Songs of Gems and Bones
Ebook
This collection of song-like poems has as its overarching theme the mystery-filled relationship between two worlds: the spiritual and the earthly realms invoked by the two key terms in the book's title: gems and bones. It is difficult most of the time to separate these two worlds, and the poems serve to communicate the author's experience of the tensions, the ecstasies, even the humor which unfold with their intertwining. The various dimensions of that experience are reflected in the organization of the "songs" into six sub-thematic chapters: songs from the garden; of death and falling; of griping and wrestling; of vision; of striving; of love and cleaving. While deeply personal, the poems nevertheless struggle towards a mode of expression of the spiritual life on earth appealing to readers of diverse religious backgrounds.
“Michelle Rebidoux’s poems sing of gems scattered by a divine lover in earth and sky, sea and soul. They evoke an ache in our bones for the God whose treasures seem ever present yet always elusive. Take these poems and turn them towards the light. They sparkle and call forth prayer that we may dwell in God and God in us, even in our very bones.”
—Joseph S. Pagano and Amy E. Richter, co-authors of Love in Flesh and Bone
“Sometimes aware and focused and oft times intentionally unmindful, from the moments of our first awareness we must move forward through life. On this road, a pilgrim has taken time to prepare a guest room for travelers who need a place to reflect on the irreversible moments of life. You are welcome and will be refreshed here as Michelle Rebidoux’s words, a candle in your hand, cast light on the intricacies, joys, and challenges of being you.”
—John Watton, bishop, Diocese of Central Newfoundland
“Michelle Rebidoux’s poetry is illustrative of her participation in the universal search for meaning in life. However, her search is not simply confined to seeking a supranatural deity in a distant heaven; she also seeks the divine in nature as in her life’s experiences. Her poems nurture in the reader a sense of awe and wonder in the ordinary, which is so easily displaced from contemporary living by the ‘busyness’ of modernity.”
—Frank Cluett, provost emeritus, Queen’s College
- Title: Songs of Gems and Bones
- Author: Michelle Rebidoux
- Publisher: Resource Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666770766, 9781666770759, 1666770752, 9781666770742, 1666770744, 1666770760
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666770766
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-04-09T10:01:21Z
A native of southern Ontario, Michelle Rebidoux studied art, philosophy, and religious studies at various Canadian universities, receiving her PhD in religion and culture from McGill University in 2008. She currently resides in St. John’s, Newfoundland, where she teaches religious studies at Memorial University and theology at Queen’s College. Her first book of poetry, The Last Thing Is Longing, was published in 2021.