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Heaven’s Green

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Regarding "Heaven’s Green"

What
Kind of green
Is this upon which I look?
It stops me in
My tracks, and over
It in marvel and
Awe I stoop! An
Unbelievable
Green it is, just fallen
From a tree, not
Wanting to wait for
Autumn, but
Content to let go
Under the yoke of
Dewdrops –
Almost too
Invisible to be
Seen…

Leo Carroll
June 21, 2018

 

…Perfectly placed,
As if lying in waiting as an
Offering of grace, a
Maple leaf fallen,
With droplets of dew in
Beads on its face.
O, maple leaf,
What could’ve made
You this morn
To alight upon this
Sweet grass?
Did you consider
Waiting until
Autumn, when
Your October colors
Would’ve been
At their max?
Or, was it you
Preferred to release
Your green now,
And thus be
Remembered
For an early summer
Peek at a leaf by
Spring crowned?

Leo Carroll
June 10, 2018
Westford, Massachusetts



Photo by Leo Carroll
Dandelion

Present Moment

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Regarding "Present Moment"

Beauty is
Everywhere, but we
Have to see it,
Simple beauty,
Dandelion beauty,
Visible but hidden beauty,
In plain sight beauty,
Beauty our eyes
Are blinded to because
They’re clouded
With the scales of
Worry, beauty which
Is freely given,
And beauty which
Creation appointed to
Accompany
Our pilgrim’s
Path, when all
Else seemed to flee
Before the twin furies of
Regret about the
Past and fear
Of what the future
Could be.

Leo Carroll
May 8, 2018

 

And so spoke
Jason in his quest for the
Golden Fleece, and
So shouted Solomon from the
Ramparts of all his
Kingdom’s glory, and even
Inquired Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun,
“Where has been kept this
Hidden beauty,
This boundless yellow,
This brightest smile,
This dandelion,
This annual spring
Hope of ours?”

Leo Carroll
May 7, 2018
Westford, Massachusetts



Photo by Leo Carroll
Maple Leaves in autumn colors

Being

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Regarding "Being"

I am coming
To realize that in this
Wood I am seeing my reflection,
Everywhere, in the form
Of leaves and trees
And inaudible
Whisperings, animate
And inanimate, in God’s
Image, all things
And me, beauty
Surrounded by beauty,
Change surrounded by change,
Life and death
In tandem, and seen
E’en in the faces of
Brittle hues on mottled,
Genuflected, leafy
Knees…

Leo Carroll
August 7, 2019

 

So here I am,
Where immersed in this
Grove of almighty
Pines and beech I sit,
Peaceful, as long as lasts the
Glory of this instant…
In sync I am, and putting up
No resistance like
Autumn leaves – simply
A pilgrim on the path
To crinkled dust, and
Carried by the wind on
The carpet of
Creation’s love…

Leo Carroll
November 14, 2017
Deerfield, New Hampshire



Photo by Jim Sonia
Beach and rocks

Mercy

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Regarding "Mercy"

To me, the most important
Thing about being
At the beach is
That when I walk to
The water’s edge, I
Feel I am in the undoubted
Presence of Creation.
This is what I feel
In my heart,
And so, therefore,
I have the urge to touch
The waves and to be
Touched by them…
I always get down onto
One knee, usually
In shallow water,
And scoop my
Hands into the
Surf and then throw
It onto my face — over and
Over — as if I cannot
Get enough of the
Salt water. It is
An absolute blessing, and I
Have the sensation that
I am touching the
Hem of God.
There is nothing
In my life at that moment
That cannot be
Healed or helped.
I am at the original
Baptismal font, and I
Am at the Mouth and Mother
Of the River Jordan.

Leo Carroll
May 7, 2018

 

Leo washing his face in the ocean
Down I reach
On one wet knee,
Hoping for the right wave
My cupped hands to
Greet. O, how I
Love this cold surf, this
Fresh compress to
My face, this
Blessed touch by
Something Greater,
My thirst to
Gratefully slake!
“Boom!” each
Wave about me crashes,
My hands held to
Their salty lips, as each
One of them
Approaches…and
On beach stones in foam
Kisses.

Leo Carroll
April 9, 2016
Long Sands Beach, Maine



Photos by Elaina Carroll
Lamb lying in hay

Walking with the ‘Word of Autism’

(Book of Isaiah 55:8)

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Regarding "Walking with the ‘Word of Autism’"

This poem is related to an earlier
Poem, “The Word of Autism,” dated May 9, 2007.
Both of these poems acknowledge the
Overwhelming, universal presence of Creation as
Described in the Old and New Testaments.
This Eternal Mystery, which manifests
Itself in the likenesses and images of all
Living beings and creatures, therefore
Also exists in the countenances of
Autistic children. In short, autism is a
Face of Creation, too, and autistic children share in
The incarnation of the glorious
Verse of Isaiah 55:8, when Yahweh speaks,
“My thoughts are not your thoughts,
My ways are not your ways.”
In so many respects, this verse
Capsulizes the essence of an autistic child, and
Establishes their place in the sheepfold
Of the innocent lambs of God.

Leo Carroll
September 8, 2018

 

I could comprehend little of his actions,
As we walked along a graveled path of brambles and
Branches, bushes and such. All he wanted
Was to shake twigs and shoots and leaves and things,
Mesmerized by their invisible colors, scents,
Tastes, and whisperings…What was he looking at,
What did he see, why so much stimulation
From what appeared so ordinary to me? All this was
Beyond me, my understanding overcome
By his mysterious interests and motions – it was
As if this little boy rode a live rail as his
Means of locomotion! But then this child, whose
Senses seemed attuned to some other plane’s planet,
Collapsed me to my knees, by loosing within me
Emotions not measurable by depth or fathom.
For when we went to say “good-bye,” he
Needed not words from any earthen lexicon nor
Thesaurus, but he simply gave me one, two, then three
Insistent, soft taps to my palm – his only want
Was I not leave him…before receiving love
From his “high-five’s” blessed font.

Leo Carroll
November 7, 2007
Westford, Massachusetts



Photo by Liz Carroll