Rebirth
Climbing Meg’s Mountain
Click for meditationRegarding "Climbing Meg’s Mountain"
This poem was written
Less than 12 months after I had joined
A new health club in the town where I lived, and
It also coincided with a period in my life
When I was in need of rejuvenation. I found myself
Taking part in my first-ever, spinning ‘Pedal to End Cancer’
Fundraiser. The lead instructor for the three hour
Ride was a whirling dervish, who took us on
A very intensive, cardio-demanding,
Simulated mountain climb, all to the
Pulsating sounds and cadence of great music. For
One straight hour she pounded us with
An endless barrage of merciless
Spinning commands and exhortations,
Which appeared to have no end to them…
She seemed oblivious to any and all
Difficulties we had keeping up with her!
It was our job to do what we had
To do! As part of completing that
Strenuous, wild ride, I was also
Reminded of the tremendous challenges
Occurring in the lives of other people,
Particularly with respect to cancer. And so
Today, right now, I look back with so
Much gratitude to that first ‘Pedal to End
Cancer’ experience, and I thank that
Spinning instructor for helping to lift me up
Out of myself, and for enabling me to
See that if cancer survivors could endure
Years, even decades, of debilitating
Treatment just to live one more day, then
I could do a mere three hour ride, and I could
Express gratitude for what I had received
As blessings in my life.
Leo Carroll
March 5, 2019
“Pump it!…, Push it!…”
“Keep back in your saddle!…”
“Keep your peddle strokes
Even and smooth!…”
“We’re going to do ‘jumps’
To the count of two – – up!…, up!…, up!…”
“We have a double chorus!!!…”
“Slide!…, Slide!…, Slide!…”
“Down to hand position three!…”
“Keep your elbows loose and relaxed,
And tucked into your body!…”
“Back in lohhhhwww!!!…”
“Keep working, keep working!…,
Watch your cadence!…”
.
.
.
…And thus on and on and without mercy, her
Commands continue and cascade and escalate, one upon the other,
Relentless, unyielding, pounding, driving me into the ground, and I know on this
Sunday morning that any mountain, this mountain, can be climbed
With the exhortation and aid of this endless
Fusillade from a ponytailed woman in the female form of an
Absolutely whirling tornado, and all I have
To do is “pump it”, and any doubt and despair can
Be conquered by my spinning flywheel, and cancer can
Inexorably be crushed and tossed into the fathomless dustbin
With its twin gargoyles of terror and fear.
On the Beach
Click for meditationRegarding "On the Beach"
Sometimes,
Sometimes it may seem
As if everything
Has crumbled down
Upon you and all
Around you…
It may very well have, at
Least from your
Perspective…but
Sooner or later,
Though, the sun lifts
Above the horizon, the
Moon rises, the
Tide pulls back, and
The first crocus
Shows the
Beginnings of
Spring…
Leo Carroll
April 22, 2018
What broke me
Down came like a dark,
Rogue sea, from
All directions
Without hint of mercy.
But now that the
Waters have pulled
Back, they leave
Me on the
Beach basking,
Like a grain
Of sand burnished,
The starless night having
Passed…
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.
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…
Lifting Vesuvius
Click for meditationRegarding "Lifting Vesuvius"
One day I simply
Started to seriously write.
I had always written,
And enjoyed it,
But one day I began
To finally view
Myself as a writer,
And not just as a writer –
But as a poet, and
A whole different, new
World began
To spread its wings
Before me, and my daily
Existence took on the
Form of stanza and
Verse, and there
Was not a depth I would
Not go to, nor was
There a height I would not
Attempt to climb.
Words took on
An indescribable
Significance to me, and
They swirled in my
Head as if they
Had always belonged,
And had finally
Found a way to
Come out…as rhyme.
Leo Carroll
April 28, 2018
From deep
Within a
Flood erupts,
Bursting
Through a
Wedge created.
Words gush
In endless
Source,
Flowing
Freely and
Unabated.