C Train To the Temple
Lenten Devotional for 2022

I primp for conquest, waxy with bad credit
I glare at my phone, hissing with chagrin
I growl in the embrace of my hangover
I shove ahead, razor thin in business casual

   My mouth is blighted, I only taste ashes
   My body is wracked, I feel the pull of every thread
   My sight is dimmed, I see just what the world so owes me
   My soul is empty, I ring like a bell if touched–

       Don’t you people know who I am??

I pray in the apartment found in the dead of night
I call my creditors, pledging payment for time
I find a stray dog and leash him with my fancy belt
We walk and learn the names of old ladies and kids
   
   I come to work and actually work
   I trace the childhood faces of fellow riders on the train
   I switch to water, so much water, and am washed clean
   I assemble a new life from familiar rubble–

       How did I not know all you lovely people??