Terror
September Sunrise
Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park
Click for meditationRegarding "September Sunrise"
In truth, it is impossible to describe the
Mystery and wondrous effect of the sunrise
Which unveils Itself daily before onlookers
On the summit of Cadillac Mountain in
Acadia National Park. In fact, during certain months
Of the year, it is this location where the
Sun first appears on the horizon in the entire
United States, and which is so amazingly
Spellbinding in the glimpse and insight it provides
Into the overwhelming magnitude and
Majesty of the universe, and of the meaning of
The Word of Creation as found in the
Book of Genesis. When the photographer for
This poem speaks of the early moments
When the sunrise began to unfold, her eyes
Immediately spark alive with shining light, as if
She herself had captured a bit of the sun,
And within her it now eternally resides…and so,
It is her eyes which can speak best, because just like
With Saint Paul, her uttered words pale compared to the
Glow of the yellow and flame-orange red…
Leo Carroll
October 7, 2018
As if it was the first sunrise
E’er to be seen, rose up before the old
Mountain a burgeoning glow of
Ancient hues in a spreading
Smile unveiled, a widening expanse
Of yellow and flame-orange red…
All resulting in a deep longing, and beheld
By wondrous faces with bated breath.
What eternal yearning, what
Instinct from the collective subconscious of
Primeval yore, what was being
Unleashed with such hypnotic power
O’er those who watched in awe…?
For it was as if they stood millennia ago —
At a cave mouth looking up — and the
Rising sun told them that ahead was at least
One more day, in a land wild and raw,
With terror and beauty tangled in
A tandem yet to be explained.
Storm at Dawn
Click for meditationRegarding "Storm at Dawn"
It does not take
Much to remind us we are
Separated from the cave
Mouth by only the
Slimmest and
Barest of margins…
All it requires is a
Frightening or terrorizing
Storm or natural
Disaster to reinforce
How tenuous
Everything is in this
Technologically-smug
Society. Witness
The severe 2018 volcanic
Eruption in Hawaii
Or the recent hurricanes,
Sandy and Katrina.
We are at the mercy of
Forces far beyond
What we could ever
Imagine. And so, again for the
Countless time in my
Life, I saw the
Shocking power
Of Mother Nature
Roll up before
My eyes, when a
Tremendous
Storm blew in
When I was spending
The night on Washington
State’s beautiful
Whidbey Island.
No place is exempt
From terror – not
Even heaven!!
Leo Carroll
June 1, 2018
First the wind I hear, and
Then starts the driving rain in sheets against the
Siding of this sturdy, island home, and
So out to sea I cast my eyes, and
There the primordial story of a November
Storm unfolds…and it is of a high
Tide being whipped into a lather
Against the flank of a black, gray dawn.
All this is soon displayed as an
Endless stream of white-capped waves
Beating against the bulwark of
What man has made, and
Naught is to be done to
Calm and hold it all back,
Except, that is, to pray and
Wait and see, because the hounds
This morning have been
Loosed, and the
Master-of-the-Morning
Has set in motion a
Mariner’s klaxon, and two
Neighboring American flags are
Pointed straight-out
By a monster wind
From out of the south, and
Their tattered threads hurtle towards
Wherever people go when left
With only faith or hope
As their last redoubt.
Primeval
Click for meditationRegarding "Primeval"
In the great 1969 movie,
“Paint Your Wagon,”
Which is about the wild and
Crazy California gold rush
Of 1849, there is the
Fabulous song, “They Call
The Wind Mariah.” The
Lyrics are powerful, but yet
Hauntingly lonely, and they set
The framework and tempo
For the screenplay starring
Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood,
And Jean Seberg. It was
A rough, tumultuous
Crossing in 1849 to reach
California, and once there
It was equally rough
And tumultuous to survive.
In the movie, the wind and the
Music were always in the
Background as if they were
Part of the cast. It struck
Me how primeval the wind
Was portrayed, and ever
Since, in any storm, I always
Will look up at the tops
Of trees and “call the
Wind Mariah,” as if
Addressing a supernatural
Force, one that comes
From and simultaneously
Represents Creation,
And wields the contradictory
Attributes of incredible
Power, terror, and the
Magnificent fist of Yahweh
Spreading love and hope and
Beauty upon the land …
Leo Carroll
January 15, 2019
Up my eyes strain to the tops of
Their spires, feeling from out of my primal past
What I cannot begin to plumb nor
Describe. Bend and moan they
Do, to the roar of wind howling
From out of the womb of the universe,
Right here, right now, this place,
This hope, this cave mouth, this new
Millennium, this old ice age, with the same
Shudder, the same words, the
Same stab of terror, and then
Tomorrow, the same sunrise chorus.
Pausing
Click for meditationRegarding "Pausing"
The woods can assume in
Posture both what comforts us and
What we fear, sometimes
All at the same time,
Sometimes in whipsawing
Twists and turns, sometimes in
Primeval verse and rhyme,
Sometimes in light and dark hues,
And sometimes in strange
Rustlings and shapes at night.
The woods can be like a
Chameleon, both
Invoking wonder and
Awe, and just as easily
Placing us at a cave mouth,
Where terror howls in the wind,
And where in the bend of the
Spruce — there is wild
Pitch and yaw…
Leo Carroll
June 6, 2018
Ah, yet still to cross…
A stone wall
I can crawl over,
But before doing so
In homage must
Pause, and
Then into the
Timbers, where dark
Are the spruce,
And then an even
Darker opening
Through the
Wood, where
The primeval forest
Greets me in
My mood.