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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To Be Read, and Read, and Read again...., April 21, 2007
This review is from: Father's Eyes (Paperback)
The first thing I thought when I picked up Cherie Burbach's collection of poetry "Father's Eyes" was... "Wow, we have a lot in common."
We were both raised in homes with a father who was an alcoholic. Her father-daughter relationship ended abruptly, in tragedy. Mine continues to grow and flourish, now that the years of "being a non drinking alcoholic" outnumber his years as a "drunk alcoholic".
We have both struggled with identity, with body issues, with learning to show up authentically - and we both have a spiritual base upon which to grow, breathe, and find out way. The Christian perspective that fills the poetry is from an open, grateful, non-preachy way which will be appreciated by all readers no-matter whether they are Christian or not. (I say this as someone who is easily turned off by what I call "Christian-ese.")
Burbach shares her poetry in four different sections: The Struggle, The Search, The Surrender, The Embrace. Traveling through the sections is a mirror to traveling alongside Burbach as she tells her life story. Their are subtle shifts in her voice and tone as she awakens to truth.
From "The Struggle" her poem "How Far"is one I literally feel within my skin. It can almost be sung, in a child-like way. IN "The Search" "Every October 6" is exceptionally poignant and "I Looked in the Mirror" ends with such a stunning "a-ha" I wanted to applaud Burbach right in that moment in time.
"The SUrrender" includes "Read the Label" - almost a lengthy confessional process, very honest and passionate - and "The Story of Me" a universal longing recognized.
In the victorious section, "The Embrace" I especially appreciate the poem-book-ends of "I Was a POet" and "Father's Eyes" AND there is not a poem in there that should be skipped over.
These poems could be used as daily readings, one a day - for reflection and introspection.
Burbach invites me into each poem - takes my hand - shares her life and her story with me, and in turn, I connect my life with hers. I will read these poems over and over again.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Engrossing, interesting, and insightful, August 10, 2007
This review is from: Father's Eyes (Paperback)
In easy to read poetry, Cherie Burbach discloses her journey of self-discovery. Her poetry provides an insight into the journey we all travel to find who we are and who we want to be in life. At times uncomfortably familiar, at others entirely foreign, Father's Eyes will engross the reader. Although Burbach found her salvation and the strength to accept and finally to be herself through religion, anyone who has struggled with a past beyond their control can relate to the pain, struggle, and ultimate strength found within these poems. Their honesty is heart breaking and yet hopeful. Emotional without being overly sentimental, Father's Eyes is filled with poetry to touch the soul.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A remarkable gift of poetic expression, August 14, 2007
This review is from: Father's Eyes (Paperback)
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (8/07)
"Father's Eyes" is the story of Cherie Burbach's personal journey. It is a story of self-doubt, anger, isolation, and pain written in a poetic form. While grieving the loss of her father, as a result of suicide, Cherie writes of her feelings. She felt guilt for his illness and addiction, even as she faced the burden of his death.
As a child and young adult, Cherie struggled with the experience of living in an atmosphere of verbal and emotional abuse. Cherie was driven to live up to her alcoholic father's expectations. Nothing she did would please him or bring a word of praise. Her longing for love was rewarded with loneliness.
Cherie's poems are sensitive and insightful. They are flowing and rhythmic in style. These are deeply-thoughtful poems. Although elegiac in nature, the poems reveal a God- given spirit that keeps Cherie going in her search for love. Unbroken by the experience, she tells of healing as she discovered strength through God's never ending grace.
In the poem titled "Read the Label." Cherie relates another forward step in her surrender:
"I read the label, passionate and honest I'll take it. I said in fact, I'll wear it out of the store. I handed the clerk my old skirt and told her I didn't want it anymore. As I walked out I looked at the mirror one more time, and smiled."
The poems bring to light Cherie's growth and transformation from a woman of despair to a woman full of hope. She relates how she was able to accept forgiveness and guidance as she embraced life as a child of God.
While offering hope and comfort to those who have experienced similar abusive family relationships, there is a universal commonality that will touch the heart of all readers, allowing them to both identify and empathize with those grieving who need comfort and those downhearted who need encouragement.
Cherie has a demonstrated a remarkable gift of poetic expression in this haunting and promising account of her life journey, "Father's Eyes."
Received book free of charge.
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