Silence
Click for meditationRegarding "Silence"
So rare is silence…
It’s almost as if we are afraid
Of it, and run from it,
Preferring the comfort of
Being around noise,
Rather than to have to think,
To have to consider who
We really are and the
Purpose of our existence in a
Universe too immense
And chaotic to understand.
There is a saying,
“God is in the silence.”
It speaks of the precious,
Divine nature of silence and
Its ability to heal and foster prayer.
In the Gospels, Jesus would
Always seek a quiet place to pray.
In the minds of Believers,
Yahweh was able to be
Heard above the roar of the
Big Bang in Genesis, such was the
Greatness of His almighty
Voice! Yet lo billions of
Years later, as galaxies still
Scream outward and expand the
Boundaries of the Universe,
God can be found meekly
In the sights and sounds of all
That composes His Creation,
Such as the birds of the air,
The grasses in the wind,
The gurgle of streams, and all
Else patiently calling us to
A state of calm and
Peace within. Silence is
So quiet, but yet is so
Profound, that its presence
Can supersede the din
That all human minds
And mouths can pour into
A dry fountain. When I
Was recently in Maine, the
Silence re-awakened
Some musings which I
Always associate and find
Poignant with my visits to Maine.
The same silence, however,
Also brought assurance
In the wizened croaks of a raven –
And I knew God in mystery
And mercy was present in my
Moods! In short, silence
Can not only evoke or activate a
Wellspring of feelings that
Noise would mask, but silence
Can also teach us that in
The crosscurrents of the Universe
The Omniscient presence
Of God (“I Am”) can assuage any
Desert loneliness running
Wild in the swirling sands.
Leo Carroll
August 25, 2020
Mood
“O, I am so missing you,”
I muse, sighing inaudibly while
Contemplating a solitary
Spruce through the window
Of my mood. “How can you be the
Other side of this glass,
Here now, here last year, and
Next if I so last…?”
Leo Carroll
August 17, 2020
Bristol, Maine
Finding
God can be found
In the silence, in the voices of the
Grasses and the birds and
The wind… gone now are His
Booming chords of First Day,
When ’twas necessary to shout
Above the cacophony of the roar and
The blast with, “Amen!”
Leo Carroll
August 18, 2020
Bristol, Maine
Saying Goodbye
A raven bugles in two,
Maybe three quick croaks…
While reverently stands
Ramrod-straight a little spruce, its
Duty to listen, as if no
Oth’r ears were interested
Enough to be open…
Leo Carroll
August 23, 2020
Bristol, Maine
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments
The stone tablets were
Laid bare on the hot desert floor,
Heat radiating off them
Unmercifully, their inscriptions
Indelible but their verses
Too radioactive for fingers
To trace and explore…
Their Commandments were
Simple, but the words
Interpreted so harsh, first
Given on the holy heights of a
Mountain, but carried
Back down into the valley
Where its gorge emptied into the
Yawning well of a parched fountain…
So rigorous the stone tablets
Seemed, so unyielding in
Their demands, so heavy to
Carry, so burdensome
On shoulders already
Stooped by the land…but
Then a new translation
Came along, the intent of the
Commandments still to be fully
Met, but the hardness
Of the tablets softened by a
Yoke of Love to help
Them to be lifted…as if
The Balm of Gilead was applied
Retroactively to when the
Tablets were first cast, and
Was now mixing with the Potter’s
Original ingredients – the
Yeast of the Cornerstone to
Secure them fast…
The Moment
As if on command,
An angel flapped her wings,
As if on command, another angel
Clapped his hands, and so
Light spread shadow-by-shadow
Across the dry valley, and
Wisdom shone where had stood
Desert sands…such a
Revelation, a revelation of
Almighty, moving might,
Given to ears that heard it,
Given to eyes which saw its form…
And given also when was thought,
“Is this real or is this not?!”
Along the Assabet
Click for meditationRegarding "Along the Assabet"
Somewhere over the rainbow,
Somewhere in Acton along a road…I found
Myself seated along the Assabet
River. It all started when I
Was out on errands, and was
Waiting to have a car
Inspection completed. I was
Sitting outside the garage
Due to Covid-19 social distancing,
And was in an Adirondack
Chair, my mind near and afar…
As I was sitting there, I was
Marveling at the presence of
Some morning glory flowers
Hanging wondrously in front
Of me. They were mature plants
And were in large pots, and
Were very lighthearted in their
Pinks…Then through their
Foliage I heard a slight gurgling, and
Realized how very close I was
To the Assabet River! And so,
On a warm, muggy day
While out doing errands, I was
Graced with the cooling effects of
Color and sound and peace…
I peeked through the morning
Glory leaves and saw the
Shallow, running waters of the
Assabet, a foot deep, rounding what
They had rounded for eons…
And thus, perfectly-formed stones
Were added to the effects of
Color and sound, all culminating into
An unexpected moment…
A gift handed to me for free, and
All I had to do was to believe in it – – on a
Day in July when all else seemed
Tumult and roar and fear
Beyond relief.
Leo Carroll
July 26, 2020
The waters of life by me
Flow… “No worries,” they bubble,
“Let us o’er the riverbed
You row…” And so I let them
Take me, in sort of a
Swoon on a sultry afternoon,
Surrendering myself to
The moment, the waters in
Consonance with each other,
No vying for honors, their
Burbling being humble,
Rounding as for eons the already
Smooth-etched stones.
Robin’s Leaf
Click for meditationRegarding "Robin’s Leaf"
I am always amazed
By the seemingly little things
Occurring in creation!
I am usually caught off
Guard by them because of being
Absorbed in my own life…
But in this poem, a robin reminds
Me of nature’s nuances!
Recently, my car was
Parked under the shade of a
Small cherry tree, and
As I walked towards it to
Open the driver’s side door,
There was a tremendous
Rush of commotion
Above me as a robin bolted
From out the midst of
The tree! I had disturbed it,
And it let me know
As it flew away, upset
And squawking…
So quick was its departure
From the tree that it
Dislodged a leaf near where
It had been perched.
So as I stared after and
Tried to follow the
Robin’s flight, the little
Leaf was the only witness left
Behind…! And then in
Realization it came to me that
The leaf had spent its
Whole life waiting to be
The robin’s companion in
The cherry tree, and in
A simple wink of time I had
Eviscerated its interlude
Of accomplishment
And peace…leaving the
Little leaf to float by me to the
Ground, and the robin,
Safely ensconced somewhere
Close by, mourning the leaf now
Splayed at my feet…
Leo Carroll
July 13, 2020
Startling me as much
As I startled it, a robin bursts from
A wee cherry tree, and with its
Fleeing voice delivers me a
Stark missive…tempered, that is,
By the flight of a slowly
Floating cherry leaf, its preciousness
Dislodged when the avian
Abruptly abandoned its Sunday
Morning seat!
Someone Somewhere in Shadow
Click for meditationRegarding "Someone Somewhere in Shadow"
When I was recently at the
Service department of a local car
Dealership, I found myself
Standing at the service desk and
Discussing a problem with my
Car battery. And as I was doing this,
I saw out of the corner of my
Eye what appeared to be a statue…!
Strange it seemed! I then
Focused my gaze directly at the
“Statue,” and as the service
Manager continued to tell me
About some nuance of
My battery, I realized the statue
Was actually a young man!
He was standing perfectly still, his
Eyes locked on me, listening
To my discussion at the
Service desk. I cannot overstate
How completely immobilized
He was. He blended
Completely into the background
Around him. He was inert like a piece
Of furniture! And it came
To me that in his lifetime he
Must have regularly been
Viewed as such! His upper body
Was strong-appearing,
Muscular, but his lower body
Appeared undeveloped, almost
Without any dependable
Strength. He was supporting
Himself as he stood by two specially
Configured crutches. And a
Little while later when I
Saw him moving about, he was
Able to do so by swinging his
Upper body on the crutches…
Maneuvering by the grace of his
Sculpted chest, shoulders and arms.
How blessed I felt! And how also
Ashamed I felt to have taken for
Granted all that had been
Given to me in life! A bare hour
After I had first arrived, my
Battery problem was fixed
And I was on my way! When I last
Saw him, the young man with
The specially designed crutches was
Sitting in the waiting area for
His car. But to those seated around him,
I believe he was probably still
Invisible, just this time molded into
The contours of his chair, where
He remained immensely quiet and still.
I have since thought about the
Countless people who have crossed
My path in life, some of whom
Have had distinct physical or
Mental challenges, all nevertheless
An integral part of the human
Condition. They are a reminder to
Me of all I have been given, deeply
Flawed and imperfect as I am.
I have come to think of these
Revelatory moments as signposts,
Maybe even necessary advisory
Warnings about how fragile
My own life’s path is…spinning and
Tumbling as I am with everybody
Else in the seeming chaos of this universe,
And comes to my mind the old
Saying which I paraphrase,
“There but for the mystery of
Creation could go I.”
Leo Carroll
June 18, 2020
The corner of my left
Eye catches him standing there,
Like a statue stoic, but my
Senses tell me his breath is like
A living metaphor of the
Surrounding, fixed furniture.
Locked in silence he is,
Someone who could be
Construed as invisible if it was
Not for the slight heave in
His chest as his lungs
Reached for air, and as his
Ears attentively listened to what
I self-importantly described
Brought me here…