Excerpt from

Book By

I find myself in battle pictures of the past, haunting the deepest recesses of thy soul.
Seeing porcelain as a child, unable to understand why.
Bang after bang hitting young bones,
I stop and wonder after the passage of time.
Why?

An innocent child caught in the middle of that long ago rage,
pent up inside of you.
While she pays the price, the price of your childhood shame.
Appearances are deceiving after these many decades.
The two faces of grace have been played out on the public stage.
One in absolute horror and one so holy.
Who are you really?

One will really never know.
The first of your offspring still endures that tongue of barbed wire remarks.
Children should never see porcelain so close to the naked eye.
Contemplating over the reason why, does existence really mean anything?
The brain hurts, the soul goes to and fro in many needless directions.
Why?

You do not even fathom the depths of how many drownings were hidden in that closet.
Only our patriarch reached out towards the end;
he understood the pain.
And in a flood of regretful tears, reached out in forgiveness.
Yet forgiveness has been tried and tried again.
Only to be scorned with backbiting words.
Revisiting my battlefield is not a worthy gesture.

I am torn apart—
Please let me escape this single parental storm.
Why?
Your loving words have fallen silent

Mental health struggles are universal. Talking or writing about this subject matter is another narrative. Since the pandemic the need to focus on mental health issues have increased and to obtain help is vital to our society. Fractured Lollipop is a poetry collection that invites us to have conversations about this topic. A topic that is often suppressed since it is uncomfortable to speak about. It is a journey that no one should carry on alone. Many of the poems are based on my life experiences working in the health care field.

Content disclaimer for reader discretion: Adult Themes. Some of the subject matter contained in the book may be sensitive for a few readers.

This poetry book provides an honest insight into the ramifications of abuse, trauma, loss, stress, anxiety, and depression. Mixed with glimmers of healing and hope against the struggles of life. Included on the last page are resources for contacting mental health lifelines.

Mary Anne Abdo is a poet, author, and photographer. She graduated magna cum laude from Luzerne County Community College with a degree in Human Services. With a background in freelance journalism; she uses her poetry as a source of creative expression, which reflects on many facets of what it means to be a human being living in these modern times. 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,The Skeptics Kaddish,The Avocet, Calla Press, and Studio B’s annual poetry anthology 2022 and 2023. Mary Anne placed second for her photography 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.