Tempting God

<p><span style=color: rgba(38 40 42 1)>John Berger once said We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice. And Miles Davis quipped: Don't play what's there play what's not there. What we have in Christopher Soden's wonder filled </span><em style=color: rgba(38 40 42 1)>Tempting God</em><span style=color: rgba(38 40 42 1)> is as the title suggests an intense questioning of the everyday we live and also the invisible mystery behind it. The struggle is one of identity and relationships and often one seems  like a thrush caught blindly / banging in an endless black flue. Counterpointing  intimacy and memory this masterful book forges  a solution in moments of intersection {where} the earth  / was a glad and remarkable / home swaddling me / in the promise of miracles / within reach. It is the God within us that Christopher comes to realize and that the temptation is to create and preserve one's identity-something we can all learn from this book.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style=color: rgba(38 40 42 1)>-Richard Jackson Author of </span><em style=color: rgba(38 40 42 1)>The Heart as Framed: New and Select Poems</em></p><p><span style=color: rgba(38 40 42 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(38 40 42 1)>The speaker in these splendid poems is beguiling weary and an astute observer of others of the world. Hatred and confusion give away to fleeting intimacies and to the grace of miracles-another word for survival. The speaker's journey is rich with fleshy pungent moments pop culture and the shifting bonds between men. Soden is a wonderful poet and this book is a marvel. </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(38 40 42 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(38 40 42 1)>-Eduardo Corral</span></p>