Sharing Sunflowers!

"In My Sunflower Garden"

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For weeks now

I’ve been driving by a house

on Totowa Road

that holds no distinction

except for a vibrant flower garden

in front and around the side

What catches my glance

and causes me to smile

are perhaps thirty or forty

gigantic golden sunflowers

shouting for attention

Today I printed

eight sunflower poems

folded them neatly

and placed them in an envelope

decorated with a scribbled sketch

of a solitary sunflower

and a note saying

I love them, too!

and left the envelope

by the front door

of the house I often pass

Sometimes I leave bereavement poems

on a table at a neighborhood mausoleum

or give copies of my chapbook

The Widow’s Song

to newly widowed friends

Sometimes I mail poems

about butterflies

to people who love them

and regularly post poems on my blog

about God’s love and His mercy

with the hope

of reaching those

who need encouragement

When the one who gifted me

with a garden full of sunbursts

opens the door today

I hope my simple poems

generate a smile

Maude Carolan Pych


FREE CHAPBOOK:
To receive a free printable copy of my chapbook of 14 sunflower poems, "In My Sunflower Garden," send me a comment below, including your email address, and I will gladly forward a downloadable copy to you.

"Sunflowers Along Emmaus Road"

Another Sunflower Poem...

Here is a sunflower field
that reminds me of the one I saw
several years ago, along Emmaus Road.

SUNFLOWERS ALONG EMMAUS ROAD

Israel Pilgrimage—1986

A field of big, bodacious sunflowers

seem to be a great cathedral choir

singing the Hallelujah Chorus

with exultation

while sun-shining millions

of dazzling petal spires upon us

along Emmaus Road

It is fitting

because I am ablaze

with Jesus-joy

to be here

as I think about my newly

Resurrected Lord, vanishing

at the very breaking

of the bread

astonishing the disciples

who sat with Him

at table

Those utterly bewildered disciples

whose hearts thumped

and blazed

with glory fire

as He walked with them

as He explained to them

the Holy Scriptures

2000 years ago

somewhere

along this very road

Maude Carolan Pych

Free Chapbook:

Leave a comment below

and include your email address,

and I will be happy to send you a printable copy

of my chapbook of 14 sunflower poems, titled:

"In My Sunflower Garden."

Celebrating Sunflowers!

One day I drove past a house with a splendid garden,

a garden that boasted sunflowers in bloom.

I went home and printed a chapbook

of sunflower poems and left the booklet

on a little table in their garden...

Find information below

about how to receive a free chapbook

of sunflower poems.

Maude's Sunflower Garden--2018

SUNFLOWERS

Lafayette, New Jersey, September 1, 2001

God’s abundance wows me

from a sprawling field of sunflowers

which tower above

on thick woody stalks

They lift great ochre heads

framed in ragged haloes

of yellow gold

to shine sunrays upon me

like God’s own radiant face

amid a communion of saints

and I must smile back

Their leaves

are big green hearts

In their midst

my own heart

grows and greens

How God loves me!

He astonishes His child

with wondrous whimsies

Soon, when the season ends

they’ll just nod their weary heads

and shed their golden haloes

on the ground

and bequeath their gift of seed

to ravens of the air

which will feast festively

upon God’s abundance

unto them

Maude Carolan

Free Chapbook

Leave a comment below

and include your email address,

and I will be happy to send you a printable copy

of my chapbook of sunflower poems, titled:

"In My Sunflower Garden."

Sunflowers are in Bloom!

Have you noticed all the magnificent sunflowers...

kings of the backyard flower gardens?

Happy me in my 1918 sunflower garden!

SUNFLOWERS MAKE ME SMILE

Sunflowers make me smile—

because they’re absolutely outrageous!

They’re taller than a beanstalk

and way, way larger than a flower should be

They easily pass me in height

and keep right on growing

Each stately stalk and its sturdy leaves

go up, up, up like a ladder to Heaven

and when that flower bursts into bloom

it lights up my whole backyard

like the sun’s come down for a visit

All the shaggy petals are golden sunrays

shining upon me, while

the bees buzz with delight

sucking in nectar

I think God made sunflowers

to cause us to look up and take notice

of His handiwork and His generosity

His Love, too! The bigness of it!

His magnificent magnanimousness!

Oh! It’s certainly no wonder—

Whenever I see sunflowers

they always, always, always make me smile J

Maude Carolan Pych

"The Boardwalk Pavilion"

Summertime Worship

in Ocean Grove, New Jersey

Ocean Grove Beach Pavilion

THE BOARDWALK PAVILION

This glorious summer Sunday morning—

We’re drawn eastward

from north, south and west

by the magnetic pull

of God’s love-force

Drawn, to the old wooden pavilion

to the Atlantic, the Jersey shore

to the boards at God’s Square Mile—

Ocean Grove. Drawn

wearing khaki and denim

tees and tanks

sundresses, flip-flops

carrying water bottles

carrying Bibles

fanning ourselves

with song sheets

We fill the benches

then spill over

into the periphery

onto folding chairs, lawn chairs

beach blankets. Some stand

Some look for shade

It’s 80-plus and breezy

The sky, clear

The sea glistens

Waves slap the shore

merrily. We’re merry

Vacationers stroll past

Some peer; some stop

some smile; some don’t

Bikers pedal by

joggers jog

Hymnsong; guitar-strum

Son-smiles; praise dance

heart-moves; Kidz church

Gospel-preach

Agape flows outward

aboutward

Sea mist rises like incense

upward, Heavenward

toward the One

enthroned

We bask in the warmth

of His smile

of His warm, sunshiny love

Maude Carolan Pych

Introducing Barbara Higby's New Book...

Bob and I returned this week from our fabulous summer vacation to visit family in Colorado and California. One of the best things I found waiting for us, amid the huge stack of mail, when we got home, was a package containing the new book by Barbara Higby that I had pre-ordered. It is titled "I Was Broken, Too."

Barbara is my friend and the facilitator of the North Jersey Christian Writers Group (NJCWG). The book tells the story of her remarkable journey from brokenness to hope. 

Quoting from the back cover..."I Was Broken, Too" was written for you, the broken, disillusioned, and wounded. If loss of any kind has assaulted your hope, follow the paths that revived Barbara's--they are achievable and hope is possible. You will discover that what God has done for her, He will do for you." 

Her book is published by Elm Hill Press and is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and Christianbook.com.



And now, a summertime poem...

Let me introduce you to my granddaughter, Alana Dulce Muniz. In the photo below, she is in my kitchen, learning to make Irish soda bread. In the poem I'm about to share with you, Alana struggles with learning to dive during swim lesson classes, last summer at Erskine Lake...

Alana Dulce Muniz

LIKE A BABY BIRD

For Alana Dulce Muniz

Granddaughter Alana stands on the edge

of the diving board over Erskine Lake

Her arms are positioned high above her head

fingertips of both hands are touching

and pointing over the water

Her feet shuffle anxiously

She drops her tired little arms

looks around

lifts her arms again

points her fingertips, shuffles

trying to muster courage

wanting to do it so badly, but

too afraid to let herself go

Grandma calls to her

You can do this, Alana!

and Alana knows that’s true, so

she lifts her arms again

points her fingers again

shuffles right, left, right, left

then turns around

and climbs down the ladder

When she gets home

the baby sparrow in the straw nest

outside the kitchen window

is perched on the edge

It flutters its wings

It shuffles its little legs

The bird looks below

and shuffles some more

as mama bird flies to and fro

flapping her wings

with encouragement

Alana tells little bird

You can do it!

as we all stand by, like cheerleaders

hoping and waiting

Little bird remains perched there

for a long, long time

We give up watching

and don’t see it take flight

but it’s gone now

and a week later

when Grandma wasn’t there to watch

Alana perched herself, determinately

on the edge of the diving board

and dove victoriously

into Erskine Lake

Maude Carolan Pych

Uncle Fred & Miss Liberty's Torch...

Happy Independence Day!

My uncle, Frederick Leo Harris, 1984

UNCLE FRED AND THE TORCH OF MISS LIBERTY

In memory of Frederick Leo Harris

Uncle Fred was an unassuming kind of guy—

a master crane operator who ran

a long-necked crane for Canger, Inc.

He never boasted about it

didn’t speak of the special skills required

or dangers or the scope

of projects he was working on

nor did we even think to ask

except perhaps to inquire, conversationally

about where he was working

It could have been Jersey

or New York or sometimes Pennsylvania

He just put on his work clothes each morning

put in his eight hours, and came home

to their three room apartment

in Paterson, every night for dinner

On the 4^th of July in 1984

Uncle Fred was the engineer

chosen to remove the original torch

from the hand of Lady Liberty

That particular Independence Day

marked the start of restorations

on the Statue of Liberty, with completion

targeted for her 100^th birthday, in 1986

I don’t recall our uncle telling us

about it in advance. If he had

we undoubtedly would’ve been there

with our young children

to witness his feat

He probably dressed for work that morning

just like every other day

had his coffee, drove into the city

got himself to Liberty Island

and quietly set about doing 

exactly what a master crane operator

would be expected to do

There was a special ceremony

that Independence Day

with pomp and circumstance

a brass band and dignitaries—

and in the cab of the tall crane

hunched over the controls

sat our Uncle Fred, confidently

doing what needed to be done

to expertly bring down the old torch

The honor bestowed upon him

was completely lost on our Aunt Carol—

She was at home and unhappy

because he had to work on the holiday

and therefore they had to miss out

on normal 4^th of July festivities

like a parade or a cook-out or fireworks

When a news reporter called

to ask her some questions

she let him know exactly how she felt

and what she said was directly quoted

in the newspaper the following day

It wasn’t until she saw a picture of him

standing next to the old torch

on the front page of the Paterson News

that she realized the illustrious way

he spent the 4th. Suddenly

she became overcome with pride

and fussed over him to no end

even though, I’m certain, Uncle Fred

could easily have done without

anybody fussing over him, at all

The original torch is on permanent display

in the base of the Statue of Liberty

with a plaque telling of its removal

and the statue’s restoration that followed

It includes no mention of our uncle’s name

which, surely, would not have bothered him

but we know, and we’re proud

and this poem is written to keep

that special memory of him alive

Maude Carolan Pych