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by Jane Stahl
In addition to sharing her poetry, Mary Anne Abdo has become a fan of our community. Mary Anne--author, poet, and photographer--visits Boyertown from her home in Scranton to participate in Studio B Art Gallery’s activities. She has contributed to the gallery’s anthologies of poetry, prose, and art and shares that her relationship with Studio B has triggered her "career" as published poet. Mary Anne regularly attends the writers’ receptions and special events like the gallery’s 2022 “Life Stories* experience modeled after the international “Human Library” initiative. And she visits simply because she finds Boyertown a special kind of place!
But I love her "origin story" as a writer. Mary Anne’s inspiration to write was triggered as an eighth-grade student assigned to explore her family’s roots in a nod to Alex Haley’s 1976 novel and 1977 television mini-series Roots: The Saga of an American Family. As part of her project, she interviewed and audiotaped her grandmother who, while she wouldn’t share every detail, had come from Ireland, lived through the potato famine, and was one of 20-30 family members who ultimately immigrated. “My grandmother told a story of what was essentially a ‘living wake.’ They brought their traditions, their food, their church, their culture…vowing never to forget their beloved home country.”
“I got an ‘A’ on my project, but it also unleashed in me an empathy for the struggles that people endure every day all around us,” she explains. The experience led to her graduation magna cum laude from Luzerne County Community College with a degree in Human Services, her freelance journalism and poetry as a source of creative expression reflecting on many facets of what it means to be a human being living in modern times.
“As life is a series of phases, writing took a back seat to raise my family, but I started writing again during the pandemic,” she offers, “by taking a class via Zoom with Fulbright professor Craig Czury as part of the Greenhouse Project. He got us started by writing postcards. He said that poetry is like writing a letter to an aunt, to yourself, or to the love of your life. And I fell in love with writing all over again. I’m still taking classes with Craig and using words to connect with others and myself.
“Craig shared Studio B’s ‘Call to Writers’ with us and encouraged us to submit our work. I’m grateful to Craig for the encouragement and to Studio B for taking a chance on me, by publishing my work. Since then, I’ve self-published my own book of poetry titled Fractured Lollipop: Poems of Brokenness, Healing, and Hope and am going back to school to study the basics of writing. I have things to learn that my sister, my editor, points out when she proofreads my work. I need to try different styles beyond free verse; and, as my sister says, ‘Stop with all the commas. Not everything is a break,’” she offers.
Publishing her debut book was a challenge. “I’m so grateful for my husband who pulled me ‘off the edge’ many times during the process. Although Amazon had templates to use and guide me, it was a lot of work, a lot of research, a lot of frustration and cursing at the computer. I’ll never forget all that I learned.
“I had to take a long walk after I hit the ‘Submit’ button. It was amazing to receive the finished books—after a number of DRAFT copies. And my recent book signing was nerve wracking but such a joy.”
“I was so nervous. But I prayed and gave it to God. I had a nice turnout, sold many books. It was very gratifying. Of course, as a writer, you want to sell, but you also want to touch other people in some way. I wanted to help others beyond the message. And so, a portion of my royalties will be donated to organizations dedicated to helping others.”
Mary Anne’s poems talk about mental health, about struggle of those who have experienced domestic violence, child abuse, abandonment. Working in the health care field since age 14, she heard others’ heart-rending stories. Volunteering in a women’s shelter was an eye-opener learning what some women have gone through and what they had to do to survive, to get back on their feet—especially during the pandemic—an historic event in human history that complicated everything for those who were already homeless and in need of food and basic services.
“These women inspired me—especially one woman who once had had everything. She sold everything to help her parents and ended up with medical bills that bankrupted her. She was homeless. But when she came to the shelter, she was so supportive, kind, and loving. But I’ll never forget her smile on the day she left, knowing what she’d overcome. She was excited to be going into another chapter of her life, believing that what she’d endured made her a better person. And, in fact, she was starting a foundation to help other women.”
Mary Anne’s title poem “Fractured Lollipop” asks what is love supposed to be when one is brimming with self-loathing, pretending, wearing a happy face, trying to grieve without falling into the cavern of darkness. The poem alludes to the innocence of children and how shattered—fractured—are those who are abandoned or separated, forever insecure, never to recover from a brokenness that will endure for generations.
Fractured Lollipop
Oh so perfect and yet not perfect at all
Torn and twisted like the bleached white paper encircled, holding up that lemon lollipop.
Cracked and fractured after that first bite, pieces falling onto the pavement.
The pieces of a child’s understanding.
Gone, trying to comprehend what just happened.
Crouching down in agony of someone’s misplaced love.
Still trying to understand what love is truly supposed to be.
Mistrust, lost confidence quietly holding my true self.
Silently briming with self-loathing.
Bite by every condemning bite--
Putting on the pretend happy face for the world to perceive no affliction exists.
One half of the brain still grapples with the silence of unwanted ordeals.
The other half sees light through a childlike imagination
Always trying to breathe without sinking into the chasm.
Another poem about loss encourages help and hope for the homeless, imagining empty shelves and food insecurity.
Ruth’s Place
Human Services internships will awaken you to the flipside of your cozy life
Thirty days of sleeping on makeshift beds.
Head-to-head with strangers that seem half dead.
Societies lost and broken beings.
Women telling stories of their hardcore lives.
Sometimes eating food from trash bins and leftover restaurant
scraps, walking all hours of the day and night.
Just wondering and wandering through city streets.
Stories of past idyllic and not-so-happy lives.
Promises made and promises shattered while sleeping in the cold.
Committing a misdemeanor is the only menas of a warm jail cell
for the winter.
Hoping the lawyers will intervene--
Sendng us to a shelter.
Hearing of a place near Pennsylvania Avenue that provides the basic needs.
Social workers, volunteers and interns trying to change this broken system.
Words of encouragement.
Trying to make us more human again.
Mary Anne concedes, “We all need to take baby steps to make the world better somehow. The whole world needs all of us to do something. Some of our media’s ‘Breaking News’ stories need to be positive ones and we need to tell them.
Her debut poetry book is offered to help and can be purchased on Amazon. https://bluestainedglass.wordpress.com
maryanneabdo@bluestained-glass.com
The conversation with Mary Anne from which this article was created can be found on the "B Inspired" podcast, available on your favorite podcast platform including Anchor FM, Spotify, Google, Castbox, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, and RadioPublic, and Apple.
Mary Anne Abdo
Mary Anne has a passion for art, culture and literature. Her work has been featured in The Edge of Humanity Magazine, Moonstone Press, Pennsylvania Bards, Scranton Poets Live Local Gems Press, the Avocet, Calla Press and Studio B’s annual poetry anthologies Transforming Moments 2022 and Legacy 2023, Mary Anne placed second for her photograph and short story submission in the Museum of Family Prayer’s 2022, Mary Garden contest. She has also collaborated on the children’s book Creative Gems Volume 2, and has been featured internationally in Bindweed Magazine’s seasonal anthology. Mary Anne resides in Pennsylvania with her family.
*Life Stories
Participants in Studio B’s “Life Stories” experience shared their life journeys involving Addiction and Recovery, Depression, Cults, Intuitive Healing, Adoption, Challenges as a Person Of Color, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism modeled after an initiative in Denmark that exists in over 50 countries. Participants were paired with a member of the community for a measured amount of time to share their life stories and then, like in speed dating, they moved on to share with another person for a designated time. Community members were able to listen to each participant during the event.
The goal of the project was to decrease stigma and prejudice and promote empathy and understanding. So often we are quick to judge others or experience fear because we misunderstand. The adage “To know you is to love you” comes to mind; there is no doubt that those who seek to understand others—their situations and unique challenges—grow to care more about others, often make new friends, and find ways to help. The event’s mission was to inspire empathy for others and help us in our efforts to build a better, kinder community.
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