Title: Questions in the Balance
Author: Christopher W. Boyden
Publisher: Xulon Press
ISBN: 9781613792827
Pages: 200, Paperback
Genre: Poetry
Reviewed by: Gary Sorkin, Pacific Book Review
Book Review
While reading Questions in the Balance by Christopher W. Boyden, it became abundantly clear why he has won so many awards and accolades for his published poetry. His work exemplifies classic poetry; bringing together the key elements of an articulate choice of words, wonderful imagery, and existentialism in philosophy and originality within structure; all masterfully put to mostly a sharp iambic pentameter foot. Moreover, Christopher W. Boyden transcends the age barrier; meaning his poems are as interesting to an adult as much as to a child. He shows respect for readers of all ages, as all can comprehend the revealed mature concepts while being entertained by the rhythm of the structural elements.Questions in the Balance represents 73 original poems, indexed by subject, in Christopher W. Boyden’s first published collection. He categorized his work by topics such as: Nature, love and romance, answers to the questions of thought, heaven, and our future as human beings. Although not laden with theological overtones, his beliefs are Christian and have references to God and the belief of creation and eternal life. Christopher W. Boyden candidly reveals his inner personal thoughts, often dedicating a poem to a deceased loved one such as his grandmother or his brother that died too early; in fact there is one poem written about his deceased dog going to “Dog heaven.”
What I felt from his poetry was his gentlemanly respect for all of his readers, and his intrinsic enjoyment of writing poetry. Unlike some poets whose ego personifies arrogance by breaking all established rules of poetry, Christopher W. Boyden “plays within the rules” of established poetic prose, and thusly commands the respect for his ingenious wordsmithing of English. He enables his words to dance off the pages into the reader’s mind. As I have learned some of his poems have been scored to music, one can see the beautiful imagery and chivalry he portrays as being within a class of writing analogous to masters who come to my mind such as Robert Frost, James Joyce or even Ogden Nash.
Questions in the Balance is an ideal gift book to give to anyone for any occasion, or to keep for your own home library so your friends and family can enjoy over and over. It is a book that can be picked up, read, and then placed down until a future time; as each poem is merely a page or two in length. After reading this book from cover to cover, I did something I don’t often do ~ I read it all again. After all, with so many of my own memories being triggered by Christopher W. Boyden’s lovely writing, how could I resist an encore performance of such cerebral stimulation?
