More Than Moons & Chinese Cookies

Through messy relationships, subtle mysteries, and nature’s artistry, MaryPat verses ＂paint their readers into each picture＂ using vivid descriptions and vibrant actions. Although presented through two distinct styles, each poet’s lens offers smoothly integrated views that focus on common themes such as rhythms, peace, and reflections. Expanding from the effects of a full moon’s white light against the black of night sky, the poets explore the illusionary effects of light and sound. During broad daylight, the tangled interactions of human relationships emerge. Relationships lead from fresh newness to mounting disinterest and then to destruction that may or may not be inevitable. MaryPat verses describe connections between humans, and between humans and nature. They illustrate the rhythms of life through seasons and patterns. Touching on curiosities embedded in everyday, these poets prompt inquisitive minds to wonder at what happens next, or what happened before to get to the ＂now＂ described in verse. All the while, fortunes predicted on small scraps of paper inside fragile cookies mingle with unknowns of everyday to weave stories of lives and loves inexorably linked to hopes--all the while bounded by realities.

MaryPat is a combined pseudonym for the collaborative efforts of Mary [MaryEllen Zeman-Tinsley] and Pat [Patricia Jo Dustman], including the merged final syllables of both of their surnames. Professional colleagues for nearly two decades, during that relationship, the two discovered a shared love of language, storytelling, and narrative verse. Following their formal retirement, the two began to collaborate to create this volume to share with others. Although the focus of their pieces and the styles of their writing differ widely, they discovered that these diverse views revealed shared themes of experiences. They hope you agree.
MaryEllen, a behavioral health expert, specialized in the areas of women’s health; pregnancy and addition; recovery in many settings; and prevention. For over three decades, her work focused on leading non-profit organizations in their missions of serving the underserved through developing and finding funding for specialized programming, housing, and clinical interventions.
Pat, whose background focused primarily on PreK through Grade 12 public education, spent her nearly three decades teaching and administering public schools in both Ohio and Arizona. Following her years in public education, she joined a prevention research team at Arizona State University specializing in developing interventions for substance abuse prevention for youth and families.