Do you love me?—Sarah Crowley Chestnut
For more articles, videos, books, and resources about faith and art, visit RabbitRoom.com.
by Sarah Crowley Chestnut
(John 21)
You asked me as a man, and
you asked me as the Maker of man.
Four words, each the size and shimmer
of a grain of sand. And gritty.
The question made us both naked.
But only you were unashamed.
I hurried my reply like a woman
clutching bedsheets, and caught.
To say the moment was fraught
does not mean it wasn’t pure.
A question as simple as bread, and clean.
Flour. Water. Salt. Yeast. Littlest, least.
Is yours a question of catch and release?
Ask me and ask me, O ask me again.
Ask me till I no longer care if I understand.
Your asking is food, is faith, is yoke, key,
kindling, scale-sharp, and shimmering.
I stood there, netted, hook-sunk,
oven ready.Originally from Mariposa, California, Sarah Crowley Chestnut has lived and worked at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts, with her husband and two children for over a decade. Sarah’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Crab Orchard Review, Every Moment Holy Vol. III, The Windhover, CRUX: A Quarterly of Christian Thought and Opinion, Red Rock Literary Journal, and elsewhere. Her poem "Driving Home after the Eclipse, I Make Mental Notes" recently won first place in the 2025 Evangelical Press Awards.
Photo by Duminda Perera on Unsplash




Write on, Sarah! Loved to encounter this good work/word today.
I love this poem and the way it led me to the word and to the deeper waters of my heart.
Thank you.