A special saint Ignatius
Whose spirit was truly audacious
A kind and loving man
With prayer and with care
He spread love about
Lord Jesus Christ everywhere
Inspiring hearts contagious.

You have Icarus wings,
And the sun is beating down.
Your halo is plastic,
Melting through your hair.
Think they’ll listen to you now?

Convincing as you tried,
A carnival sleight of hand,
Distracting with your clamor.
Did you hope they'd understand
While you dragged me through the gallows,
Lashed me with leather tongues,
Hoping I'd succumb to your reprimand?

Let me be a sacrifice
Martyrdom, a swinging pendulum,
Tethered to the truth etched on my wrinkles.
I’ll die never having known your lies.
No regrets will pile upon my station,
No weights to drag my feet down,
No anchor when the rope catches my throat.

I surrender nothing.

So tell them,
Talk in your Sunday masses
Tell them I was a demon,
Condemn then, condemn
And I’ll haunt in untold horrors.

Let you cast the first stone,
May it break my bones,
Truth seeps from my marrow
Bleeds out onto your stage,
How can you control them when..

You have Icarus wings,
And the sun is beating down
Your halo is plastic,
Melting through your hair,
Who will believe you now?

~
July 2025
HP Poet: Bekah Halle
Age: 40+
Country: Australia


Question 1: We warmly welcome you to the HP Spotlight, Bekah. Please tell us about your background?

Bekah Halle: "I am known at HP as Bekah Halle. My first name is Rebekah, and Halley is my middle name. I am the eldest of two girls, the aunt of three gorgeous girls and the eldest of 20+ cousins.

I am a counsellor and a chaplain for people across all ages. But, in my early career I was a PR & Marketing Consultant for FMCG companies and non-profits.

I am creative and love art, drama, photography, poetry, and music. Recently, I have become more captivated by nature, writing about it and being out in nature."


Question 2: How long have you been writing poetry, and for how long have you been a member of Hello Poetry?

Bekah Halle: "As a child, I used to love writing stories, and poetry later. In some ways you could say poetry found me. In 2012 I had surgery to remove a brain aneurysm and AVM that resulted in a stroke and then being in a 40-day coma. Healing involved many modalities, locations and years and poetry was a way for me to express the things I was thinking and feeling but could not say. I didn't show them to anyone until I completed a MA in Chaplaincy and during the course, there was a reflective writing element to process our journey. During this time I brought my poetry ‘out of the closet’ or into the light, and shared with people and they encouraged me to continue writing. I looked for ways to share my poetry, to get feedback and found HP! And you all have been very encouraging!"


Question 3: What inspires you? (In other words, how does poetry happen for you).

Bekah Halle: "I mostly get inspired by faith and life. I can get a stirring from the Holy Spirit and/or I can be in life and see a moment as special or in a new light and want to capture it in words. I will write, re-write and set it aside or sometimes it comes to me in a flash. The poetry writes me."


Question 4: What does poetry mean to you?

Bekah Halle: "Life. Expression. Hope. Extolling God."


Question 5: Who are your favorite poets?

Bekah Halle: "I studied Samuel Coleridge in High School and still remember his poems today. The Psalmists in The Bible, Emily Brontë, Sylvia Plath, Victor Hugo, Mary Oliver, Jane Tyson Clement, Rainer Maria Rilke, David Scott…to name a few."


Question 6: What other interests do you have?

Bekah Halle: "The power of gratitude, fitness, travel and learning."


Carlo C. Gomez: “We would like to thank you Bekah, we really appreciate you giving us the opportunity to get to know the person behind the poet! It is our pleasure to include you in this Spotlight series!”

Bekah Halle: "Thank you for the opportunity."




Thank you everyone here at HP for taking the time to read this. We hope you enjoyed coming to know Bekah a little bit better. We certainly did. It is our wish that these spotlights are helping everyone to further discover and appreciate their fellow poets. – Carlo C. Gomez

We will post Spotlight #30 in August!

~

******* a poet
You'd think it would be easy.

Just avert your eyes, don't see me.

Let my words flounder upon pages unread,
surely that's the way to make a poet dead.

Alas I must say that's very far from true.
You see lonely poets write even more poetry
when they're feeling blue.

When they're feeling beat down, broken, torn in two,
It seems that's when their best work shines through.

So, How do you **** a poet?
I wonder why you'd want to.

But hey that's just my opinion,
if you still do.

Try a gun that usually works!