Observations

In the moment of unweighting,

in the moment of release from all the cogs,

in the moment of perceiving

what puts us here,

some observations bear a mention:

The flash of infinity 

is like light

The rush of freedom

is exhilaration bordering on terror

A racing moment has more ticks

than I can count

Everything is possible,

no protocols have to be followed

In the moment of noticing

how this perception changes everything,

there is power. There is power

and there is peace.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 31, 2018

Hello

I will cherish this hello because

we don’t know when

we might be saying good bye

We don’t know how, we don’t know why —

we might be rent asunder by events,

or maybe we will drift

along the currents of our attention

and not notice

till we haven’t seen each other

in a long time

You may visit me in a dream,

I may wake up feeling unmoored

from my accustomed havens.

We may not know how

to talk to each other anymore

But all this speculation

may be keeping me

from this connection,

this perception, this igniting,

this hello.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 30, 2018

Dynamo

I have to stop myself many times

just to remember,

just to consider —

I have to sit still and realign myself

with the nature of my power

I can’t convince, I can’t persuade,

can’t influence, can’t teach, can’t prod,

I can’t make anybody else see something different,

can’t steer their ship, can’t bear their load

But in the core of who I am

resides a dynamo,

for I am master

of my own mind

And I can see the truth

in everyone I think about,

and I can love

anyone I want,

and I can find

a way to bring out goodness

where I am focusing,

while I am here.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 29, 2018

The edge before sleep

In the view behind my eyelids

everyone kept walking through

with marked purpose.

They made stories for themselves

out of the ambient sound

It didn’t take long

for me to drift away

nor yet to jolt back

like falling off a cliff

awakeness catching me

just enough to set me down

When there is nothing new

in what the day has to report

there is always the allure

of the edge before sleep

and thought’s opening

to the vast expanse of dream.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 28, 2018

In the Garden of Belonging

Let me stay here

in the soft bubbles

of easy laughter

where everything is forgiven

because no harm was ever done

because how could it be?

—Given that we always

have been beloved,

given that we always have walked

in the garden of belonging,

always have owned

the grace to move

softly and deeply

through the landscapes of our lives.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 27, 2018

Protest

We put in our protest

against this box of pain —

it doesn’t get to hem us in

or stare us in the face

in every place we turn

How have we asked to be betrayed?

What have we swallowed

to render us unworthy?

Where have we believed

that we deserve this pain —

What have we chosen?

We asked to be beloved,

we asked to be the ones

who shine the essence forth

of all that is

We asked to have the depth

that would include ourselves

and everyone we see

and everyone we know about

in the hallowed harmony

of who we are

We have not asked for pain,

and what we have not asked for

we can not receive. 

This is what I ask

to see for myself.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 26, 2018

Helmsman

I see you there

steering your ship

behind eyes that you feel

not quite tall enough

to see out of,

reaching for the controls,

confused about which one does what

and how much force to apply —

I see your bravado, and

maybe a few of your other veils

Don’t worry — we all feel that way

at least some of the time.

I know we all want

the same thing —

Here — have a little gentle laughter,

the kind that tells you 

you’re eternally accepted, the kind

that lets you know

you belong here forever

in the home-free tumble-fest of life.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 25, 2018

Moving out

We will walk out of that house

and maybe leave the sadness behind,

let it become the emptiness

that calls out to another family

Let them imagine

filling the space,

growing up into it,

finding its secrets

and making their own

while we walk

into our new life

surprisingly unencumbered.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 24, 2018

Settled

Peaceful as evening,

as a fire-warmed house

and brisk fresh air outside,

low crescent moon 

among the branches

Peaceful as being clean

after a hard day’s work,

this glow has settled over me

It lets me know

there never was a way

I could fail at my life,

foolish though I may have been,

innocent as I may ever be

All I’ve been given

was given with love,

and I have received it

with enough grace

that I can feel where it comes from.

I can receive it

as deeply as this peace.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 22, 2018

Moving House

In these first days

I take a lot of time

teaching myself

where things go

In these last days

I grow more ruthless

about letting things go

In the stretch of memory

my mind inhabits

at all the moments in between,

I feel content with how it’s all played out —

what I have done, what I have been

Funny how I find happiness

not along the lines of time

but in the light the present casts

into the chambers of my mind.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 21, 2017

Appliances

The dishwasher in this house

is louder than the washing machine

They are engaged

in an industrious duet

Their rhythm is suggestive

of riding on a train

dancing down the slightly swaying cars

The washing machine

is using hot for cold

to the detriment of all our woolen socks

The dishwasher sounds

as if something came loose

and is flailing around in the slosh

I’m grateful to the one

who will give them their adjustments

so they can faithfully perform their tasks

They both are doing work

I’m glad to let them do,

so I will not complain about their music.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 20, 2018

Untouched

In the place of home

named Who You Are,

nothing ruffles you

You will still hear 

the raging outside,

you will see the great array

of arguments and power plays

that say you should be

scared and cowed and battered

But yours will be the peace

of being untouched

by anything that’s not your maker,

unplayed

by anything that’s not

your sweet musician,

unmoved by anything

except the grand harmonic motion

that defines you, new in every moment,

that delights you in the humming

of your being.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 19, 2018

Living

Ease your heart —

courage forms

in the pools 

of thirst-quenching soulfulness

You can immerse yourself

and feel your movements deepen.

There is no need

to be shallow,

no need

to hold yourself back

Feel the full stroke,

the powerful surge

of being the beloved

of the infinite.

This is where you hit your stride,

this is you, living.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 18, 2018

Playing House

What does it mean for us,

this mode, where every day

feels like the weekend?

— a weekend that we’ve filled

with many tasks, a mode

of casual forgetting

what any other sectors of the world are doing

It feels like play time —

playing house, playing

let’s figure out how we’ll live,

let’s make new path habits

for our movement

At some time we’ll need to look up

and reconsider where we fit in,

how our days contribute

to the greater good. For now it’s something

to just be happy

as we work these little problems out.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 16, 2018

Fringe of Day

Over the edge and down

into the suspended space,

the color — rings of shifting brown,

a lazy torus rolling, drifting outwards

This is a picture

of where I landed

after a day in which I wondered

what I had done in it,

how my work had seemed so short

and why I was so tired

I had to acknowledge

there were no real thoughts there —

just images,

and a desire for sleep.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 14, 2018