Chris White, Publisher

For lack of better words…most likely I am not grammatically perfect and my Grade 8 English teacher (god bless her) would be in tears…but since I am a songwriter…if I were to write a song about my friend, then I would write that in the lyrics to describe her.

Her passionate words are written on pages in black ink and are spread like a broken pearl necklace scattered across the pages - the emotions and thoughts of days and moments made of the stuff of pearls…over time, through pain creating beauty. 

Eden Refugee is described on the back cover of the book as "the visceral reflections of a young woman consumed by sex, drugs, rock n' roll, unrequited love and a constant quest of spiritual enlightenment." It is exactly that!. 

She begins dramatically with a flourish … a poem that shakes a fist at the sky…as a young woman asking the fundamental milestone questions that every curious and inquiring thinker has asked in …"My God!"

"Where the hell is he anyway
When you need him?
Doesn't he give a dam?
Why can't I feel his presence?
What has he ever done for me?
How can he let such horrible things happen?
Why won't he change man's mind?
He says he gives us the choice
But if he knows we're going to make 
The wrong one and screw up
Why doesn't he stop us in time?
Why don't I feel anything?
Except emptiness…
Goddamn it all."

As I was reading each poem in Eden Refugee I felt oddly like a voyeur peeking through a window…into Christine's life. Some of the poems deal with subject matter that is heart rending. I was quite simply in awe and amazement at her courage to put her life under the glaring light of scrutiny. One such poem that affected me deeply was April Fool's Day.

She writes about an abortion…

"At 12:00 noon on April Fool's Day
We took a cab to the hospital
You talked to the driver
'bout the weather
There was snow on the ground,
It was cold outside,
And we failed to get the joke."

As the poem tells the tale…the harsh reality hits…

…"The friendly nurse smiled at me 
And held my hand
As the doctor scoured my insides
With SOS pads
And vacuum-cleaned my womb
Sucking up your seed
Before it could sprout"

"Yes, I was awake
So I didn't miss a thing, 
From the picture on the ceiling
To the sound of the machine,
A solitary tear
Slid down my face
As I said goodbye to our child'
The one we had nothing to give"

…then she returns to the beginning once again at the resolution of the poem …a masterful and elegantly simple crafting of words…she forms a circle in time ending with the beginning but changed and altered…never again the same though outwardly unchanged…

"At 3:00 pm on April Fool's Day
We took a cab back to my place
It was raining outside,
I think,
And very quiet there within.
The driver laughed about the weather…
But we failed to get the joke."

Every woman or man hides secrets and guards them carefully. We all have experienced rejection, hurt, sadness, madness…then the other side of the coin, joy, rapture, love, lust…We wear masks. We all do. Christine removes her mask…with an honest , raw passion to show the true face underneath. She's not afraid to take the risk.

Personally as I sit and write here I feel largely inadequate …Certainly I can't be an expert reviewer…not being qualified with any English literary degree…my aptitudes lie perhaps more in the musical category…but I take consolation that like most of us when there is truth and honesty there is a definite response. So I base my review on my emotional response and so I feel ultimately shall you…the Reader.

Christine Bode has the potential to continue to grow with her obvious talent in writing poems. I for one look forward to reading more of them. It would be a wise investment to add this book Eden Refugee to your personal reading list and as well you'll be supporting a new and upcoming emerging Canadian literary talent! I urge you to buy this book directly from Christine Bode at her MySpace site or to go to Lulu.com and order it! I ordered from Lulu and found them quick and the book was at my door within the week.