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Armed with liberty’s shield
so the flaming hail of gunfire goes
No more."
Juliette Gleaton-Hill’s uplifting poetry collection, fittingly titled Golden Moments, traverses through memorable life moments, reminiscing on the beauty of the events, and the strength and happiness that faith conjures in the human spirit. In the process, Gleaton-Hill displays a genuine knack for teaching others the fundamentals of a meaningful life in poems like “Take Time To Reflect.”
“A New Year Prayer,” “Christians”, and “Easter,” among many other faith based poems are sure to resonate with Christian audiences. While the poet’s unyielding dedication to her faith is spectacular and heartwarming, there is little in terms of poetic style or content to clearly distinguish these faith-based poems from the deep reservoir of faith based poetry.
Most poems have multiple quatrains of ABAB rhyme scheme, but shift to loose rhyme schemes toward the tail end of the piece. Nevertheless, “Heaven Beyond Measure” is a fantastic representation of the author’s abilities to use poetic devices like alliteration and repetition to infuse the work with energy and force.
Aside from the faith-based poetry, there is a great selection of evergreen poems like “A Tribute To Fathers,” “Beautiful and Precious Mother,” and “Friendship,” that will appeal to all ages in any era. Subjectively, the “Recipe” poems, including “Recipe for Fun,” “Recipe for Love,” and “Recipe for Stupidity,” are simple, yet clever and filled with salient advice that readers would be wise to embrace. Gleaton-Hill’s concern and understanding of the dilemma that faces today’s world is apparent in poems like “Farewell To Arms,” “One Big Family,” and “I Too Have A Dream.”
With no set rhyme or meter, Golden Moments is primarily composed in free verse. Audiences expecting poetic perfection may find their expectations unmet. For Christian audiences and poetry fans interested in consuming a genuine expression of faith and life, thius collection is time well spent.