Preface

Each poem which follows is a
Beloved steppingstone along my life’s path.
Each poem is significant to me, some
Of them recent, others more from my past, but
Each poem cradles my foot, and by its
Presence still listens and responds to the
Cadence in my heart.

Prayer

Your power, my faith. . .
My weakness, Your strength. . .
Please, Lord, help me to
Blind my mind to all those things I
Should not consider, and to
Open my heart to all those
Things I should feel.

Photo by Lisa Elaine
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Yellow Ginkgo Leaves

Ode to a Ginkgo’s Leaves

O yellow, sometimes e’en
gold, but with a tinge of slightest green,
undulating before my gaze,
each leaf’s changing
as the sun o’er my shoulder
leans, o you, dear leaves, doth arrest
me in my tracks, because
there is something
about your countenance,
which makes me believe you once
cradled my Savior’s
Shadow as He walked past.

Leo Carroll
October 29, 2022
Sammamish, Washington

Rev April 8, 2026



Photo by Leo Carroll

Collage of The Old and the New

The Lord is my
hope and my salvation.
There is nothing I shall want.
In Him, hope springs
eternal, and hope
does not disappoint.
The Lord is my shepherd,
and, yea, e’en in the
valley of the shadow of
death I am not lost.
To whom else would I go?
“The Lord is my font,”
echoes my soul.
He is my portion and
to the brim fills my
cup. I am nourished by
His Word, and from
His Wisdom desert streams
to my thirst come.
Nothing can separate
me from the Love of the
Lord. He searches
me and knows me.
By His Cross He is my
Saving Hope – Christ Jesus,
the Only Begotten
Son of God.

Leo Carroll
March 10, 2026
Westford, Massachusetts



Photo by Leo Carroll

Emptying

(John 2:1-11)

At the Wedding Feast of
Cana I am, traversing there in my
mind, watching, observing
all the joyous people, no longer
limited by space and time,
lingering in the background
at the periphery of all the guests,
not hoping for my stone
water jar to be filled, but rather
the intercession of the
Blessed Mother with her Son,
to have the vessel be
emptied of its useless fear
and despair.

Leo Carroll
February 14, 2026
Westford, Massachusetts



Photo generated by Google Nano Banana
Charcoal fire in front of sage and purple mountains

Asking the LORD

May my prayer
appear before You as sweetest
incense, its wisps of hope
curling and cleansing
like perfume scented with
daydreams of desert
streams. May my soul be
wrapped within the refuge of
Your wings, clothed in
the hues of a sage oasis,
content like an infant
from its mother newly
weaned.

Leo Carroll
January 16, 2026
Westford, Massachusetts



Photo generated by Google Gemini

The Blue Pearl

(Matthew 13:44-45)

And so, from high above the
Heavens, the LORD
looked down, and in His
infinite vision He saw a
blue pearl, the type of pearl
you would sell all
your possessions to acquire,
but rather than being
buried in a field it was hidden
far away in His Cosmos,
gleaming patiently
since the dawn of Creation,
waiting for the LORD
to tell His chosen people
Israel to end their trek
from galaxy to galaxy, and up’n
the blue pearl to recline.

Leo Carroll
January 15, 2026
Westford, Massachusetts



Photo by Javier Miranda (via Unsplash.com)