ashes

two days ago
the gospel lined up with the hebrew scripture
the story of the insane man
who yelled at and cursed
david

the gerasene demoniac
or the schizo boy on the banks
of lake galillee

both stories portray
david and then jesus
as being quite calm in the face
of obvious madness

who knows about the 2000 pigs
storming down the hillside
into the lake

and i have been in a long reflection
as to what consititutes madness
reading naomi klein
"the shock doctrine"

so i and millions of catholics today
walk around with ashes
a dirty smudge in the form
of a cross
on the forehead

it is like some wierd rite
oddly stumbled upon by a
cultural anthropologist
all of us a little glum and
proud to wear dirt
as a sign of faith
before the world

remember you are dust
and turn to the gospel
with crumbs of ash
flaking down onto your nose

you look sort of funny with ashes
on your face

for me i want to remember today
all those who are made dirty by war
the blood the dirt the smoke the tears
the grime the noise of war
i determine once again
to carry these through lent

hey christian
you are foolish