Tides
Rockweed Love
Click for meditationRegarding "Rockweed Love"
We were in Maine
Again this past summer, and
As customary, one of
Our daughters with her
Young family was with us.
We were at the beach
Almost every day, and
Our two granddaughters
Frolicked in the cold
Waters with no ill effects.
On the next to last day
There, as we were
Getting ready to leave
The beach and were washing
The sand off our feet,
A little voice standing
Beside me spoke
With the innocence and
Prescient wisdom of a
Child. It was one of my
Granddaughters, age
Eight. And out she was
Holding her palm,
Wanting to show what
She had miraculously found –
A piece of rockweed
Seaweed, a free-floating
Type of algae, its appendage
Drawn into the shape
Of a perfect heart!
It symbolized so much –
Her love for me, mine for her,
The Love of the Creator
For us all, and the love which
Flows from each of us
As the Second Commandment
Shouts out from the
Shores of Down-East Maine
And then echoes back
Out into Penobscot Bay…!
Leo Carroll
October 14, 2021
“Papa, look! A heart!” and
My granddaughter
Extends her wrinkled
And waterlogged palm to
Show me the mercy
And message come fresh
From the cold sea,
Her hand innocent, her
Face in awe and
Wonder, sensing that
Her Papa would see what she
Herself believes…
King Tide
Click for meditationRegarding "King Tide"
The Christmas and Hanukkah
Seasons have the potential to be over-whelmed
By the attention being given to Covid…
It has been 2020’s most dominant story,
Far-surpassing anything else,
Even in a Presidential election news
Cycle. Other traditions such as
Kwanzaa, a secular, spiritual one
Which celebrates pan-African culture
And the African-American
Way of life, are equally in danger
Of being swamped by the “king” tide
Effect of living in this time of
A worldwide pandemic. In Hindu,
Diwali (or Divali), the joyful festival of
Lights, occurred last month on
November 14th, and had to contend
With the virus’s dark! The very
Essence of each these holiday seasons,
Even a secular one like Festivus,
Is the coming together of family and
Friends, and, in general, sharing
And partaking in bonhomie.
All are shaken to their very
Cores now…Even as I write this,
One of my daughters said,
“Dad, I guess we won’t be seeing
You on Christmas,” the look
In her eyes one I will not forget.
My insides screamed out,
“No, I will see you…!”
But how best and safely
In the coming weeks to still
Be determined…! Jesse Jackson
Is famous for saying, “Keep
Hope alive!” I believe our duty,
Our responsibility this year,
Is to somehow do just that…Our best
Way to strike at the heart of
Covid is the lighting of
Even just one Christmas or
Hanukkah candle, or the
Singing of just one Kwanzaa
Song, or the eating of just one
Diwali sweet snack, or the airing of
Just one Seinfeld-like, Festivus
“Grievance,” all while
Somehow prudently gathering,
And knowing the best
Antidotes are faith and the
Indomitable will of the human
Spirit to never give up!
Leo Carroll
December 9, 2020
It washed o’er my defenses,
Rising gently at first, but
My bastions were soon breached,
My seawall caught asleep,
My mind submerging ‘neath a
High tide with no antidote earthen,
Wave after wave piling
In, and their frigid hues
Gazing up at the cold
Moon, whose face, in turn,
Stared back with a chameleon’s
Covid smirk…
In the Midst
Click for meditationRegarding "In the Midst"
A “king” tide is when the sun
And moon align with each
Other, and the gravitational
Pull on the earth is at its
Absolute strongest. One such
Tide recently affected
Boston on November 16th,
When there was surprise flooding
In Boston’s Seaport District
And shutting down traffic.
It was a king tide which
Came to my mind when I
Was trying to equate the
Confluence of events which
Recently spun me into my own
Riptide. For I briefly found
Myself treading water in a
Metaphorical, strong
Ocean current, which, as
Much as anything, was caused
By the grinding, relentless
Burnout of ten months of
Covid (with no clear end in sight),
Together with the gloom
Of November’s declining
Weather and light, and with
My own furies adding a
Topping and dash of
Their unique spice…!
Leo Carroll
November 28, 2020
(Covid, Late Fall 2020)
A cold dampness settled
Within me, brought on by an
Endless Covid November and its
Drooling rain and the truth of
My age and the ground
Beneath having no name.
Everything seemed brown
About me, adrift, and wherever
My mind walked, it found
Itself floundering in a
Medieval bog, where to
Escape the muck my best
Path was to press forward and
Get further lost…
Finally
Click for meditationRegarding "Finally"
Sometimes our path may
Seem so arduous, so unrelenting, so
Littered with choices and
Decisions and events, which
To look back up’n later
Can leave us worn and spent,
Almost turned to stone like
Lot’s wife, each step
Taken a test of perseverance
And might, each step with
No chance to repeat,
But just to move
Forward with a hopeful
Heartbeat…but what if we
Suddenly came up’n and
Arrived at the final few steps,
And could smell the
Blessed salt air of rebirth
And fragrance, and e’en hear
The gentle lap of waves
As if applied against our
Psyche and soul had come
A warm compress…such
Thoughts came to me when I
Saw two photographs
Recently taken at Sandy
Point on Plum Island.
I could not help but put
Myself in the shoes of the
Photographer, and thus
Unfolded before me the
Poem written in first person.
And so. a peridot-green canopy
Became a dream-like,
Long-sought tunnel
Of welcome, and on the
Oth’r side of it – the
Magnificence of a sun-bathed,
Pristine beach, with
Immaculate sands purring,
“Behold the absolute
Wonder of peace and
Release.”
Leo Carroll
September 28, 2020
Through the portal
I flow, its canopy my safe
Passage to shelter
Where e’en my whims
May follow…and then out the
Oth’r side I someday
Step, my journey
O’er, and my deepest
Wish waiting on the beach –
With my breathing
Breathless…
Plover
Click for meditationRegarding "Plover"
In both the Old and the
New Testaments, the physical
Manifestation of God’s
Presence or approval was
Frequently seen in the
Form of a white dove, an
Absolutely meek, gentle
Metaphor for the innocence
And perfection of
Creation. But when I
Recently saw the
Photograph of a newly-
Born plover standing on the
Shore of Plum Island,
I felt that it, too, could be
Construed as another example
Of God’s blessed Word
And Work. The photograph
Was taken by a ranger at the
Parker River National
Wildlife Refuge in July 2020,
And to me captures an
Image of Creation as out of
The primordial waters
It first stepped onto the
Universe’s burnished sands.
Leo Carroll
September 16, 2020
In lieu of a dove,
Steps out of a cloud the milky
Apparition of a plover,
Every bit as innocent, every
Bit an equal emissary
And herald of heavenly Love,
This time not circling
Above the bank of the
River Jordan, but meekly
Standing Plum Island’s
Shore, where its feet on the
Sands by fresh grains
Are supported.