Wash

#withdraw2020 Day Two


WASH


Well, that’s a wash, you say. Meaning a failure.
Over and done with.
Or never done at all. Canceled, suspended,
never managed to materialize.
Hanging incomplete in the air, awaiting no certain resolution.

Everything these days is uncertain.
We are all in limbo wondering how long life
can be put on hold indefinitely.
Where will we go from here?

It will all come out in the wash, you say.
Meaning: it’s of no lasting consequence,
no permanent harm done.
Things will normalize over time.

Nothing a little soap and water and some agitation
Cannot handle.
We all need some agitation now and then
To shake us awake out of our complacency
To remove the grit and soil and spots.


Wash me more and more from my guilt,
The psalmist cries, and cleanse me of my sins.
Oh thoroughly wash me and I shall be clean.
My garments shall be white as the sun
and my soul like the noonday snow sparkling, blinding.

This is the way we wash our hands,
Wash our hands, wash our hands,
This is the way we obsess over contagion
Morning, noon, and night.
Ashes ashes we all hope to rise again.

Oh Christ, Christ, come quickly and wash this all away.

Simcha Fisher has started a drawing challenge to get us through the time of quarantine. #withdraw2020 Come, play along.