This memory still delights me after many years. We tried to grow a garden on our property in La Selva Beach, California. This little pumpkin just about made up the whole harvest.
From the forthcoming Poems for Childhood: In October.
The Penny Pumpkin
Papa brought a pumpkin in
All smooth, orange, and round.
It barely filled his open hand
We gathered all around.
We found a little coin nearby
To measure our surprise.
For who had seen a pumpkin
So near a penny’s size?
Perhaps the One who made it
Had smiled to see it grow.
For He had known all summer
What autumn soon would show.