringing
the worst of me,
consider yourself warned—
the furrowed brow,
the achy back,
the slew of judgments,
a pocket full of assumptions,
the track of negativity
that runs laps in my head.

I am bringing it all
because you said
return to me,
edits not required,
so return I will.
And not all of it will be bad.
Some of it will be lovely.

I will bring
a wagon full of nostalgia,
a melody that won’t
let me go,
a million stories that start
with the words,
“Oh it was beautiful!”

I will bring a mended heart,
a glass half-full,
two lungs, out of breath
from dancing too long,
and dreams that taste
like honey.

I will bring my whole messy
human self
because I know,
I just know,
deep in my bones,
that you are already
running to meet me.
There are no cuts on
this team.

You said you’d take it all,
so here I come.
Me and all my humanity.
We are on my way.

Poem by Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed
Published in Full to the brim: An expansive Lent

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