We Set Up the Creche Last Night...

SETTING UP THE MANGER SCENE

 

A few snowflakes drift in wintry air

as I carry the carton down the stairs

and unwrap the antique fragile things—

a manger, some camels and three kings.

 

I set them on the polished tabletop,

being careful not to chip or drop

them as I do. Sheep and shepherd men

are arranged as entering Bethlehem.

 

An angel, gilded, with one chipped wing

is affixed above; her place to sing.

There’s a cow and donkey, nibbling straw,

Joseph, kneeling, with a look of awe

 

and Mary, new at being mother

gazing adoringly at none other

than her swaddled, holy, infant Son…

Jesus, Our Savior, on day one.

 

As I move each figure, to its place,

I call upon God’s loving grace…

pray each who stand before my manger,

to Jesus, will never be a stranger.

 

May this heirloom crèche, made long ago

recall the event that sets hearts aglow.

May He be for them, as He’s been for me—

 

Sweet Love …

for now

and through eternity.

 

Maude Carolan Pych

 I hand-painted my ceramic Nativity scene in 1965 and have been setting it up every Christmas since.

 This poem appears in "From My Heart to Yours at Christmas...Cookies & Poems". If you would like to order the 32 page booklet, send a check for $7.00 plus $1.00 p&h made out to Maude Carolan Pych to P.O. Box 2211, Woodland Park, NJ 07424.

 

 

 

Have You Begun Christmas Shopping Yet?

Maude's Christmas Chapbook

"From My Heart to Yours at Christmas:
Cookies & Poems"

 

CHRISTMAS AT THE MALL

 

Day after Thanksgiving, at the mall, what is this I see…

Santas sledding in the air and a tinseled Christmas tree,

a roly-poly Frosty, red-nosed Rudolph with some elves,

glittery garlands, balls and bows, bedazzling on the shelves?

The shops are alive with music, “White Christmas,” “Jingle Bells;”

there are “ho, ho, hos,” “let it snows” and cinnamon-y smells.

 

It certainly all seems festive, so cheery and so bright,

but what oh what does it have to do with that Holy night?

I cannot find a manger scene, an angel or a star,

I do not see the wisemen…wonder where the shepherds are.

I do not hear a carol or the story of the birth

of Our Savior, Jesus Christ, Who dwelled right here on Earth.

 

Many, it seems, have cast aside the things that matter most.

By replacing them with fairy-tales, The Treasure became lost.

My heart fills up with sorrow, and I feel the need to prod

the waning faith of restless souls who live apart from God.

We all need to remember the virgin and The Child…

Revive, O Lord, the rock of faith that’s been so long exiled.

 

Maude Carolan Pych

 

 

The above poem appears in my 32 page booklet of Christmas poems and luscious cookie recipes that I've been baking for my family and friends for years. It would make a fitting hostess gift or stocking stuffer. To order mail a check made out to Maude Carolan Pych for $7.00 per copy, plus $1.00  p&h for first copy and .50 p&h for each additional copy. Send it to me at P.O. Box 2211, Woodland Park, NJ 07424.

 



 

 

Thanksgiving is here...and Christmas is coming!

 

HOLIDAY HOMECOMING

 

She smiled as she dusted

the ceramic crèche

on the old oak credenza,

sang as she swept the kitchen floor,

even Lysoled the bathroom bowl

with effervescence.

 

Humming a Yuletide carol, the woman

rolled pastry into a thin rectangle

and cut cookies into shapes

of stars and angels and lambs.

 

Spontaneous praise proceeded from her lips

as she stuffed the twenty pound turkey,

trussed it tidily,

rubbed it with butter and sage

and lifted it into the moderate oven.

 

She dressed the table with china and silver,

the slightly yellowed table linen

stored in her mother’s cedar chest,

and a silvery bowl of pink poinsettias

bought at the flower sale at church.

 

Her feet ached, but her eyes sparkled.

This was among life’s highest joys:

Her adult children would soon be at the door

bringing presents, hugs and laughter

and she would get to serve them Christmas dinner.

 

Maude Carolan

 

My personal best wishes for a festive Thanksgiving and the beginning of a very blessed Christmas holiday season. God bless you.

A poem from "A Pilgrim's Quest"

Ibex drinking from Springs of Engedi

AT THE WATER BROOKS

Israel Pilgrimage--2006

 

We stop briefly

at a verdant oasis

in the wilderness—

the Springs of Engedi

where long ago in a cave nearby

David spared the life of Saul

 

A crystalline waterfall descends

from high above our heads

into a sparkling pool at our feet

 

Our rabbi tells us

deer and ibex

hyrax and rock badgers

roam these hills

and that in the shade

of the caves

psalmists of old

likely scrawled

timeless verses

 

My mind’s eye

envisions a son of Korah

sitting upon a rock

at the mouth of a cave

ministering unto the Lord

on a hot day—

 

Suddenly a thirsty deer

appears and begins

lapping cool, refreshing water

from the stream—

          hence, Psalm 42

 

As the deer pants

for the water brooks,

So my soul pants

for You, O God…

 

We begin to sing the psalm—

our own souls thirsting

for The Living God

of the ages

 

as our eyes dart about

searching for deer or ibex

 

or a snippet

of Saul’s garment

shorn by the blade

of David’s swift sword

 

Maude Carolan Pych

 

 

The above poem is from my new chapbook, "A Pilgrim's Quest--A Poet Visits the Holy Land". The 46 page booklet is a compilation of poems about my three pilgrimages to Israel.

 

Scroll down to the end of this blog for ordering information.

 

 

Celebrating the Wonder of Birth!

       Haddie Ann Kreider
             Born Today!

WORTH IT ALL

 

First there was the long awaited joy discovering

That you were a mere fetal speck.

Months of pampered excitement

Watching my belly slowly swell

Then balloon beyond belief.

Impatient, I longed to peek inside myself

To see the secret you,

Your sex, your skin, your forming face

With x-ray eyes

In those pre-sonogram years.

Week by wondrous week

I felt you growing, strengthening,

As you poked me from within

With fidgety feet and fists.

Imagined a hundred scenarios

Of the you you were becoming.

Laid hands upon my rumbling stomach,

Prayed blessings

Penetrating pre-born you.

 

Then, arrived the day of

Tremulous wonder.

Contracting crescendos,

Long hours in a surrealistic haze

Climaxing in pushing, pushing, pushing you out

Of my cozy womb into my waiting arms.

Labor blurred sweetly into joy’s

Highest measure. You emerged,

Perfect. Miraculous.

 

Then followed years of diverse labor stages

So intense, childbirth’s memory

Paled into small inconsequential aches,

And star spangled ecstasies catapulted me

Far, far into glittery galaxies.

 

You’re adult now, on your own,

Still developing, discovering,

Dazzling, surprising,

Still nudging me

Within and without.

I still long to peek

Into places I cannot,

To know you even more

Than I know you,

And who knows you more?

That’s how it is for mothers.

That’s how it’s always been.

Umbilicals are only severed

In the physical sense.

 

Maude Carolan

 

Welcome to my brand new great niece, Haddie Ann, who was born this morning, October 27, 2012.  She's the daughter of Carrie & Troy Kreider and she's sooooo beautiful! God bless her and her little family.

 

This poem was written years ago in remembrance of the times I awaited the birth of my own three children.

 

 

 

I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.

To my husband, Bob, on our 6th anniversary:

DODI LI

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine."

Song of Songs 6:3

 

Shirley says

my heart is a thimble

and God's love is the ocean

and He wants to pour all that love

into my little heart

 

I have learned that the Lord

has made my heart

a little like His own

 

that the heart is limitless

in its capacity to love

 

that it may seem

the heart's chambers

are about to burst

…yet there's still room

 

that bodies grow older

…but not our hearts

 

I have learned

that God

is the Restorer of Hearts

The Master of mending

broken ones

 

that although sorrow

may visit us

the heart keeps its rhythm

…hope is not shattered

utterly

 

I grew tired of the Titanic song

weary of Celine's heart going on

and on and on

 

but now I understand

the heart does go on

 

I've also discovered

my heart is undivided

when it professes

Ani le dodi ve dodi li

and speaks of

two bridegrooms

One of my soul…Jesus

and one of my heart…Robert

 

and I believe

one of the best things there is

about knowing God

is that He is Love

 

…that we love

because He first

loved us

 

He just keeps on

filling our thimbles

with inexhaustible oceans

 

so we'll always

always, always

have Love

to give

 

Maude Carolan

 

Happy Anniversary, Bob…I love you!

 

I read this poem to Bob during our wedding ceremony, October 21, 2006.

 

"Dodi le dodi ve dodi li" means "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine."  Our gold wedding bands bear that inscription in Hebrew.

Have you ever been to the Dead Sea?

LIFE FROM THE DEAD SEA

Israel Pilgrimage—1986

 

There’s something mysterious

yet wondrous

about this great water body

that lies smooth and still

in the midst of utter barrenness

so salty, one can actually climb

and walk upon giant saline mushrooms

which rise up from sea bottom

at the lowest ebb on Earth

 

For millenniums it has taken

from the Galilee and Jordan

without giving—

refusing sustenance

to fish and flora

hoarding its rich minerals

and precious oils which intensify

in ongoing evaporation

 

People flock to its shores

from far continents

to bathe, buoyed

in lifeless waters that heal

They even slather their bodies

with its dark therapeutic mud

receiving restoration

from the deadest dead

 

One great day

the mighty arm of God

will reach down, down, down

to touch its lifeless liquidity

with miraculous rebirth

Its waters will spring to life!

Fish will thrive

Trees will bear magnificent fruit

along its lush and fertile shores

 

Maude Carolan