Father's Eyes
by Cherie Burbach
Published by Bonjour Publishing
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Reviewed by Beth Cummings
Cherie Burbach has tackled a difficult subject in this autobiographical series of poems. She has taken deep personal hurts and translated them into verse to describe the self-hate she experienced due to her father's alcoholism and suicide. She also has used verse to describe her climb out of despair and into a recognition of self that is not harsh and critical, but strong and able to move forward.
In her introduction Cherie Burbach says that her Christian faith is what brought her forward with her life. This may well be true. As her series of poems progresses, she goes from "The Struggle" to " The Search" to "The Surrender" and finally, to "The Embrace."
Poems in the first section are angry, sad and lonely. I particularly liked "Like Old Men in Rocking Chairs" (p.13) where "Angry words...sitting in the corner like old men in rocking chairs watching, waiting until happiness fades and they can say I told you so."
Later the tone is more of self-help as in "The Difference Now" (p.62) where she begins, "The difference now is when pushed, I push back…the difference now is that I make the definition and throw yours away." By the end she is prayerful and almost songlike--"I embrace this life as a child of God" (p.108) and "In the Father's eyes I'm His child. His delight, He wants me here and I belong." (p.110).
Unfortunately, Burbach doesn't come up with creative imagery as often as I like in poetry. She also has a few grammatical inconsistencies that I found off-putting. Her use of "you" in nearly every poem was disconcerting in that as the reader I was never sure if she was speaking to me, to herself or to an unidentified other. "You" did not always seem to mean the same thing.
It is not a book of verse that I would strongly recommend to poetry lovers.
Armchair Interviews says: Heavy and very personal theme covered in these poems.