At least to pray is left, is left,
(and wilt thou set things right,)
Oh Jesus in the air?
I’m knocking everywhere.
I know not which thy chamber is,
(else I would call when just in sight.)
(Or would I thus thy wrath incite,
who) settest Earthquake in the South,
and Maelstrom in the Sea.
(Lord, is that truly thee?)
(Thou art my one hope of respite:
I cast myself upon thy might.)
Say, Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
hast thou no arm for me?
~ Emily Dickinson (and Rebekah Choat)
Yesterday I thought
that I would weep forever.
Now tonight I know
there is nothing left in me —
no tears, no sighs, not a word.
~ Rebekah Choat
The day grows darker still, and still the clouds won’t loose the rain.
How much anticipation must be borne before the pain?
~ Rebekah Choat
I’d like to tell you
my earliest memory of stars:
dozens of dozens of diamonds
scattered freehand
on a velvet midnight sky
above a gentle sea,
the delicate acoustics
of salt and sand and surf
supporting the soaring chorus
of the Pleiades.
I’d like to tell you
that’s how it really was —
so much lovelier than
bits of gilt paper
and paste stuck carefully
into squares within squares
on the beige Sunday School wall.
~ Rebekah Choat
All is quiet; not quite still.
A mourning dove repeats his trill,
“I am here, I am here.”
The sun is chary of the sky.
A sparrow ventures to reply,
“Right here, right here, right here.”
Though it’s morning, light is dim.
Shadows are approaching Him,
drawing near, drawing near.
Clouds grow darker through the day.
A freshening wind touches His face.
He swallows down His fear.
Evening dies into the West.
His heart knows, and His jaw is set.
The way ahead is clear.
At table with the ones He loves,
outside the walls He hears the dove
again call, “I am here.”
~ Rebekah Choat
Small as a world, this smooth round stone
you gave to me, and large as alone,
and grey as the sea it rolled in from,
hurled on the shore to be brought home.
Within its sphere are foam and sky
and bite of salt and seagull’s cry
and height of wave and stretch of sand,
and here I hold it in my hand.
It sings a song of tideswept stars
and deeps where untold wonders are.
It keeps the memory of the wind
and brings me whispers of a friend.
I can’t be lost — it anchors me,
this smooth round stone out of the sea.
~ Rebekah Choat
Don’t be afraid.
Sit in the darkness.
Listen for dawn.
I will be there.
~ Rebekah Choat
image by Rebekah Choat
Lavender, rosemary, marjoram, mint,
Sweetest of herbs in my garden close,
Gracing the morning with their mingled scent,
Lavender, rosemary,marjoram, mint.
Lavender, rosemary, marjoram, mint,
Holiness, purity, safety and peace,
Comfort, remembrance, healing, content,
Lavender, rosemary, marjoram, mint.
Lavender, rosemary, marjoram, mint,
Happiness, respite from sorrow, heart’s ease,
Brightness and deep breath and friendly intent,
Lavender, rosemary, marjoram, mint.
Lavender, rosemary, marjoram, mint,
Sweetest of herbs in my garden close,
Gracing the morning with their mingled scent,
Lavender, rosemary, marjoram, mint.
~ Rebekah Choat
This time yesterday —
or twenty-four years ago,
it might have been —
the whole world —
or maybe it was just my bed —
heaved and convulsed and spun round,
madly methodically crushing me.
After eternity —
or a few hours, perhaps —
the universe —
or my room, one or the other —
stood solid again, though shaken,
and I was not destroyed.
~ Rebekah Choat
A long nap on a
rainy Sunday afternoon –
gentle gracious gift.
~ Rebekah Choat
Becka's Blog 