Hope
The Muse
Click for meditationRegarding "The Muse"
Effortlessly
My eyes lift, drawn
Mysteriously
To a mythical, desert
Mesa, sandy-
Reddish,
Where sits
Stoically an
Indian maiden
In Pueblo dress,
Eternally watching for
Me it seems,
As if she felt
My gaze, and knew I
Was waiting yet
Again for her
To release the words
Within me born
To live.
Leo Carroll
July 17, 2018
“Find me,” comes
A quiet, whispered
Voice, female
In its sound, longing
In the depths of
A wispy, far-distant
Thesaurus…
“Find me,” and
So up the high-desert
Plain my eyes
Lift, and there on
The mesa, in
Pueblo cloth, an
Indian maiden
Sits…
Winter Resurrection
Click for meditationRegarding "Winter Resurrection"
On a cold, cold February
Day on Plum Island,
When to hold onto a pen in my
Fingers was almost too
Difficult, and on the entire
Expanse of the beach
There was not one other
Person to be seen, the waves
Continued to pound in
All their glory…as
If oblivious to all else…
And so I knew then
I could write, too…
Despite all else.
Leo Carroll
April 16, 2018
It was too cold to put
My toes into the
Water, but not too cold
For poetry, so a
Steel-blue surf gave
Way to my words, and
Into the depths
I plunged unhurt.
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.
Prequel to ‘Elysian Daydreaming’
Click for meditationRegarding "Prequel to ‘Elysian Daydreaming’"
This poem was
Written six months after I wrote
“Elysian Daydreaming.” The two poems are
Companions to one another, but this
Poem is actually a prequel,
And depicts events
Leading up to, and prior to, the
First poem of July 1, 1998.
It describes the moments just
Before my dreamlike boat ride with
An unknown, mythical
Woman. Both poems
Are still very peaceful to me,
Lo all these twenty plus
Years later. They portray the
Exquisite happiness existing
Between a man and a woman in
The heavenly setting of an
Unbelievably placid lake in an
Unbelievably perfect time
And daydream.
Leo Carroll
February 5, 2019
I envision a woman
Upon a dock, a woman absorbed in
Blissful thought.
This woman slowly
Turns my way, as if expecting my
Arrival today…
Tied to the dock gently
Rocks a small boat, a boat at rest in
Elysian float.
This boat rides with a
Soothing sigh, knowing soon that
Two souls abide…
Ode to December’s Flower
(The Snapdragon)
Click for meditationRegarding "Ode to December’s Flower"
Creation has a
Resilience which is
Unconquerable.
I was reminded of that yet
Again when I saw a
Delicate snapdragon
In all its glory
On an overcast,
Cold December day.
I felt it was waiting for
Me to see it – before
It closed its eyes.
Leo Carroll
April 20, 2018
I kneel before you,
O leaf of green,
So soft to me with
Gentle sheen.
I touch your petal,
Still strangely there, and
Still alive despite
Winter’s wear…
Bowing down, I
Kiss your leaf, and
Warmed I am with your
Love replete.
Slowly rising, I take
One last look back,
Fixed in awe by your
Life intact…