Amazon Mary's Book Place Lulu Publishing Category:  Poetry Publisher: Mary Allison ISBN-10:  1312632712 Type: Fiction Pages: 88 Copyright: May 14, 2015 ISBN-13: 9781312632714 Snatching Joy is free verse, prose poems and poems with various rhyme schemes that are often intermingled. Delivering droplets of joy to it's readers, it's a collection that's sure to please.  Through her collections, Ms. Allison has gripped us with her Echoes, and her journey's. She now invites us to share in her Joys.  Excerpt Intoxicating You steal my heart with pen strokes.. and hush my dreams with absence. Your words are intoxicating~ to a heart still yearning.

Wonderful and engaging read
Snatching Joy by Mary Allison is a poetry collection filled with brilliant metaphors, elegant acrostics, and creative simplicity. Although it is filled with various emotions, the overall feeling of this collection is serene and hopeful. There is a sense of spirit-filled faith resonating throughout this book, and it leaves the reader feeling comforted by the most peaceful feeling of joy. My favorite poem is The Softest Things. The entire collection is a reminder of the beautiful things in life—the beauty in faith, in love, in peace, in our God-given purpose, and in the journey of life itself. -T.S. Wilkins


Serene and hopeful, very inspiring
Mary Allison is an award winning writer of poetry and prose, with six books to her name. Snatching Joy is a collection of poems that explore the intricacies and intimacies of relationships both spiritual and secular. Love poems to God, sensual erotica, social criticisms and observations of children and nature – these snatches of joy – form the steps of a journey through the poet’s heart, mind and soul.
Poetry is perhaps the most subjective form of literature in that the parameters that define ‘good poetry’ are to a large extent flux and dependent on poetic trends and the reader’s experience and expectations of the genre. What one reader may deem brilliant another may hate. My first reaction to Snatching Joy was not positive, as the book initially struck me as somewhat trite. I felt that the poet was trying too hard for a sense of effortlessness, and I was at first frustrated with the abundance of clichés. However, several poems in I began to change my tune. Mary Allison’s writing style is simplistic and accessible, and the feeling of joy and unconditional love that she strives to capture in many of the poems is contagious. Despite myself I began to enjoy the journey on which I was being taken. I found that reading each poem aloud, rather than assessing it at face value, helped me to appreciate its lyricism.
The cover of Snatching Joy is beautifully evocative. Smoke swirls to form a ghostlike female figure, an angel perhaps, which to me is symbolic of finding beauty and order in chaos and confusion. The book is well formatted, and the order in which each poem follows complements its fellows. Free verse, prose poems and poems with various rhyme schemes are intermingled, and this variation encourages engagement.
My favourite poem in the book is Meet me at the River: “Meet me at the river / where the water diamonds play / where the river's life is dancing / where the earth transforms to clay”, this is a pleasantly uplifting piece with a simple lilting melody that enhances rather than inhibits the three stanza poem.

Several pieces in the book contain elegant lines. An example > “Like the delectable chocolate / of the M&M held gently / then squeezed until it melts away / leaving a stain of evidence / from neglect / so was the breath in my chest / left to exhale alone in wonderment”. Although this may just be a personal preference of mine.

It was difficult for me to decide how to rate this book. On the whole, Snatching Joy left me feeling serene and hopeful. It was an inspiring read, made more so by the poet’s sincerity.
C.T.