Remember, man, that thou art dust.
The earl kneels, the ash of the end is written on his brow.
A captain of ships kneels, to be put in mind of a death in a far port, or at home, or on a rock of the sea.
And the boy that holds cinders for the priest,
His forehead is smeared,
Who wears a coat of fourteen Aprils…
—George Mackay Brown, “Ash Wednesday”
Published in TRAVELLERS (John Murray, 2013)
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