Allbooks review of Father's Eyes
Cherie Burbach
February 28, 2007
Just got a great review from AllBooks Review (www.allbooksreviews.com) today that I wanted to share with you all:
"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. Elliott’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 the mind?
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 deal 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 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 heartwarming emotion readers will be haunted long after closing the book.
Kudos to the poet, Cherie Burbach. Highly recommended by reviewer: Shirley Roe, Allbooks Review.
"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. Elliott’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 the mind?
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 deal 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 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 heartwarming emotion readers will be haunted long after closing the book.
Kudos to the poet, Cherie Burbach. Highly recommended by reviewer: Shirley Roe, Allbooks Review.
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