Title: Prayer, Praise and Poetry
Author: Susan Champion
Publisher: XlibrisUK
ISBN: 9781543488135
Pages: 200
Genre: Poetry
Reviewed by: Dan MacIntosh

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Susan Champion’s (mostly) poetry book is both personal and heartfelt. Prayer, Praise and Poetry is broken down into seven sections. Reading it, one gets the sense that the best way Champion has found to respond to the circumstances in her life, is to write artfully about them. Not just write but write smart rhymes. So, in a culture where too many people post ungrammatical and lame comments on what’s going on in the world on Facebook, Champion turns her thoughts and feelings into literature – which is a far better approach.

The book’s first part is simply titled “Praise.” Poems under this moniker primarily concern Champion’s thoughts about God, and more specifically, her Christian life. In many cases, these poems are footnoted by scriptures that inspired them. While many of these pieces are positive, awe-inspired thoughts about the God revealed in The Bible, not everything is all sweetness and light. For example, “A Terrible Beauty” is about Satan himself. He was once one of God’s beautiful angels, but as this piece reminds us: “But his pride and ambition/Caused demolition.” Thoughts about one’s faith always involve meditations on both good and evil, and this particular one speaks of the darkness. Also, not everything in the book is a straight poem, however, because “Marty” is a short story that paraphrases a Bible story.

A second part is named “Our Planet.” With these poems, Champion reflects upon nature. For instance, “African Memories” mixes a love of nature with her love of God. Within it, Champion writes: “I thank you God for your wonderful world/All the creatures you’ve allowed us to glimpse.” The third section is called “On a Lighter Note.” These are lighter works, yes, but Champion still has her thinking cap on. One titled “Food/Drink” comments: “Food adverts bombard our screen/This fizzy drink will make you dream.” It this case, Champion was inspired to write after being assaulted by TV advertising.

Part four is named “War,” and Champion writes about all sorts of military conflicts, and how these horrible events affect people. These include thoughts about world wars, Biblical battles and some contemporary issues. In “War (Aftermath),” Champion writes: “As the result of this war/We live in the ruins.” This could be said of most every war, actually. War really is an ugly blight on our world and does nobody any good. Champion knows this. This collection’s fifth section, “Kids,” includes works about children and growing up. “Incredible Journey” is a poem about life; one where all can relate to it, both young and old. “What an incredible journey we all must make,” Champion enthuses, “As we travel through this life.” Children may not see life this way – yet – but older folks (hopefully) do. It is a journey, which is many times unpredictable. Even when we get older, though, the journey continues.

Champion follows the chapter about kids, with one called “Bereavement.” With these poems, Champion faces the loss of loved ones – sometimes counting the years since another one’s passed on. These are extremely personal lines, and one senses they were a necessity for Champion to write. The last part is simply titled, “And Finally.” It includes her tribute to Nelson Mandela and “Wild Swans,” in honor of Queen Elizabeth 2nd on her 90th birthday. Both are much alike, yet each wouldn’t have fit into the other segments, so she created a special folder for just for this pair.

Susan Champion covers a lot of ground with this book, and because it’s so wide ranging, the reader is led to believe she’s lived an eventful life. Thankfully, she’s shared some of the best bits of this life in her wonderful Prayer, Praise and Poetry.