Poet Metz mines a myriad of life experiences to share with others the disciplines and discoveries he has gleaned along the way. His collection of poetic observations, all based upon a solid Christian faith, opens appropriately with a grouping called “Awakening” and these words of wisdom, setting the pace for the offerings to come, from “The Call”: “For love is a caring / And Christ gave His all / What more we who follow / And answer His call.”

The poems arrayed throughout are remarkable for their wide range of delicate descriptive wording and the equally expansive panorama of the readily recognizable life events examined. Clouds form a metaphor for “Beauty,” in which the author perceives that their uplifting movements and constant changes of color and intensity can represent both the lion and the lamb of the Lord’s presence. Other signs of “God’s great light” include flowers, rainbows, and a winding, wooded path, representing the faith-based Camino movement that is designed to bring followers to a more intimate relationship with the Almighty. Metz writes sweetly and intimately to his wife, and in the section titled “Family,” he praises his father and mother. “Friends” includes a paean to pets: “Gift from God / Is dog to man / Love without words / Our furry kin.”

The poet’s pen carries readers through life’s humorous situations—daily routines, disappointments, even arguments with his wife, and his gentle reminder that their deep love for one another “will never change.” In “Fortress Pleasure,” the issue of power hunger and worldly greed is addressed with the wisdom that God’s love and nature’s blessings are always available. Other common occurrences are sagely addressed: the face and true nature of the clown, analogies seen through the sport of bowling, the wakening call of a rooster, and the temptations and weaknesses that can be overcome “if we answer Jesus’s call.” The final two pieces contrast the “Trust and Innocence” of a kitten to the “Walls” of Folsom Prison, urging readers to remember that without “the peace of Christ,” one might find oneself trapped within such “dark, foreboding stalls.”

Metz brings to his literary expressions a remarkable catalog of varied experience, having worked as an officer in the US Military Reserve, a city letter carrier, and “a clown, balloon decorator and balloon artist.” References to each of these ponderous roles are drawn here, and his development as a wordsmith is also apparent in offerings of a few lines to a page or more, with well-chosen rhyme and the careful use of language throughout. In designating the totality of this clearly heartfelt collection as ”psalms,” his underlying purpose is revealed since such works are created for and dedicated to God’s ways and the worship practiced by His followers. This spiritual quality infuses Metz’s work, revealing his acute powers of observation in the contrasts between nature’s wonders and human foibles. His guide toward a new, spiritually refreshed path will provide material for discussion among those who share similar convictions and serve as a guide to individuals seeking new definitions of time-honored concepts.

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