Creation
Christmas
Click for meditationRegarding "Christmas"
Sometimes
My mind is unable to rest,
As if it was on its own
Independent mission, and
I was along for the
Ride as an involuntary,
E’en unwelcome
Guest…My mind can
Seem like it is freewheeling
With its neurons running
Wild on pathways
Forming new synapses…!
But somehow on
Christmas Eve, Something
Greater Than I laid
Down the gauntlet for
Me to hush, and my mind
Slowed down as if it
Pulled off a rural
Exit ramp, and I exhaled
A big breath as a child
Born 2000 years ago once
More let out its first
Cry, and the attending
Animals stretched out
In awe beneath the winter’s
Night’s sky…
Leo Carroll
December 29, 2020
No poem cometh…and
Momentarily I am
Mute in the
Silence…and e’en
My unharnessed thoughts
Are made to be
Bridled and to bow,
As my mind recuses
Itself before the
Awe of today’s humble
Majesty, and I realize
To do nothing is
All I am allowed.
Light in Dark
Click for meditationRegarding "Light in Dark"
I once read “art is creation.”
I cannot recall the name
Of the person who first said it,
But I believe the statement
To be true. And if art
Is creation, then in an
Infinitesimally small way,
Art contributes to the
Ongoing creation process of
The Big Bang…And so
In this context I continue
To write, actually more than
Usual in this time of Covid,
Because nothing can
Overcome the original
Creative power of the
Source of Creation!
And if art has been given
To me, even in the most
Insignificant of ways,
I can carry it in front of me
As an amulet of light –
To ward off the serpentine,
Evil forces of Covid’s
Dark and gloom.
Leo Carroll
December 20, 2020
Every night
I light my lights, and
Make my rounds
The dark despite,
And every
Night, room to
Room, into
The corners I peer
To illum…
At the Foot of the Ginkgo
Click for meditationRegarding "At the Foot of the Ginkgo"
Autumn gold… winter cold…
Existing in tandem when
One or t’other is needed to be
Held or to hold, how natural
It struck me, Creation again
Illustrating the seasonal role of
Each one of us — in the
Long march we are all on,
Their being a time to stumble
And a time to exalt, a
Time to be cold and a time
For a leaf to cuddle for warmth.
Leo Carroll
November 17, 2020
The purest leaves of
Gold which e’er fell from a tree,
Saffron-hued, suckled since birth when
Their buds emerged from spring’s
Maternity, now begin to
Release in the fulness
Of autumn’s hour, and cuddle
Easily with an early snow,
Lest they wait too long
And have to endure winter on
A cold ground hardened…
Leaves and Verses
Click for meditationRegarding "Leaves and Verses"
When we marvel at an
Autumn tree in all its glory, still
Full-bodied with magnificent leaves,
At first glance the leaves may
Appear more or less the
Same, but each, in fact, is
Different, and when a closer
Peek is taken, is shown
The majesty of a widely
Diverse Creation. Just like us!
A tree replete with leaves
Can be viewed like a portrait
Composite of ourselves, with all
Our innumerable moods,
Thoughts, and emotions, some
Fleeting, some longer lasting,
Some leaves slipping to
The ground early, while others
Lingering before falling
To the soil, everything
Transitory but at the same
Time regenerative, nothing ever
Lost, everything part of
Our human nature and in its
Own right profound,
All things working together
To show the complexity
Of the Universe’s work of art,
And, yes, as reflected
In our very own existence!
Leo Carroll
October 20, 2020
Each leaf, each varied hue,
A metaphor for my thoughts, my
Emotions, my moods, and now each one
Fated to fall to the ground –
Taking with it my pleadings, my
Thanksgivings, my autumns,
My springs, my memories,
My choices, my regrets, my
Victories, and soon to be all lying
Mixed and interchangeable
And undecipherable up’n the
Earth, until a plow someday churns
Them into rich soil, to be
Spread like butter again up’n
Next year’s verse…
Plover
Click for meditationRegarding "Plover"
In both the Old and the
New Testaments, the physical
Manifestation of God’s
Presence or approval was
Frequently seen in the
Form of a white dove, an
Absolutely meek, gentle
Metaphor for the innocence
And perfection of
Creation. But when I
Recently saw the
Photograph of a newly-
Born plover standing on the
Shore of Plum Island,
I felt that it, too, could be
Construed as another example
Of God’s blessed Word
And Work. The photograph
Was taken by a ranger at the
Parker River National
Wildlife Refuge in July 2020,
And to me captures an
Image of Creation as out of
The primordial waters
It first stepped onto the
Universe’s burnished sands.
Leo Carroll
September 16, 2020
In lieu of a dove,
Steps out of a cloud the milky
Apparition of a plover,
Every bit as innocent, every
Bit an equal emissary
And herald of heavenly Love,
This time not circling
Above the bank of the
River Jordan, but meekly
Standing Plum Island’s
Shore, where its feet on the
Sands by fresh grains
Are supported.