Seasons
Wafer
Click for meditationRegarding "Wafer"
In the Old Testament,
In the Book of Genesis, is found
The Creation story. Yes, it is a
Simple story, but it speaks
As a tome of eternal Truth – that in
Some mysterious way, the
Earth came into being and was
Populated with humans (“creatures”) and
Plants and animals and birds
And fishes and all else living…
All things in Creation were
Described as complementing each
Oth’r. A simple story, but oh so
Complicated! Then fast forward to the
New Testament in which Jesus
Is revealed as the Son of
God, the Son of the very Creator in
The Old Testament Who saw
All He had made after six days and
Declared it to be “very good!”
And in the New Testament, it was
Jesus Who restored the beauty
Of Creation’s original goodness and work!
In Revelation 21:5, Jesus exclaimed,
“Behold, I make all things new!”
And in a way this was re-
Affirmed to me recently, when
I saw a yellow maple leaf
Lying up’n a geranium like a
Wafer up’n a tongue in Holy Communion,
The brotherhood of the New
Covenant in consonance with the
Supporting structure of the
Prophets and the Law of Moses
Of the Old Covenant.
Leo Carroll
December 1, 2021
A single, yellow
Maple leaf, lying lightly like a
Communion wafer on
The sheen of a geranium
Green and meek,
Resting as if waiting
Up’n the tongue of the
Plant to receive it,
But the geranium was
Paused, wanting to savor
What was bought in
Gethsemane, in the dark of
That Garden at such
Great cost…
O Maple Tree
Click for meditationRegarding "O Maple Tree"
Every year I am
Susceptible to the whims of
Autumnal melancholy. Whether it
Is due to the falling leaves
Delivering an emphatic
Message of earthly
Impermanence, and
Rekindling within me the
Furies of things I would re-do
Differently, or the
Good things I have
Known and are now no
More, or something else…
But in its final gasps of
Change, fall is spectacularly
Beautiful and comforting – – setting an
Unmatchable standard of self
Sacrifice and duty, right
Up to the last leaves to fall and
The final glimpses of their
Wonderful, fading glory,
Particularly if I had kneeled
Down over them and
Was marveling how their
Plentitude must rival
The stunning miracle of the
Loaves and fishes as
They once laid multiplied
And displayed near the
Sea of Galilee.
Leo Carroll
November 21, 2021
O maple tree, your
Leaves lie crinkled beneath
My knees, but their
Yellow tatters still speak
In little whispers
Of warmth and love,
The kind that autumn
Spawns, tho’ it be “change”
In its goodbye hug.
Daisies
Click for meditationRegarding "Daisies"
Every fall, every late fall,
I always marvel how certain flowers can
Survive until the very last moment,
And still continue to show their beauty.
But unlike in the spring and
Summer, I have to search to locate
Their faces, and I invariably
Find them almost hidden
By the mushrooming debris
In a garden otherwise fastidiously
Manicured in spring, summer,
And early fall. But by late fall they are
Like a gem found in the middle
Of chaos (leaves of all sorts, twigs,
Branches, pine cones), or a
Lamp uncovered from the burden of
A dark shade, in short, a simple,
Loyal, floral planting saying
‘Thank you’ for all the months of
Cultivation – when their chance to
Repay comes with only days
Before they, too, go away.
Leo Carroll
November 27, 2021
Can two beating hearts
Make it through the coming winter?
Cuddled and close they are,
As if autumn would always linger…
But can they find safe refuge,
And can the surrounding
Oak leaves continue to protect?
Because what happens
When December comes, and
Their love is shivering —
Will they have any regret?
Chipmunk
Click for meditationRegarding "Chipmunk"
And so I saw a summer
Chipmunk – standing on its hind legs
Like it was part of the Lewis
And Clark Expedition and
Staring in awe at what is now
Called Yellowstone Park!
It stood as tall as it absolutely
Could, ramrod straight,
And was perfectly still lest it
Disturb a single blade
Of grass on the infinite plain
Before it…So engrossed
It seemed in ‘something,’
Fascinated, mesmerized, that
It dared almost not to
Breathe…and then
It relented, its chest relaxing,
And it moved serenely
Into my flower bed –
A mere ten feet away –
Its answer to the meaning of
Existence contained in
What a lemon-yellow daylily
On its face had to say.
Leo Carroll
September 25, 2021
Up’n its hind legs,
Stretching its tendons to almost
Breaking while peering o’er
The summer grass, a
Chipmunk surveils the vast,
Unlimited prairie
Before its gaze, perhaps
Looking for love or food or
Danger or something
I can imagine not,
But all it sees is a
Thursday morning –
Dawned like all others –
Except that for a
Few seconds I captured
Its contemplation
Of the universe’s infinite
Landscape…until it
Settled on my garden a
Mere ten feet away, and knew
It was seeing whate’er
It would e’er need
To see…or e’er hope for
In answered prayer.
Poem Word
Click for meditationRegarding "Poem Word"
When I was in the sixth grade,
We once had a guest teacher who came
Into the classroom to give a tutorial
On how to prepare for a
National examination which
My elementary school was going
To participate in. Her specialty
Was teaching about the English portion
Of the test, and she was
Giving us tips on how to work
Fast, but effectively, through the
Multiple choice and
Essay parts of the exam.
As she was speaking to us,
She paused and posed a question
To the class. It went something
Like this, “Who would be a
More conscientious,
Diligent student? Would it
Be the one who worked
Fast through the test, using all
The best test-taking techniques, and
Scored highest, or would it
Be the person who slowed down
During the test in order to
Choose the most appropriate word
To use in an essay paragraph,
But consequently losing
Valuable time and scoring lower?”
It was as if she had realized,
Mid-class, she was caught
Between two opposing poles or
Reasonings of thought —
Test fast and effectively, or
Take your time and do
Everything to the best
Of your ability. I bring this up,
Because when I was recently writing
A short poem, my thought train was flowing
Smoothly, and the whole poem was
Unfolding rapidly before me,
All in a matter of seconds…and then
I stopped and paused to
Weigh the right word, found it,
But then it disappeared…because it was
Only allowed to dawdle in my
Ether space for so long!
I was never able to recall and
Recapture the word, but the whole
Episode made me reminisce
Of that long ago teacher.
In my mind she still lives!
She was an accomplished,
Well-spoken, stately woman,
And she eventually told my
Sixth grade class that the true
Better student was the one searching
For the best word choice in
The examination essay!
Leo Carroll
March 7, 2021
A wisp of a word like a
Snowflake alight’ng a birch’s
Winter ground, a wisp
As quickly melted and
Forgott’n no matter the
Beauty of its sound nor the
Search it be found,
A wisp scurrying off with
Its consonants and
Vowels and meanings and
Contexts…because for a mere
Moment I’d paused,
And in that lull my neurons
Foundered and on
Sea rocks splintered…