Shh, Purely Poetry

by M.J. Mallon

A compilation of sensual, love and relationship poems. Quirky, unusual and evocative.

Shh, Purely Poetry is a collection of poetic pieces about love, sensuality and relationships with sections entitled: love as fuel, (food and coffee love,) the summer and winter of love, strangers in love, quirky aspects and nature as sensuality.

Inspired in part by daily prompt poems written for the 365poetrypromptchallenge, observations of places, people and my travels.

Early Review, S. G. Cronin:
Love in the romantic sense is a heady complex combination of physical and emotional attraction to another, sometimes bordering on the obsessive that completely takes over to the point of shutting out everything around you. Senses are heightened bringing a new perspective to the most mundane of activities, sights and sounds.

The author captures the depth of this sensual awakening and also the changes it brings to our lives in her poetry. The poems start slowly taking the reader through courtship into full blown relationships highlighting the highs and the lows along the way. The path of true love is not always smooth and as well as passion, one needs forgiveness and compassion.

This is a collection about love and relationships but also celebrates sensuality and whilst I don’t read erotica, this collection is a gentle reminder of the beauty that can exist between two individuals within a passionate relationship. There is a flow and softness that follows the cycle of love and passion..

As always with this author nature and humour also mingle with the more serious business of finding and expressing love. As a small taste of what is to come if you read this collection here is the opening verses to the first section in the collection: Love Is Fuel

Breakfast Nibbles

Avocado spread on toast,
Like her bikini, green, shiny, lush,
Skimpy but oh so satisfying!

Full breakfast, or bacon roll?
Depends on afters…
Your place or mine?

Genres: Poetry

115 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 2, 2024

About the author

I am an author who has been blogging for many moons at my lovely blog home: https://mjmallon.com. My interests include writing, photography, poetry, and alternative therapies. I write YA Fantasy/Paranormal novels, ghost/horror short stories and middle grade fiction as well as micropoetry - haiku and tanka. I love to read and have written over 100 reviews: https://mjmallon.com/2015/09/28/a-z-o...

My alter ego is MJ - Mary Jane from Spiderman. I love superheros! I was born on the 17th of November in Lion City: Singapore, (a passionate Scorpio, with the Chinese Zodiac sign a lucky rabbit. I grew up in a mountainous court in the Peak District in Hong Kong.

As a teenager I travelled to many far-flung destinations. It's rumoured that I now live in the Venice of Cambridge, with my six foot hunk of a Rock God husband. My two enchanted daughters often return to visit me with a cheery smile.

When I’m not writing, I eat exotic delicacies while belly dancing, or surf to the far reaches of the moon. To chill out, I practise Tai Chi. If the mood takes me I snorkel with mermaids, or sign up for idyllic holidays with the Chinese Unicorn, whose magnificent voice sings like a thousand wind chimes.

Reviews

[Sally Cronin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love in the romantic sense is a heady complex combination of physical and emotional attraction to another, sometimes bordering on the obsessive that completely takes over to the point of shutting out everything around you. Senses are heightened bringing a new perspective to the most mundane of activities, sights and sounds.

The author captures the depth of this sensual awakening and also the changes it brings to our lives in her poetry.  The poems start slowly taking the reader through courtship into full blown relationships highlighting the highs and the lows along the way. The path of true love is not always smooth and as well as passion, one needs forgiveness and compassion.

This is a collection about love and relationships but also celebrates sensuality and whilst I don't read erotica, this collection is a gentle reminder of the beauty that can exist between two individuals within a passionate relationship. There is a flow and softness that follows the cycle of love and passion..

As always with this author nature and humour also mingle with the more serious business of finding and expressing love. As a small taste of what is to come if you read this collection here is the opening verses to the first section in the collection:  Love Is Fuel

Breakfast Nibbles

Avocado spread on toast,
Like her bikini, green, shiny, lush,
Skimpy but oh so satisfying!

Full breakfast, or bacon roll?
Depends on afters…
Your place or mine?

[Robbie Cheadle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful and entertaining collection of poems that all revolve around romance and love. The poems range from those expressing the most tender of emotions to those that are what my mother would term 'saucy'. All of them will grab hold of your heart and give it a squeeze. All are relatable.

A few extracts of the poems that stand out in my mind from this collection and demonstrate the range of the poems:

"You wore a tangerine dress the day I met you
On the beach we sat on the sand
Your citrine necklace completed you
You positively shone like the sun"
From Tangerine Dress

"We met again, a second chance to see that ...
twinkle beyond his eyes.
He had a wicked sense of humour.
Stripping down to his boxer shorts.
He catwalked for me, strutting his thing.
We ended up in a tangle of limbs.
Me untangling his boxer shorts!
From my Boxer Boy

This poem really moved me a lot:
"Listen, please! In silence, his desperation drips.

Like a leaky faucet needing repairs.

And yet. There is something about him.
A strangely erotic quality.
That draws my eyes towards him.
But - he has one tiny, immense flaw."

This is a wonderful collection that will take you down your own romantic memory lane with its magnificent highs and terrific lows.

[Toni L · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely mix of poems with interesting imagery and a beautiful narrative voice. There's such a range of stories and themes in here and I love the poems to get to know the author!

[D. Peach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I’m not much of a romantic and prefer dark moody poetry, I decided to give this book a try, and though this collection is the opposite of grim, I was pleased to find a variety of poems that I enjoyed. There are sensual/sexual poems and plenty of sweet love poems, but the relationship poems were the ones that I found myself savoring, especially those with an edge.

The first two stanzas from “Just for One More Sweet Day”

The mist is clinging to my clothes
My washing pulls and jerks against the breeze
The cold is deep within my skin, my bones
and in the threads of loneliness I bear.

In a field a digger cranks its jaws, it roars
Its jaws digging deep
Plucking out mounds of mud
Excavated from this cold, red, earth.

The collection is built around the author’s responses to online poetry prompts. In style, some offerings are wonderfully poetic while others reflect a poetic style I’d refer to as “delineated prose,” more conversational and accessible than poetry dense with metaphor and lyrical imagery. This style makes it a quick, easy-to-read collection. Readers who enjoy love poems with some sensuality in the mix will find much to enjoy in these pages.

[Reg 🦇 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful and loving collection of poetry that discusses love and relationships of all kinds. It’s fun, sensual, full of imagery and very unique. This collection of poems contains many pieces that are derived from word prompts, so it was really interesting to explore all the different narratives that were weaved throughout. I believe this is a collection of poetry that is super sweet and meant to be savoured (see what i did there? 😉)
My personal favourite from this collection was “The Universe is Ours”

Thank you so much to Book Sirens and M.J. Mallon for this read 🥰 I am leaving this review voluntarily

[❁Sol❁ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5⭐⭐⭐

💫Hello lectores💫 Comenzamos junio con poesía, ARC de la mano de @booksirens🧡.
~
Reseña en español en comentarios ;)
~
🖇️THOUGHTS: I like to think of this book as "pocket" poetry! That means that its texts are short and easy, meaning fast to read. Which, unfortunately, wasn´t that much for me, I usually read more complex, painful or metaphorical poems, so I felt like these were very plain. Some, I adored, but others were really hard to read, boring, mostly. For me, it was an absolute shame, because I really liked M.L.'s writing, very catcy and envolving. What I liked the most, is that, in a very short poem, she can tell long or complicated stories, whit little difficult vocabulary and shallow metaphors. I think it's an AMAZING choice if you're starting to read this genre, even if you want to write it! Great poems are sometimes very simple, and these prove it!! Thank you so much to Book Sirens and MJ Malloj for trusting me to read these delightful words.

[Colleen Chesebro · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Shh Purely Poetry” is a playful look at love and sensuality in many forms. This author depicts sex and sexuality, along with love and romance, with creative imagery and wordplay. What I liked most was how normal everyday activities took on new meaning through Mallon’s poetic word choices. I’ll never look at a bowl of cornflakes the same way again!

This collection celebrates love and relationships with an emphasis on the sensual. Many of the poems read like journal entries as they explore the emotions of lust, passion, and sexuality, all tastefully blended with humor and acceptance.

A few of my favorites: “Dining on Poetry,” where love and poetry collide in a soulful dance of words; “The Lusty Witch in Me,” where a woman and her lover explore her writer’s passion; and “Bend It Like a Pretzel,” where a bit of eavesdropping leads to a humorous reflective poem.

This is one unique collection you won’t want to miss!

[D.L. Finn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A loving collection of poetry that delicately weaves in relationships at many stages. Many are sensual, full of texture and images, and some offer unique takes on human interaction. Here are a few beautiful passages: “The Sweetness/The longing/Each kiss deeper/different and the same/Like I belonged to more than him/Like I belonged to the poetry.”؅—Dining on Poetry, “…beautiful calligraphy to highlight/tiny ink splodges to add character/tear drops to remind me of sad days.”—Love Hidden In the Margin, and “She is fair and I am dark/Slight and I am robust/We fill our together/completing our silhouettes.”—Silhouettes. “Shh, Purely Poetry” is meant to be savored more than once by lovers of sensuous and thoughtful poems.

[Dan Quijote · Rating 5 out of 5]

«To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.» ~ e e cummings

The former ambulance driver – during the WW I – Mr Cummings, a brave rebel of poetic form, wrote almost three thousand poems in the first half of the last century, most of them expressing the human feeling in which we cannot be but ourselves. It seems that Cummings was as concerned with the poetry experimentation as Yeats and Pound were, but, unlike them, he was lacking self-doubt and the versification was affirmatory and very personal.
E E’s name came to my mind while reading M J’s poems; I felt a similar sweetness, honesty, pleasant rebelliousness and force in their writing. The major concerns are about readership: is it the same numeric audience today like one hundred years ago? And who’s still reading poetry in 2024? We witness the fact that it is more and more difficult for the modern society to cultivate reading habits and a culture of written (and published) words, when it lacks a reading culture. Thus, I ask myself: how brave must an author be to write poetry in the 21st century?

Mrs Mallon proved (again) her bravery in the first line of the poetic flank on the publishing battlefield. I have come to believe that almost ninety percent of the art of versification is about courage, and that the courage to spend time with yourself and write poetry is much more than daring of letting lines go; it’s about allowing the life experiences to inevitably unfold and evoke powerful pictures in the reader’s mind. And yes, poems don’t exist on their own, but are co-created by observers; like beauty in the eyes of the beholder. No question or doubt about it. M J’s compelling poems celebrate the colour of sensuality, the power of love, the sweetness of desire, and the four seasons of romantic relationships.
Vivid imagery and evocative language capture the essence of sensuality, while awakening the senses and igniting the imagination – the partner’s body is often explored like a treasure map, with descriptions of carnal beauty and the pleasure of touch, celebrating the irresistible pulchritude of the human body and the joy of physical connection:

“I can still feel her lips on mine
Salty like the caramel snack
That she turned down for peanuts.
My hands caress her breasts
They sit up pert. Asking - no begging to be touched.”
~ fragment from ‘Valentine’s In Chocolates’

Although the volume is divided into eight distinct sections, the same threads (sensuality, love, romance) connect all the parts in a uniform textual tapestry:

• Love Is Fuel • The Summer & Winter Of Love • Lost Love / Discovering Love • Love, Life, War & Forgiveness • Strangers In Love • Quirky! • Sensual Sighs • About Me Poems •

In “Shh, Purely Poetry,” readers enamoured of poesy – and in particular the ones deeply in love with their life partners – will find a clear topic of interest. As the subtitle itself suggests, the book will be appreciated not only by every poetry lover in the world, but it is a suitable gift for every couple in love.

Really merry to have pulled this wee review of M J Mallon’s 5-star new book, what other better ending could be than the very last lines of this collection, that sound like a genuine ode to Love and Friendship:

“Keeping all our friends and dearest ones in our hearts
we embrace the beauty of new lands.”
~ fragment from ‘Living In The Moment’

[Rosemary Mairs · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eclectic collection of poetry. You know you're enjoying a book when you find yourself smiling as you read. I particularly liked the first section: Love is Fuel. Wacky poems, full of sensuality and love, and delicious food. Ms Mallon had ‘my taste buds tingling', must be a fellow foodie.

Serious poems in other sections, themes of longing and loss, such as ‘Love Hidden In The Margins’, a whimsical poem with delightful phrasing, and my personal favourite. ‘I Cherish Your Sweet Soul’, will resonate with anyone who has been obsessively, madly, in love. Then there is the intense ‘Devil’s Temptress’, with a striking structure, about burning desire and lust.

Sometimes, I get the impression that a book was a chore to write. At other times it seems obvious that the author greatly enjoyed the writing process. It probably sounds bizarre, but I feel as though the pleasure is then conveyed to me, as reader. This was the case with ‘Shh, Purely Poetry’.

I recommend this luscious collection to lovers of romance and passionate musings.

[Amy B Garratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of sensual poetry based on love and relationships of all kinds. As many of these pieces come from word prompts, it’s interesting to see these different voices/narratives come to life. There are some observers, some voyeurs, some sapphic, some with varying innuendos, some in mourning for lost love and some enthralled in a new beginning. I enjoyed the use of rhyming schemes in poems such as ‘Gotta stick together ladies’, the alliteration in ‘Blooms of Blossoming Bliss’ and repetition in ‘War Talk’. The imagery throughout is wonderfully conveyed and makes each poem vividly its own tale. A unique and thoughtful collection that easily connects to a reader, and I would thoroughly recommend! (I also enjoyed the ‘Blackpool Funny Girls Drag Show’ as I attended the afterparty of The Book Party and the conga was brilliant!!!)

[Chris Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather naughty, but very nice… indeed, I have said! I really enjoyed every line in each poem. It’s difficult to decide the ones I liked the best, however, I particularly liked the ones about cities in the north of England, and Scotland too. I guess because I worked around those places, especially in Manchester. So this one must be one of the best, since it’s a pub: “Puckering Up For Passion”. And I loved the beat about “Gorra Stick Together, Ladies – Manchester to Edinburgh” – pure genius! Then finally this one caught my eye: “The Lusty Witch in me”.

I will continue to have a little read again with this poetry book… it’s just fab on my Kindle. So five stars definitely. Very pleasing.

[Hannah Wolfram · Rating 4 out of 5]

DISCLAIMER: I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

You can tell that M.J. Mallon poured their heart into this book. The poems were heartfelt and genuine; they captured both the author's unique emotions and emotional archetypes that made them relatable to everyone, not just the author themself.

Overall, I really enjoyed this collection. M.J. Mallon, now that they're on my radar, is an author I will continue to follow for future publications and updates.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry is always hard to review, so what I will say: this collection is very unique. Mixed with poetry and what feels like journal entries. Some of life, some of love. Some feel like very traditional poems, some feel like they could become stories.

This collection could either be read in one (like what I've done) or little by little. I recommend diving into this one.

[Hayley Anderton · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars! I think there was some lovely imagery in here and some of it I really liked! I think some of the themes weren’t really for me, but I loved that these poems explored different types of love with men and women!

[Lisa Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

M J Mallon’s Shh, Purely Poetry is a vibrant, intimate, and beautifully crafted collection that serves as a full-hearted ode to the many facets of love, sensuality, and human connection. This is not a monotone whisper but a rich symphony of emotions, capturing everything from the first spark of desire to the quiet complexities of long-term bonds, all rendered with “quirky, unusual, and evocative” flair.

The collection’s structure is inventive and engaging, organizing poems into thematic sections that guide the reader through a sensory journey. From “love as fuel” (with delightful nods to food and coffee) to the seasons of passion and the intriguing notion of “strangers in love,” Mallon explores love’s terrain with both playfulness and profound depth. The inclusion of nature as a metaphor for sensuality is particularly striking, grounding the ethereal emotions in tangible, earthy imagery.

Mallon’s poetic voice is versatile and assured. As noted by early reviewers, the collection benefits from its origins in daily prompts, resulting in a fascinating array of perspectives and narratives, observers, voyeurs, voices of sapphic love, mournful elegies, and jubilant new beginnings. The technical skill is evident in the clever use of rhyme, alliteration, and repetition, but it never feels academic; it always serves the emotional core of the piece. Lines like “Like I belonged to the poetry” and “We fill our together/completing our silhouettes” linger in the mind, perfectly capturing the ineffable magic of connection.

The sensuality here is celebratory and vivid, awakening the senses without veering into the gratuitous. Poems like ‘Valentine’s In Chocolates’ are masterclasses in evocative detail, where physical touch is described with a reverence that elevates it to art.

Shh, Purely Poetry is a collection to be savored slowly, returned to, and shared. It is a testament to love’s power to fuel, devastate, comfort, and exhilarate. For anyone who has ever felt the sweet ache of desire or the comforting warmth of belonging, this book offers a beautiful, resonant mirror. A truly delightful and compelling collection.

[Julia Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A STUNNING COLLECTION OF POETRY

This is a beautiful collection of poetry by the talented M J Mallon. Its themes centres on the different facets of love. It is a sensual, evocative collection which the reader can dip in and out of at their leisure.

The author very cleverly depicts sex, sensuality, love and romance using references to everyday activities, food and colour imagery and observations of the surrounding natural world.

Both enjoyable, accessible and easy to relate to, this is a truly wonderful book of poetry. The descriptive language is compelling and powerful. It made me feel a myriad of emotions and I have to admit that on a few occasions it brought tears to my eyes.

The poems are romantic, passionate, whimsical and emotional. My favourite was ‘the universe is ours’ which I thought was both beautiful and heartbreaking 💔 I also loved ‘our log cabin Christmas get away’ and the attention to detail in ‘gotta stick together ladies’ was excellent.

I like how the author plays with the structure of the poems and very much enjoyed the acrostic ones. The about me poems at the end add a lovely, personal touch.

There are a lot of poems in this collection. It is definitely worth the money and I would highly recommend this book of poetry for an engrossing, enjoyable read.

All the stars! 🌟 🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Sonja · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a poetry lover and often give 5 stars to poetry books. I could not get drawn in by this one unfortunately but maybe you could. It lacked the complexity I am used to. Here is a sample poem

THE SUMMER & WINTER OF LOVE
My Honey Dearest My Sweetest You
Yellow, a splash of brilliant colour
Between green and orange
That bright luminous dress
Mesmerising memories
All those years ago when we first met
Our light, carefree, sparkling smiles
Sunny, fun days, us two by the beach
Lazing on the warm sand, laughing
Sending yellow smiley emojis
And each day a new surprise for you
Today, my smiley face bikini
Hidden beneath my yellow dress
My tiny tummy ready for our shared lunch
A crunchy corncob on a barbeque
That blessed burger in a yellow brioche bun
Followed by homemade French vanilla ice cream
Made with love’s lightest yellow egg yolks
Middy heat bringing thirsty, tantalising, thoughts
A golden Mojito, or a lemon drop martini?
Such a perfect day, and now so mellow,
Oh, the promise of sunflower days, ardent nights and tangy dreams.
How I miss you,
How I do.
Wish you were here with me, my love.
My honey, dearest, my sweetest you!

[Richard Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a fan of the author for some time. This is a new volume that doesn't disappoint.
Shh..., is a fascinating collection of poetry, playful, evocative and very cleverly written.
The author paints a picture in every poem, cleverly intermixing themes and providing a running commentary on aspects of love and sensuality as part of life.

With sections called LOVE IS FUEL, THE SUMMER & WINTER OF LOVE, LOST LOVE/DISCOVERING LOVE, LOVE, LIFE, WAR & FORGIVENESS, STRANGERS IN LOVE, QUIRKY! and SENSUAL SIGHS, there really is something for every mood, every stage of love, seduction and sensuality.

The wordplay is deft and draws on powerful imagery, like this, from Breakfast Nibbles,

Avocado spread on toast,
Like her bikini, green, shiny,
lush,
Skimpy but oh so satisfying!

or this, from Punk Music Babe,

bold eyes blink in shadows,
saucy salmon pink arch of eyebrows,
her unreal
luscious look
excites me.

There are so many other great examples, but I can’t show them all. Get a copy, you won’t be disappointed.

[Elliel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I requested and received this book from Booksirens. My opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this poetry collection. But, I didn't. It is a work of poetic fiction, with multiple narrators the number of which I do not know. I also can't tell if the narrators repeat.

There is one poem in this collection that soured the rest for me. I truly believe had I expected it I would have had a better experience. The poem is "War Talk" and I'm not comfortable quoting it here. But after reading it mind kept going back to it. And every time I read a poem that could've had the same narrator I became uncomfortable.

The vast majority of the poems in this collection are cute, sexy, romantic, or a combination of the three. It is an objectively interesting and good collection. It's just not for me.

(I also want to say that it is my own life experience that colored the way I read "War Talk". But that is the beautiful terrible thing about art and creating. No matter what the artist, author, ect wanted or meant to convey they/we have no way to know how people will experience it.)

[N.N. Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sensual poetry collection sure to entice your mind, body and soul. In this exquisite collection, the author writes emotive poems with the themes of love, romance, and relationships. Each poem is expressive, sensual, and the reader gets to experience falling in love.

The imagery reflected in this collection is remarkable. Each word has been carefully chosen by a wordsmith to evoke a feeling, an experience, or what it feels like to fall in love. The author is a gifted poet.

If you’re a romantic or a fan of poetry, you’re in for a treat with this poetry collection. Brilliant from start to finish, these poems will have you falling in love.

My Rating: 5+ stars

Reviewed by: Nancy

This review first appeared: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/po...

[Cavak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dancing between three or four stars, but I like that there's roleplay between genders and narrators in these sensual poems. So I rounded up for that.

Poetry with set forms can be done well for immersion, or not. I had mixed feelings for them, where I felt like poem's adherence to a structure in this collection restricted rather than broadened for deeper depths. Some poem titles were a bit too concise, to where it felt like they showed a poem's hand too soon. I liked that there was variety, and I couldn't always predict the next line. Short and sweet read.

Hoping to hear these being read on stage someday. Looking forward to more from Mallon.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Michele Northwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

SHH, PURELY POETRY M.J. MALLON
This is an eclectic mix of poetry that readers can dip in and out of at will. Most of the poems concern relationships and different forms of love. Some are evocative, others sensual and romantic, and others moving, when dealing with the loss of love.
There are poems of war, and others of aging. Each is unique, as most of them were penned using everyday word prompts or references, so the reader will encounter different styles and narratives throughout the collection.
For me, this is a book that can be picked up at will, and read poem by poem, to appreciate the wording and meanings behind each piece.
Highly recommended.

[Adele Marie Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems are fantastic. M.J. Mallon has a real talent for words. Honestly. I love the poems which form a circle or an oblong. I'm not sure what they are called but they are lovely.
From overheard conversations to personal experiences, she has woven a rich tapestry of love and lust without saying the obvious. Describing, and leaving things to imagination creates a landscape of images in the reader's imagination.
I highly recommend this volume of poetry to be read with a cool glass of wine on a sunny day while lounging beside the pool. Or; anywhere, anytime really.

[Tishana Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love finding new poetry books to read and was so excited when I saw MJ's "Shh Purely Poetry book".

It was a really great collection of poems touching on different sides of romance, a lot of a sensual nature, but written beautifully in the details and very vivid imagery. The only thing I would say I didn't like was that it was a quick read for me. I easily could have gone through another 200+ pages of MJ's beautiful writing and poems. There wasn't a poem that I didn't like at all. I can only hope she continues to write more poetry books in the future because I loved it!

[Pia Mailhot-Leichter · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are lines in Shh, Purely Poetry that grab me by the collar and pull me in so close I can feel its hot breath on my face. Mallon invites us on a journey through sensual and vivid landscapes and flesh I can almost feel. Overall, it's a love incantation that makes my lashes flutter and heart beat faster. Shh, Purely Poetry explores the topography of romance, love, and desire, and does not leave me wanting. Maybe it's just the lusty witch in me ;)

[D.G. Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mallon has created this volume of poems inspired by daily writing prompts and her observations and interpretations of the people and places she’s seen in her travels. She uses various poetic styles to showcase her thoughts in prose and poetry, including free-verse poetry for her longer pieces, which resonate with me most.

The sections are broken down into appropriate categories of poems. Many of the poems in the first section are written with food and drink as subject matter, with underlying tones of sensuality. Some of the poems also touch on holiday themes, love and discovery, love and loss, strangers, forgiveness, war, and nature. Much of the poetry is evoked with intimate and imaginative stirring of sensual images and others being quirky tales – as well as some with explicit sexual connotations. And an interesting spin I found with some of Mallon’s poems, that some were written from the male perspective.

I quite enjoyed this interesting twist on poetry story-telling, something very different than Mallon’s previous poetry. Here is a sampling:

Silhouettes

She is fair and I am dark.

Slight and I am robust.


We fill out together.

Completing our silhouettes.


As we explore each other.

Strangers a moment ago.


Now lost, unable to fade away.


Because we kissed the deepness

of each other’s shadows and stayed.


If you enjoy poetry that tantalizes and stimulates, you will no doubts enjoy Mallon’s poetry.

[Ritu Bhathal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of the author's fiction and poetry, too, and this was a departure from her usual genre!
Inspired, in part, by daily poetic challenges, Mallon has crafted a great set of poems.
It is a bit naughty and abstract, where you can take a lot from a few words!
I liked the second part of Voyeur Will You. It was very cleverly done!
Easily read and thought provoking.

[Chantelle Atkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this author - her books always make me smile and this one is no exception. There is something for everyone here in this quirky and evocative collection of poems!

[SilverRibbonReviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shh, Purely Poetry was just amazing. I honestly really enjoyed it and have already re-read it twice. Would recommend this book. Thank you for the opportunity to read it!