A sharp eye and an ear for rhyme threads through a life of obstacles and losses, leading finally to gratitude and a joyous peace. Deborah Smith Parker’s father instilled in her a love of rhyme with a childhood filled with the rhythm of humorous verse. Her humor seasons every poem, even those larded with pain. Her memories of love and loss—long frozen—return to burden her with grief and dreams of death. She looks up in despair; ultimately it is with her stubborn optimism that she sees the stars and “heaven bowing down in awe” and weeps with gratitude. Deborah Smith Parker’s Wit Snark is a collection of poems, vivid, personal, and authentic. Parker searches for her place among other poets, and settles on her own place, where her father “woke those gods who slept inside of me.” With Billy Collins’ light touch of whimsy and the bite of modern sarcasm, Deborah Parker’s poems speak unflinchingly to hidden truths with a voice echoing resilience and ultimately, joy.