3rd Wednesday of Lent

alabaster jar
filled with the sweetest perfume –
stone arrives at site

Holy Week – Wednesday

The feet of Christ were spoken of by John¹
who claimed he was unworthy to unclasp
the sandals that the Holy One had on
and so when Mary² took and broke a flask
of costly perfume over those same feet
and then went on to wipe them with her hair
some of those present didn’t waste a beat
condemning what she’d done – how could she dare?
But Christ saw value – not unworthiness
He saw her love and loved her in return
where others cursed her, Jesus deemed to bless
accepting her when others tried to spurn
Each act of love, like perfume being poured
becomes a fragrant off’ring to the Lord

~~

¹ – John the Baptist
² – Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus

~~

My poems and thoughts this week have been largely inspired by “The Pilgrim Year: Holy Week” devotional book by Steve Bell (can be purchased from https://pilgrimyear.com/), as well as the poetry of Malcolm Guite’s book “Sounding the Seasons”, which I believe is available on Amazon. Malcolm has also been posting his poems on his blog, where you can also listen to him reading them (malcolmguite.wordpress.com). If you are not familiar with this poet, he is well worth the read/listen. He has a depth to his poetry that often leaves me speechless.

Let’s Be Scent-sible

no perfume scent so beautiful
nor rose e’er smelled so sweet
no meal’s aroma can compare
e’en when I wish to eat

for whether now or not I sup
no scent at all can perk me up
like scent of coffee in my cup

~~

for dVerse, where today we are writing 44 word poems that include the word “rose”.