Father's Eyes is poetry for the masses, emotional and heart wrenching!
Shirley Roe
March 17, 2007
Genre: Poetry
Title: Father’s Eyes
Author: Cherie Burbach
My first impression was that this is strictly Christian poetry, however the work contained in Father’s Eyes will appeal to a much larger audience regardless of religious persuasion. That said, I must state that the poetry tells the story of a young child’s evolution from verbally abused victim to strong adult Christian woman. Anyone that has experienced alcoholism and childhood abuse, whether physical or emotional will identify with this work. The poetry of Cherie Burbach reminded me of T.S. Elliot’s, Journey of the Magi, an intensely reflective poem, with a special resonance for those who have found their path to Christianity the hard way. Father’s Eyes however is written in a more colloquial voice throughout.
More than 50 poems set in 4 vignette style chapters, tell the story of one young woman’s life. We begin in Chapter one, The Struggle. I Am, a poignant cry from a child of an alcoholic says it all:
I am the guilt of my father’s illness
I am the burden of his death
I am evidence of his addiction……
And in How Far, we see the cruelty in the father’s words and how they cut to the quick of the child’s self esteem:
How far the distance
Between the heart and themind?
How far to erase
Those words so unkind?…
Chapter two, The Search is filled with emotion as the child struggles to understand the cruelty in the words. In You Said:
You said
I was lazy and stupid
I wouldn’t amount to much
The third Chapter deals with The Surrender, followed by The Embrace as the self-destructive young person, grows to embrace God’s love. The final poem, Father’s Eyes ends:
In the Father’s Eyes
I’m His child
His delight
He wants me here
And I belong.
The signature and final poem, Father’s Eyes is indeed the most profound and emotional of all of the work. A brilliant summation of the life, the struggle, and the final enlightened acceptance as one of God’s children. Poet, Burbach has the multifaceted ability, of actually playing the poems off of one another. Too often readers find poetry collections wherein no thought is paid to juxtaposition. Father’s Eyes is laid out sequentially to tell a story and tell a story it does, with such heartwrenching emotion readers will be haunted long after closing the book.
Kudos to the poet, Cherie Burbach. Highly recommended by reviewer: Shirley Roe, Allbooks Review.
Available at: www.amazon.com , www.bn.com
Title: Father’s Eyes
Author: Cherie Burbach
Publisher: Bonjour Pub.
ISBN: 978-0978974701
Pages: 112
Price: $n/a
Feb. 2007
Title: Father’s Eyes
Author: Cherie Burbach
My first impression was that this is strictly Christian poetry, however the work contained in Father’s Eyes will appeal to a much larger audience regardless of religious persuasion. That said, I must state that the poetry tells the story of a young child’s evolution from verbally abused victim to strong adult Christian woman. Anyone that has experienced alcoholism and childhood abuse, whether physical or emotional will identify with this work. The poetry of Cherie Burbach reminded me of T.S. Elliot’s, Journey of the Magi, an intensely reflective poem, with a special resonance for those who have found their path to Christianity the hard way. Father’s Eyes however is written in a more colloquial voice throughout.
More than 50 poems set in 4 vignette style chapters, tell the story of one young woman’s life. We begin in Chapter one, The Struggle. I Am, a poignant cry from a child of an alcoholic says it all:
I am the guilt of my father’s illness
I am the burden of his death
I am evidence of his addiction……
And in How Far, we see the cruelty in the father’s words and how they cut to the quick of the child’s self esteem:
How far the distance
Between the heart and themind?
How far to erase
Those words so unkind?…
Chapter two, The Search is filled with emotion as the child struggles to understand the cruelty in the words. In You Said:
You said
I was lazy and stupid
I wouldn’t amount to much
The third Chapter deals with The Surrender, followed by The Embrace as the self-destructive young person, grows to embrace God’s love. The final poem, Father’s Eyes ends:
In the Father’s Eyes
I’m His child
His delight
He wants me here
And I belong.
The signature and final poem, Father’s Eyes is indeed the most profound and emotional of all of the work. A brilliant summation of the life, the struggle, and the final enlightened acceptance as one of God’s children. Poet, Burbach has the multifaceted ability, of actually playing the poems off of one another. Too often readers find poetry collections wherein no thought is paid to juxtaposition. Father’s Eyes is laid out sequentially to tell a story and tell a story it does, with such heartwrenching emotion readers will be haunted long after closing the book.
Kudos to the poet, Cherie Burbach. Highly recommended by reviewer: Shirley Roe, Allbooks Review.
Available at: www.amazon.com , www.bn.com
Title: Father’s Eyes
Author: Cherie Burbach
Publisher: Bonjour Pub.
ISBN: 978-0978974701
Pages: 112
Price: $n/a
Feb. 2007