Michael Card was born on April 11, 1957 in Madison, Tennessee. As a post-secondary student he worked for six years at a planetarium. His debut album FIRST LIGHT dropped in 1981 and featured 'I Have Decided'. In the following years he became known for such songs as : 'Love Crucified Arose', 'Known by the Scars', and 'Celebrate the Child'. In 1983 he won a Dove for Songwriter of the Year for 'El Shaddai', a co-write with John Thompson. It was a #1 hit for Amy Grant who recorded it for her 1982 AGE TO AGE project. Fast forward to 1994 and Card released POIEMA (Sparrow). It was produced by Phil Naish except for one song 'Bearers of the Light' which was produced by Brown Bannister. In the liner notes Card writes: "The Bible tells us that we are God's masterpieces (Greek poiema); not only creatures, but His creations, His poems (Ephesians 2:10)...These songs are a result of listening to my life and the lives of others close to me, to try to hear the parables, poems, and songs; to determine what some of the moments mean".
1. First up is 'The Poem of Your Life', one of nine songs written solely by Card. It's a pleasant Celtic pop tune that encourages us to truly live: "So look in the mirror and pray for the grace/To tear off the mask, see the art of your face/Open your earlids to hear the sweet song/Of each moment that passes and pray to prolong/Your time in the ball of the dance of your days/Your canvas of colors of moments ablaze/With all that is holy, with the joy and the strife/With the rhythm and rhyme of the poem of your life (2X)".
2. Dan Dugmore plays dobro on the inspirational ballad 'The Basin and the Towel', which is about true servanthood: "In an upstairs room/A parable is just about to come alive/And while they bicker about who's best/With a painful glance He'll silently rise/Their Savior Servant must show them how/Through the will of the water and the tenderness of the towel/And the call is to community/The impoverished power that sets the soul free/In humility to take the vow/That day after day we must take up/The basin and the towel".
3. Card co-wrote 'Things We Leave Behind' with Scott Roley, and Phil Madeira. Dan Dugmore plays steel guitar on this song that speaks out against materialism: "Every heart needs to be set free/From possessions that hold it so tight/Cause freedom's not found in the things that we own/It's the power to do what is right/With Jesus our only possession/Then giving becomes our delight/And we can't imagine the freedom we find/From the things we leave behind".
4. Card co-wrote 'Earthly Perfect Harmony' with Randy Scruggs. It's an easy listening ballad with Sam Levine playing the alto flute. Marriage is the subject matter: "Lately it seems that all our dreams/Have slipped right through our hands/And I've become both doubt and also doubter/It's hard to ask if love has passed us by/Or if it's simply gone to sleep/To slumber till our hearts decide to wake it/Or could it be that we forgot The Source of our special love?/Turned our backs upon the One who made it burn and glow?"
5. 'Home' is a beautiful and sentimental ballad: "Home is a comfort and home is a light/A place to leave the darkness outside/Home is a peaceful and ever-full feeling/A place where a soul safely hides/And being at home should remind you that still/There's a place that's prepared just for you/And I think my home is just heaven's reflection/As long as my home's here with you".
6. 'Lowden's Prayer' "is dedicated to George and his wife, Flo, and to the many other believing craftsmen and women who labor in wood and steel to make instruments for God's praise". It's a pretty instrumental that finds Maire Breatnach playing fiddle, Liam O'Flynn on uillean pipes and whistle, and Carl Marsh on the hammered dulcimer.
7. Next up is 'The Poem of Your Life (Reprise)'. It's short and sweet.
8. 'The Edge' is one of two songs penned by Card and Phil Naish. It's an adult contemporary song that finds Michael making a serious pledge: "I promise I will always leave the darkness for the light/I swear by all that's holy/I will not give up the fight/I'll drink down death like water/Before I ever come again/To that dark place where I might make the choice for life to end". Dann Huff and Sonny Lallerstedt play electric guitars.
9. 'Hope' is a good pop song of encouragement: "Hope you in the Lord and renew your strength/Soar you up on eagle's wings/Tirelessly run the long race that's set before you/Your life's a song the Father sings/Though your life may seem to sound a dark and minor key/It will someday shift itself to major/And the lyric of your life will rhyme/With nothing less than joy/And you'll find that hope is from the One that you believe".
10. Carrie Hodge, Michael Mellett, and Angelo Petrucci provide backing vocals on 'Bearers of the Light'. Here are some of the words: "The great need of us all/A true mentor, a Paul/Who has traveled the road that's before us/He has made good the pledge to take the Light on ahead/We can follow his footsteps before us/The Light we must bear is the Light we must share/Is the Light that illumines the darkness/The promises kept give us strength to accept/This burden of bearing the Light".
11. Card wrote 'The Greening of Belfast' after visiting Northern Ireland. "Like our own country there is no solution to the problems there, political or otherwise, apart from prayer" writes Card. This tender song finds Card playing a Celtic harp and uses a choir. It's a prayer: "Pray for the greening of Belfast/That what is now barren might bloom and be fair/God loves the city of Belfast/For so many children who love Him live there/So many children who love Him live there/So pray for the greening of Belfast".
12. 'For F. F. B.' is an adult contemporary ballad that serves as a tribute to Card's grandfather who was a preacher. The song ends with these words from one of his sermons: "I have no hope, except that I believe that Christ died for my sins, according to Scriptures. I expect to swing out into eternity on that".
13. Phil Naish plays piano on the beautiful ballad 'Sunrise of Your Smile', inspired by Card's son. Here's the chorus: "For I would wander weary miles/Would welcome ridicule, my child/To simply see the sunrise of your smile/To see the light behind your eyes/The happy thought that makes you fly/Yes, I would wander weary miles/To simply see the sunrise of your smile".
The theme of POIEMA is life itself. There are a couple of songs about marriage, a song of love to Card's grandfather, and a loving song about Card's son. This album makes it clear that our lives are poems-works of art in progress if you will. Life can be hard, but Card encourages us to live life in community with others and press on and live in the light of Christ. We should leave all for Christ and serve others. Musically, the album is mostly easy listening and light adult pop/contemporary, but there are definitely Celtic influences. Card's vocals are soothing and the album does get you a bit sleepy, but that's okay, because there are many great songs on POIEMA. I'm rating this one 93%. For more info visit: www.michaelcard.com.