Blessings
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…
One
Click for meditationRegarding "One"
I know of someone who
Always says, “Life is full of second
Chances!” What an upbeat,
Nice thing to hear in a
World full of crises, cries,
And stresses! And so
Recently I was on a
Visit to the state of
Washington, and while
There had the good
Fortune to visit a place
For rescued animals called,
“Second Chance Ranch.”
This is a ranch where
A menagerie of animals,
Mostly farm animals, is given
A home to live out their
Lives in well-cared-for
Circumstances.
It is a very uplifting
Place, staffed by gentle,
Kind-hearted people.
I toured all the animal
Enclosures there, and felt
Blessed in the experience.
One of the enclosures
I visited was for pigs.
It was there that I
Particularly got a good
Feeling, as if I was also being
Gifted a “second chance.”
A little pig rubbed
Up against my leg, and
I realized that all
Humanity was not
Exempt from the inside of
The ranch’s fences…
Leo Carroll
November 16, 2019
Found, at a
Ranch for animals lost,
A friend against
My knee to lean,
A creature accepting,
With me willing
To be seen…
Day’s Done
Click for meditationRegarding "Day’s Done"
As I’ve said so
Often, I love this little beach,
This Pemaquid beach,
This jewel on Maine’s
Mid coast looking out
Onto the Gulf of Maine!
I am always so reluctant
To leave it. It lies on only a
Bit of a wisp of sand,
Perhaps a quarter mile
In length, but one that has
Given my grandchildren
A lifetime of memories and
Smiles – of seagulls
Swooping, and hermit crabs
Clinging to shelter
Inside the tiniest of
Shells, and sandcastles
And fortresses being
Buttressed against
The onslaught of a
Rising tide. This beach,
This secluded haven,
Has also been a
Gift of solace to me,
As I’ve sat and watched
Little running legs merge
With my own — in a
Miracle of times past
And now — as I morph
Back and forth
From boy to man,
Feeling melancholic over
Those things I would
Do over again…
Leo Carroll
August 27, 2019
The day’s gift of
Precious life all done,
All sand castles
Built, all bare little
Feet now home to be
Bathed and by
Sleepy-time
Welcomed,
All done, with
Naught but the
Majesty of dusk
To be spread across
A quiet, low tide
At rest, and the last
Glimpse of light
To be felt like a
Goodnight’s kiss
Unexpected.
Climbing
Click for meditationRegarding "Climbing"
In one of
The Gospel stories,
Jesus is tempted when
He is shown all the vast riches
Of the world, and is told
All of these could be
His if only He, Jesus, would
Relent and worship Satan…
Whether a Christian Believer or not,
All of us can relate to this
Story in some respect, because
We are all “tempted”
In life to give in to earthly
Desires, and to ignore the
Blessings of Creation which
Abound all around us
And also within us.
In a variation of that
Gospel theme, when I recently saw a
Tree stump with fungi growing
Out of its sides like steps,
It reminded me (again) how
My own life is a work in
Progress, and how each latticed
Foothold of fungus was a
Metaphor for something very
Significant in my life, and that when
I someday do finally reach the
Zenith of my journey – – what I will
See will be not the riches
Of the world as I sit the
Roughhewn, splintery seat of the
Stump, but the nearby rock
Garden it overlooked, filled with
The floral faces and blessings
Of all that which God
To me had so lovingly and
Naturally and freely always
Provided…
Leo Carroll
September 16, 2019
Up each latticed
Fungus I crawl, hand
O’er hand scrambling to reach
The summit of a tree
Stump’s throne.
“What am I king of?”
I muse, as I finally sit atop the
Weather’d hardwood cut.
“Surely my domain
Contains naught of earthly
Riches, but just the
Love and affection of
My garden’s
Faithful hearts.”
Awakening
Click for meditationRegarding "Awakening"
My life has been
Anointed with far, far more
Gifts than it has with any trials and
Challenges which are otherwise
Names for the unremitting human condition.
Millions of little things, like
A songbird, an autumn leaf, a
Stranger’s smile, an unexpected
Encounter, a perfect
Snowflake, a dandelion, the
Love of a grandchild…
All these things and endless
More are constantly
Given freely when we may be
Thinking of ourselves as otherwise
Alone. I believe there is a
Power Greater Than We Are
Which knows of our
Existence. Each of us calls
This Power by a different name,
And even some who do
Not believe in a Higher Power
Acknowledge its possibility by virtue
Of disclaiming its very existence.
We are blessed so much in
Our day-to-day lives with Beauty…
Beauty which itself is a
Manifestation and face of
Our Higher Power.
For me, I hope my life’s
Path is a long one, in whatever
Form and realm my physical and
Spiritual travels may take…
I feel I am still in the early
Stages of having my rough edges
Smoothed, and every time I
Am bowed I am elevated by an
Unexpected gift which
Grabs me under the arm…
Like the Rhode Island lotus
Flower this poem describes, in
Its own right wondrous in its
Appearance, but, nevertheless, not
Limited by its physical beauty,
Because it, too, is always
Becoming through the work of
Creation mysteriously even
More beautiful, like all of us
Are, as the inside of us unfurls,
And our Higher Power finally
Says, “Behold My Child.”
Leo Carroll
December 28, 2019
As if at long last
Revealing its inner self,
All caution set aside,
What had been enough
Finally deemed to be enough,
What had heretofore
Been cloaked, but
Caught now in photo
As it floated upon
A Rhode Island pond,
A lotus flower in the
Faintest pinks and
Whites and greens and
Yellows, all blending
In the hues of a
Proffered heart
Given freely, and its
Beat the divine
Rhythm of the
Blood of Beauty,
The pulse soft and
Subdued, the petals
A cushion for
God’s footstool,
Whereupon the
Haversacks could be
Placed of weary,
Arriving souls.
Leo Carroll
August 3, 2019
Westford, Massachusetts