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.