Gift
One Day
Click for meditationRegarding "One Day"
I was recently doing
Some reading, and came into my mind
The clear phrase, “One day,”
And right afterwards more
Words, “The sun came back out.”
It was a statement about the
Lifting of darkness from
Someone’s life, anyone’s life,
Each of our lives. . . It is
So easy to become distracted
And ensnared by almost
Anything in this frenzied world,
And we can find ourselves,
Directly or indirectly,
In a place of endless night. . .
The malaise can seem
Without hope, but as the
Verse says, “One day, the sun
Came back out.” The accompanying
Poem is about that ‘day.’
It is a poem about how
An affliction of any sort can
Be lifted from us, and
When it is, our eyes are opened
Again to the beauty which
Surrounds us, especially
Those things beyond
And outside ourselves. . .
And to take this one step
Further, and to apply a
Spiritual perspective to this,
The lifting of an affliction
Can occur just when the
Particular condition or situation
Has pinned us to our
Lowest point, when our
Weakness is at its greatest, when
Our prayer is at its most
Earnest and desperate, and
When we are the most
Dependent upon God.
It can be then that the
Creator lifts our burden with
One finger, and from our
Lips rise up the sweetest scents and
Sounds of a paean’s song.
Leo Carroll
July 30, 2022
The sun came back out,
And somehow seemed lessened
The darkness of the shade,
Not ever to be forgotten,
Of course, but the sun as dear
Reminder that nothing
Was ever meant to bear
Unrelieved the pain. . .Yes, the
Sun came out, and Light and Breeze
Walked togeth’r in the day,
Basking in grace’s gift —
That in love and mercy God
Had writ each’s name. . .
Rockweed Love
Click for meditationRegarding "Rockweed Love"
We were in Maine
Again this past summer, and
As customary, one of
Our daughters with her
Young family was with us.
We were at the beach
Almost every day, and
Our two granddaughters
Frolicked in the cold
Waters with no ill effects.
On the next to last day
There, as we were
Getting ready to leave
The beach and were washing
The sand off our feet,
A little voice standing
Beside me spoke
With the innocence and
Prescient wisdom of a
Child. It was one of my
Granddaughters, age
Eight. And out she was
Holding her palm,
Wanting to show what
She had miraculously found –
A piece of rockweed
Seaweed, a free-floating
Type of algae, its appendage
Drawn into the shape
Of a perfect heart!
It symbolized so much –
Her love for me, mine for her,
The Love of the Creator
For us all, and the love which
Flows from each of us
As the Second Commandment
Shouts out from the
Shores of Down-East Maine
And then echoes back
Out into Penobscot Bay…!
Leo Carroll
October 14, 2021
“Papa, look! A heart!” and
My granddaughter
Extends her wrinkled
And waterlogged palm to
Show me the mercy
And message come fresh
From the cold sea,
Her hand innocent, her
Face in awe and
Wonder, sensing that
Her Papa would see what she
Herself believes…
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…
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.
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…