Change
Passing
Click for meditationRegarding "Passing"
We often never know why
We meet someone, especially if the
Encounter was for what turned out to be
A literal second … Sometimes the
Meeting evolves into lasting
A lifetime, sometimes far less or
Seemingly not at all …
This is a mystery, and in
My opinion is related to the
Pilgrim’s path which we are all on.
We sometimes will
Never know why someone
Crossed our path,
While other times it will
Seem very self-evident. In
All cases, however, whomever
We have met in life, at
That fleeting second we have
Breathed the same air
With them, and the
Interaction imperceptibly
Affected the path we
And they were on. For a good
Part of my life I was oblivious to this.
Now, every time I walk into
Dunkin’ Donuts or a food store
Or some pharmacy or pull
Over into a service station for
Gasoline, I am much more aware of
My surroundings. Invariably,
There is someone I exchange a
Smile with, nod at, or
Have a brief conversation
With. I am there for them.
They are there for me.
And then we part, sometimes
Like a shooting star, sometimes
Like a floating, beautiful
Monarch butterfly.
Leo Carroll
January 22, 2019
I tried to
Think of a poem to
Send you, but my mind got lost in
Rolling banks of sentimental mist … and
So all I am able is to forward you
My very best wishes
Forever upon a sister star, as our
Galaxies now shriek past one
Another on polar-opposite paths, streaking
From that brief interlude where we
Once stood a sweet beach, but now due to the
Physics of warp speed —
So strangely afar.
Releasing
Click for meditationRegarding "Releasing"
This poem is a
Metaphor for when one of my
Daughters was getting
Ready to relocate
To New York City to
Pursue the next
Phase of her life.
What a wonderful and
Thoughtful daughter she
Had been, and still is…
At the time, I was filled with
All sorts of strong
Emotions, as I realized she
Was leaving the home for good.
In a way, it was as if I
Was reliving the emotions of
Teyve, the father of
Five daughters in
Imperial Russia, in the
Great movie and Broadway play,
“Fiddler on the Roof.”
All had been done
To raise my daughter, but
In my mind she still
Danced and twirled as
A small girl…
But now it was
Time to let her go…
Releasing is never easy.
It can be painful
And very sad, but life
Has to continue in its fragile
Form and flight, like a
‘Julia Longwing’ butterfly
Lifting off from cupped hands,
And then watching its
Loving climb…
Leo Carroll
May 30, 2018
Good-bye, my butterfly,
My hands are cupped to lift your ride.
Bye-bye, my butterfly,
My eyes are raised to watch your climb.
Good-bye, my butterfly,
Lo may you land ‘neath loving sky.
Almost
Click for meditationRegarding "Almost"
Someday
I’ll walk through
That thicket,
Someday, when
My time has
Come, and I’ve
Taken my
Last compass
Reading along
A stone wall
Where I am welcome.
Ah, to enter…
I think I will know
The time when to take
That final step…
I’ll just merge with
The overcast
Of the day,
And step through
Into another
Wood, and it
Will look exactly
Like this wood,
The same,
Except on the
Other side I will
Know of the
People I meet — far
More names.
Leo Carroll
June 4, 2018
Never could be
Found me,
If I truly
Wanted to
Quietly
Disappear
Into this
Maine
Thicket.
Just a few
Further steps
And I would
Be gone,
As if I passed
Through a
Veil’s
Smoky
Mirror, and
Last seen
Of me was
Only a fading
Wisp.