Regarding "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

Regarding "Here"

I have been to Plum Island
So often, starting from when I was
Just a little boy ten years old, right up to
The present when I was there three
Times during a magical stretch in October.
Instead of thinking pumpkins, though,
I was thinking about “grief,” but
Also about “rebirth.” Plum Island is my
Sanctuary when I need sanctuary.
It is my piece of Heaven,
When I need to be reaffirmed
In my faith and to feel the
Absolute awe and wonder of
The eternal Creator, the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
The “I AM WHO I AM.” So
Over the years, each individual
Wave and sea state, when
I would come and look out over
The boardwalk, has gifted
Me a peak, a hint, into the
Infinite possibilities of the forms
And faces of God, and when
Each time the bare ripple of the
Foam of a wave has touched
My feet, it has always done so in a
Way in which understanding and
Acceptance were conveyed.

Regarding "Touching"

How many people for whate’er
Reason are metaphorically cloistered behind
Barriers both visible and invisible,
Real and unreal, physical and not…?
I believe there are countless, and
Feel e’en that does not do justice to the
Actual number…! When I recently
Saw a photograph of yellow and
Violet flowers touching and rubbing
Against a drab, grey window pane,
I was immediately struck by how valiant
It was for them to be doing that!
Maybe they were simply attempting to
Connect with a lonely flower
Sitting in a musty, dry vase behind
The window panes, or maybe
They somehow sensed a human
Was secluded behind there, and their
Little yellow and violet petals
Could be the first steps towards
Liberating what (until then) had just
Been a lost manifestation of
Hopeless and powerless prayer…
But then Beauty came knocking
On the window, and that set
Loose the possibility for something
Or someone to rise up
And to live again…

Leo Carroll
November 15, 2020

Regarding "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