Review 116: Whispers of Truth by Judy Ann & Christina Eichstedt

Whispers of Truth
by Judy Ann & Christina Eichstedt
Lulu.com
Copyright: © 2008
ISBN: 9780557034857
$13.95 Paperback
75 pages

After reading this short collection of poetry by Judy Ann and Christina Eichstedt, I immediately thought the title of the collection, Whispers of Truth, was a bit ironic. None of the poems convey a message that you think would be whispered, but instead are passages that sound like the poets would want to scream at the top of their lungs.  They even say so in the book description:

Every poem in this book will scream a message to it’s reader, a message that cannot be ignored. Not any more.

These poets draw their inspiration right from the headlines of today: war, teenage pregnancy, the abuse of the planet, depression, government, religion, the poor, the homeless, hunger, health care, suicide, violence 9/11, nuclear war, single parenting and more. I have to admit with a list like that, there aren’t many poems in this book that leave the reader with even an ounce of hope.

Being such a short collection, I would have liked to have seen an even balance of both “dark” and “light” poems.  Maybe the two poets could have even divided the book into four sections, each writing their own “good” and “bad” poems or each writing a different poem about the same topic.

Spirituality also plays a very important role throughout many of the poems.  There are an array of poems about God and Satan, evil and enlightenment, prayer and hope, good and evil, judgment and the “end of days.”  I think poetry of this genre definitely has its place and can be appreciated, but in a book that “will scream a message to its reader,” topics like this can come across as a bit “preachy.”

The majority of the poems follow the simple AABB or ABAB rhyming pattern.  There is no punctuation (which I prefer) and the rhyming scheme doesn’t seem too forced.  There are a few grammatical errors, but practicing poetic license, some of the mistakes give the poems a bit more texture.  In a collection so heavy with depression, religion, and anger, it was hard for me to pick a favorite.  I chose to quote this poem though that, while offering no sense of hope in the end, is a good representation of what many people probably worry about in today’s economy:

TOMORROW’S WORRIES
Will I wake in good health?
Or will the lack of a doctor be the death of me?
Will I have a job?
Or will I be the next to receive a pink slip?
Will my beat up car last the day?
Or will I be walking home in the snow?
Will my stomach remain full?
Or will the food run out?
Will the money stretch far enough?
Or will I choose between the water and lights?
Will I have to find a second job?
Or will I get to see my children more?
Will my children see that I tried?
Or grow to hate me for all they lack
Will I manage to make the rent?
Or will my family live in the streets?
Will I finally get my break?
Or will I be left to struggle through?
Will I have the faith to carry on?
Or will I break under the pressures of this life?

While the front matter of the book is poorly executed and I think the cover price of $13.95 for such a short paperback book of poetry is a bit too much, the poems that are here are not too bad overall. But I would have enjoyed it a bit more had there just been an equal amount of “positive” poems to balance out these heavy topics.