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The Lives of Leaves

The lives of leaves,
If ever they could be adequately
Described, lie enciphered
And deciphered
Before me in each
Their final rest, displayed
And splayed, but from
Creation’s inception
Having been touched by the
Hand of the Master,
And so in the Lord’s
Limitless grace, their colors
Now allowed to nestle –
Quilted and counted
Like loaves and fishes at
Tabgha, and in factors of seven
By the shores of the
Sea of Galilee multiplied.

Leo Carroll
October 15, 2023
Issaquah, Washington



Photo by Leo Carroll

Winter Ode

O’ hardened hearts,
Do you despair as if gone fore’er
Is your spring, and as if
Your fate is to eternally
Hang flash-frozen in drips
Attached to this winter field’s
Meanderings?
O’ hardened hearts,
Nothing stays frozen fore’er,
E’en if it be on a
Branch which someone
Happened by, reminding them
Of what they want not
To remember.

Leo Carroll
February 24, 2023
Westford, Massachusetts



Photo by Lisa Shattuck

The Tree of Life

It shone in gold, but
Not just typical gold, but rather
Otherworldly, ornamental,
Finest gold, relocated
From the Garden of
Eden, an earthly
Tree of Life set free
From the consequences
Of the bondage
Of Original Sin, and
Now able to renounce
Night and to proclaim
Daybreak – and to
Promise each weary soul
That hope lives and
Its green shoot glistens.

Leo Carroll
February 24, 2023
Westford, Massachusetts



Photo by Lisa Shattuck

O’ Fallen Leaf

Like an unexpected
Hug you are to me, or an
Extended palm to
Grasp in blessing, but
‘Something’ good you
Definitely seem – a leaf to
Wish me goodbye,
E’en as we’ve just met and
Say our first hello,
Each in mystery passing,
Each cloaked in our
Seasonal disguise to
Face the cold.

Leo Carroll
January 27, 2023
Westford, Massachusetts



Photo by Leo Carroll

In Thanksgiving

And so this rose
Is offered thee at the behest of
The night’s mood.
It has arrived from a
Distant winter’s clime, where
Despite frost and tundra,
It has at the touch of
Truth bloomed.

Leo Carroll
January 15, 2023
Westford, Massachusetts



Photo by Seyedeh Hamideh Kazemi (via Unsplash.com)