My Mission

Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, but raised in western New York State, Mary Morgan Brown received her B.A. degree in English from the State University of New York at Brockport. She taught a few years in Rochester, New York, before accepting a teaching position in Schaumburg, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, where she inspired thousands of students over a thirty year teaching career. After completing her M.Ed degree at National Lewis University, she also taught evening classes as an adjunct education professor at DePaul University as well as her junior high language arts teaching position.

As a divorced, single, working mom with four children, life was sometimes a challenge but always an adventure. Now well into their own adulthood, Ms. Brown is very proud of their successes and character and grateful for her seven grandchildren.

A cross-country move and a new marriage followed her retirement from teaching.  For the next decade, she worked as a Marketing Manager for a nonprofit company, which provided affordable quality housing to low-income seniors and families.

No matter where she has lived - six states so far - Ms. Brown has always been passionately involved in social justice work and programs for disadvantaged youth. Plus, she has always found time to write in the early morning hours.  Her published books include Love Is the Remedy: Poems for a Mending Heart and Seek, Wait, Trust: Poems for Navigating the Spiritual Journey.

Mary Morgan Brown currently resides in Oakland, California, with her husband Gregg, an ELCA pastor. He encouraged her to publish her poetry and continues to applaud her creative expression.                                    

"Life rarely turns out the way we planned as pre-adolescents fantasizing about our perfect futures. I had imagined a charming supportive husband who faithfully adored me, two 

delightfully clever children—a boy and a girl, a fulfilling job, a lovely home, and a wealth of friends. Two failed marriages, the end of a long-term relationship, and many financial and 

personal challenges later, I can only say that was wishful thinking! But, luckily, the last three have been true, including the friendships of my wonderful now-adult children. 

Have I changed and evolved as a result of my disappointments and challenges? Absolutely! Although I still dislike the phrase growth though painful is worth the suffering, I have to admit 

that has been the truth of my existence. 

So I come to this juncture in my life where I am taking the risk of sharing poems I have written over time about various relationships. In putting these poems together in one volume, 

I have discovered, yet again, the ebb and flow of life. Each love seemed so new and different at the time, but my romantic soul pulsed on and discovered there’s continuity to the joys, 

disappointments, and sorrows. 

It is not my intent to identify or single out the specific relationship, but rather to show the universality of love. In that vein, I have divided the sections into my growth spurts. The section Allowing Myself to Be Vulnerable speaks to the courage it takes to risk falling in love (or in love again). Sensing the Longing Within playfully encompasses the flirtatious phase I like so well. Brimming with Contentment shows the best love has to offer . . . the kind of love I wish could last a lifetime, the kind of love I’ll seek until my dying breath, the kind of love with which I’ve recently been blessed. Moving behind a Storm Cloud has been the unfortunate reality of my life . . . broken promises and letting go. Or, as Robert Frost phrased it, 'Nothing gold can stay.' Learning to Love Myself explores the sometimes painful, sometimes elating work of putting yourself back together again as the love disintegrates. But, hopeless romantic that I am, or perhaps because I am an eternal optimist and woman of faith, this book of poetry ends with a sense that life comes full circle. One who loves draws closer to God, learns more about self, and has more to offer others. For that, I am grateful. "

Although Love Is the Remedy: Poems for a Mending Heart is Ms. Brown's first published book, several poems had previously been published in magazines and poetry journals. This volume of love poetry charts the many phases of love from its vulnerability, deep longing, excitement, contentment, disappointment/perhaps rejection to the need to discover self-love to gain the courage to try to love again. 

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Time  (Page 1)

Time is as wild and reckless as I allow it to be.

Can I rope it down and make it manageable?

Or will it continue to knock the wind out of me?

Can I tame it and make it my friend rather than my enemy?

Serenity is more than just a state of mind;

It’s a place where time stands still.

Allowing myself to be vulnerable and happy – to risk loving again –

Is like getting on a wild stallion after it has thrown me,

Breaking my spirit and skinning my knee.

Loving is more than just a state of mind;

It’s a place 

Where time starts over.

Love in Full Bloom (Page 89) 

Like a withered old flower,

Dried-up incidents of indifference

Destroyed our once vibrant love affair.

For just as a stem can’t support the weight of a dying rose,

Laughter and spontaneity couldn’t lift the heavy depression

Permeating our last difficult days together.

Gratefully, in time, I will no longer recall the layers of hurt

Or the piercing pain of a broken heart

Any more than one remembers each petal falling from a fading flower

Or the thorn that once drew blood.

Instead, it’s always the awe-inspiring beauty of a perfect rose

That lives forever in one’s mind.

Someday my memory will be of the marvelous miracle of our love

Which started as a budding promise,

Grew in intensity and beauty,

Deepened in color, adding a glow that was noticed by all.

It was life at its best – pure and passionate, caring and compassionate 

Love in full bloom.

Mary's newest book, Seek, Wait, Trust: Poems for Navigating the Spiritual Journey, was published by Westbow Press in December of 2022. Here is a section from the Foreword by Rev. Dr. James A Forbes, Jr.

These poems are not just literary offerings, but also testimonies of what God can do and will do. In many of these poems, scripture verses have morphed into direct advice not so much to be quoted, but actions to be taken.

Listen not so much for rhymes or meter, literal or symbolic intent. Listen with your heart to hear the voice of God. God has heard the interrogatives, intercessions, petitions, and gratitude of your soul and has lovingly placed an answer in your spirit. The divine disclosures may have come in a series of words, several lines, multiple paragraphs, or a number of pages. If you do not discern the meaning on your first reading, read again and again. When you are finally ready, say “Speak Lord, your servant child is ready to hear!”

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Seek, Wait, Trust was inspired by a Julian of Norwich 15th century quote that moved her to tears:  Seek willingly and actively…gladly and happily, without foolish sadness and empty sorrow…wait upon him steadfastly, not grumbling and striving against him…trust him completely with certainty of hope. For it is his will that we know he will come suddenly and joyfully to all who love him. Each poem is inspired by a Bible verse on either seeking, waiting, or trusting. 

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Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” – Lamentations 3:22-26

Unconditional Love*

I won’t pretend this is easy.

Losing my mother is like losing a part of my body and soul.

My mother is utterly irreplaceable.

Gratefully, she lives eternally in my heart.

Her unlimited hugs always allowed me to feel cherished.

Her love was as absolute as the daily sunrise,

as demonstrative as a full harvest moon,

and as limitless as the stars in the sky.

My mother’s affection was as free as God’s amazing grace.

As a child, I idolized her beauty,

I treasured her soothing songs,

and I laughed at her silly jokes.

My mom was a ray of sunshine,

a melodious mockingbird,

a ready reason to smile,

the first one to call and the last one to fear.

I still feel her presence when I see someone smiling,

or hear a piano playing,

or witness a child being comforted by a mother’s unconditional love.

or wait quietly with the Lord whose faithful compassions never fail.

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*Page 41 in Seek, Wait, Trust: Poems for Navigating the Spiritual Journey

For more samples of Mary Morgan Brown's writing, check out the Poetry and Children's Books tabs above.