A Poem About My Grandma

 

My paternal grandmother, Maude Lewis Walsh

(1881-1961)

AT GRANDMA’S KNEE

In loving memory of my grandmother, Maude Ann Walsh,

and dedicated to all of my grandchildren.

 

When I was a child, sitting at my grandma’s knee

she told me about Jesus, Who gave His life for me.

 

She made for me a scrapbook all about the Lord,

to show me countless reasons why He should be adored.

 

I still have that scrapbook. I keep it with my treasures.

Looking through it time to time is among my pleasures.

 

She told of His birth at Christmas; Easter, it was the Cross;

told of the sins He saved us from when His life was lost.

 

She made it clear she loved Him; I learned to love Him, too,

and I grew up to follow Him, all my whole life through.

 

Now I have grandchildren, who sit upon my knee;

I get to tell them of the things that mean the most to me.

 

I read them poems and sing to them…Oh! we laugh and play;

I hug and kiss and pray with them in my special way.

 

Of course, I tell of Jesus and why I love Him so,

and oh I hope they’ll love Him, too, as they grow and grow.

 

Maude Carolan Pych

A Poem for Father's Day

It's Father's Day!

Today I'll share one of many poems

I've written about my father.

This one appears in "Wonderhoods,"

my 411-page memoir in poetry. 

My father, Frank H. Walsh (1912-1985)

BEANIE WEENIES

 

One of my earliest recollections

or maybe I'd heard the story so often

I just think I remember it

is of the first week of April 1948

I was nearly four; my sister, two and a half

It was the day our baby brother

came home from the hospital

Frank, namesake of our father

was cradled in the arms of our mother

wrapped in a navy plaid woolen blanket

They arrived with Daddy and Gramma

through the back door of the stucco home

our parents built in West Paterson

 

Gram took one look toward the kitchen sink

piled high with very dirty dishes

and immediately a commotion started

 

Daddy had been taking care of Carol and me

while Mommy was in the hospital

(at least five days in those days)

and Daddy was definitely

not one to do "women's work"

Many times he went on

about Mr. Palmer, the man next door

who was known to share a beer

with Dad, time to time

under the birch at the fence

Mr. Palmer not only helped

Mrs. Palmer with dinner preparations

but sometimes he was seen

hanging laundry on their backyard clothesline

Mrs. Palmer went to business at Kearfott

dressed in a smartly tailored suit

She was very unlike

the other house-dressed and aproned

stay-at-home mothers

in our neighborhood

 

Well, Daddy had to make the dinners

while Mommy was in the hospital

so he whipped up the only meal

he knew how to prepare—

beanie weenies

He cut up frankfurters

in half-inch pieces

and stirred them in a pot

with canned Campbell's Pork 'n' Beans

He heated them until they were bubbly

and served them to us in bowls

as long as there were bowls

then cups, as long as there were cups

then glasses…

and all those pots, bowls, cups, and glasses

and every tea and tablespoon in the house

were stacked in the white porcelain sink

caked with dry brown Campbell residue

awaiting the homecoming of our mother

 

I don't remember who tackled the chore

Suppose it had to have been Gram

 

Mommy placed Frank on the parlor sofa

still wrapped snuggly in the navy plaid blanket

She told Carol and me not to touch him

so we just stood and studied him

as he slept

 

Maude Carolan

For information about how to order books of poetry

by Maude Carolan Pych,

visit her website at

www.maudecarolanpych.net.

At the Mount of Beatitudes

Mount of Beatitudes

Image Credit: holyland-pilgrimage.org

BLESSED AT THE MOUNT OF BEATITUDES

Israel Pilgrimage—1986

 

At the Mount of Beatitudes

Wayne[1] suggests we each find

a quiet spot to spend

time alone with God

 

so I stroll along a pathway

surrounding the church

built in the name of

the Lord’s great message

to the multitudes

 

In a few moments, I hear baa baaing

and follow the sound to the top of a hill

with sheep and a shepherd in view below

 

I sit on a low wall

to watch and carefully listen

for the voice of my Shepherd

amid plaintive bleating

I, too, am one of His sheep

I, too, have things to tell him

and don’t want to miss

anything He might have to say

 

This is communion—

a lamb with her Shepherd

 

I bask awhile in sweet serenity

aware of a holy presence

as the sheep graze

and the shepherd, like Jesus

carefully tends his flock

 

Afterward, we pilgrims come together—

No one else heard the sheep

No one else saw the shepherd

 

The interlude was for me alone

a gift from my God—

a simple blessing

to one little lamb He loves

 

Maude Carolan Pych

---

[1] Wayne Monbleau—Pilgrimage leader and host of the “Let’s Talk About Jesus” radio program. 

Here I am,

happy to show you my book of poetry

about the Birth, Death & Resurrection of Jesus...

"Behold the Lamb...poetically!"

by Maude Carolan Pych

is available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.

www.maudecarolanpych.net

Pentecost/Shevout

 This is a special week for me. It's the week of my two birthdays. Birthday #1 was June 3rd, the day I was born of my mother back in 1944. June 6th, 1979, a few days before Pentecost Sunday, is the day I was Born Again and filled with the Spirit. This took place at the Thursday night meeting of the Upper Room Prayer Group of St. Catherine's RC Church, Ringwood, NJ. The late Fr. Matthew Gaskin led a prayer for a group of us at the conclusion of a Life in the Spirit seminar. My life immediately and wonderfully changed forever...

Happy Pentecost/Shevout

Image credit: commongoodonline.org

ACTS, CHAPTER 2

Sometimes—

when I read my Bible

I imagine myself

there, in the rumpled, dog-eared pages

where and when remarkable things

were happening

 

For instance—

Oh, I wish I could’ve been

in the room that morning in Jerusalem

on the Day of Pentecost

when an astonishing sound

of rushing wind came from Heaven

and filled the place with the Holy Spirit

 

wish I could’ve been among

the crowd of bewildered people

clutching garments and belongings

securing food baskets and money bags

amid the sound of whirring wind

wondering what was going on

 

I would’ve seen with startled eyes

blazing tongues of fire appear

then split and rest above us all

would’ve heard the Galileans

miraculously uttering languages

they did not know

proclaiming good news

to people of every nation

 

Oh, joy! Euphoria!

 

I would’ve heard

preposterous ridicule and accusations

that we were drunk with wine

Drunk with wine so early in the morning!

 

Had I been there, I would’ve seen

Peter stand with his brethren

and quote the prophet, Joel

and speak of Jesus

Crucifixion, Resurrection

and call us to repent

 

and finally, would’ve witnessed

three thousand souls receive salvation

and I would’ve been in that number

 

Oh! How great that would’ve been

How exciting to imagine

 

but, I didn’t need to be there

God had other plans—

 

On another Holy Pentecost

His Spirit came to rest on me

just as surely as it did

on the early believers

in Jerusalem, that day

 

and just the same as they

I have been changed

 

forever

 

Maude Carolan Pych

Would you like to read more poems?

"Behold the Lamb...poetically!" by Maude Carolan Pych is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. For more information visit Maude's website at www.maudecarolanpych.net.