Settled

 

Fog from the river rises up
to settle down in blessed rest
between the trees

In between the posturing of progress,
enduring facts of being rest, just like that,
along the landscape

And in the centered knowing
of every heart
rests the latent power
to shine its essence timelessly,
past redeemed, future safe,
life embraced,
umbrellaed in the substance
of the present hour.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 31, 2022

Spherical

 

Contemplating stars,
mycelium, trees,
the realm of my perception,
and the path networks
of birds, of deer, of insects,
I start to see
we are all spherical  -
awareness emanating from our center,
branches of consciousness
exploring, lacing,
drawing all the rich connections,
sharing the brightness
to light our home.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 30, 2022

In conversation

 

See these strong shining lines
made of gladness for each other,
hearing of each other's times,
imagining the brightness that must attend
such a bounty of family ties

I am glad to come rich to the conversation,
able to offer my happy account,
the better to help you feel easy,
the better to mirror sincerely
the glow that your sharing conveys.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 27, 2022

Smallest things

 

I see the smallest things can rescue me  -
a string of lights, an ornament, a laugh,
the space to listen, and the joy of being heard,
remind me of what binds us to our source

Tonight the frogs are back,
singing from the north pond,
tonight my path of hope is reestablished.
Any tatters in the shroud
let light come pouring through,
help me remember where we are
and what I am.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 25, 2022

Underlying light

 

I consider the brightness
that makes all this possible  -
presence of substance,
primal truth of everything,
molten beneath a very thin crust,
goodness in essence, ready to break through

Look - see how it's done so
here in these evening moments
where we laughed, and made music,
joined rhythms together,
rode on one sound we collectively made,
celebrated the light

And behind it, the brightness
that makes it all possible,
present and primal,
truth of our substance,
bearing us through our days,
authoring all our ways,
cause of our being
our love and delight.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 24, 2022

Upon the mountains

 

The beauty of feet is their precision
along the mountain paths,
the way they leap along the stones
and land deftly
each rugged step,
and how they never falter,
for they move in the good news
they are bringing. And they bring
the peace that supplants time,
establishing its own flow
of unlabored unfolding,
each moment holy

The messenger reaps joy
from truth-placed feet.
All who hear the message
bless them, too.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 23, 2022

Boxes

 

It's understandable if you decide
to step into the box offered,
draw your feet in, curl up
to find the comfort of a safe place

The daily roads have many boxes,
different places, different shapes and sizes,
some for you, some not,
(the choices fewer when you look closer)

But you could also choose
to be defined  by where you walk,
and how you open out each day,
and how your deep hope carries you
to broader, ever unconfining, views.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 21, 2022

Light within

 

In my time
I've come to find
in every darkness
a light within,
stars shining up out of a well,
bright sheen across the body of a crow,
the steady dawn of truth amidst a maelstrom of confusion,
the fact of worth that breaks the numbness of despair

Even the black silence of coercion
is ultimately proved nothing,
powerless against the light of Spirit,
showing each of us our access to infinity,
sovereignty ours for all eternity.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 20, 2022

The Sun Stands Still

 

In the solstice silence,
everything at rest,
in the deep and settled pause,
all is at peace

We find it within,
where we are no longer waiting,
having given that up to trust -
trust that needs no brooding,
happy closed eyes of a child with a soft pillow
and a loved lullaby

This we will ride on till morning,
this we will hold through the night,
this will impel our next purposeful movement,
rising with splash in a fountain of light.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 19, 2022

Multiplication

 

Thick frost crystals after a starry night,
guests  with smiles and eyes that dance with light,
a joy that seems to stream from nowhere
in every gathering of life

I strive to find the right words,
line up the meanings and the feelings
so my intent to bless may be believed,
the whole cloth of my thought received

And in this offering and its reception,
our energy is multiplied  -
this is a key to ending lack,
with every  need for every life supplied.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 18, 2022

The holy city

 

The holy city
comes softly present within,
infusing my thought with chords,
showing the substance,
showing the centered poise
power and peace call their source

Of course we have always needed the infinite,
needed intelligence,
needed desire

Everything true in us
always has lived here -
to every part
the city is known,
the beauty of holiness
leads us to find it
leads us to find it home.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 16, 2022

Bread

 

I'm learning the ways of bread,
and it's much like
learning the ways of people,
customary treatments and assumptions
proved far different
from what will do the best

The nuance needs attention,
and attention
is more valuable than rules,
and to have a gentle hand,
I must know what I am working with -
each moment has its own requirement,
each touch, its perfect place and time.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 15, 2022

Bears

 

I had a dream about
you playing with bears in the surf,
showing me a video afterwards,
the push of your hand
against the long wet fur,
a large black rock,
waves gliding in

It was affectionate
and so appropriate,
a thing to share,
a thing to be proud of you for,
salty and wet and unafraid,
riding your love like a wave.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 14, 2022

Solstice approaches

 

Last light, more rain,
the days pull in close,
tight cloaked around the small glow of sun

We stretch ourselves to summon more resilience,
enough imagination
to reserve some space around ourselves,
to keep the darkness at arm's length.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 11, 2022

Room

 

I've  been here before.
This time I intend
to never leave -
I will bring this room with me
when I drive, when I ride,
when I dream, when I stride,
I will take it with me,
an enclosing sphere,
a protecting glow,
a law, a way of being -
I will walk in the blessing,
letting in teach me
to live the only truth I need to know.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 10, 2022

Proof of God

 

You may be sovereign
but you are not alone

This is the miracle of it -
how you're equipped to love

Which shows there is relationship,
and in the spark connecting us,
there is the joy that makes us want to be,
there is the joy that makes us multiply

It's simple, really -
follow your desire back -
you'll see that you're not meant to be alone,
and also that you're not.
Companionship reveals the fact of God.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 9, 2022

The field

 

In the field of calm
nothing is disturbed -
the patterns and the colors grow together,
their harmony locks in,
and the resounding hum
rises in reverberating light,
clear and true

It doesn't matter whether my words
were right on or not,
or whether they were received -
the field itself holds the message
and imparts it
to you and me the same.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 8, 2022

The important thing

 

You might be borne
by golden jet stream
to float high, in your dream,
among the canyons,
you might dream that you wake up
to find yourself snagged by brambles,
and be amused

You might trace some of those images
back to some waking moments
of the day before  -
(the color of a copper beech,
a volunteer putting a brambly vine
into a pail)

The important thing is joy -
can you take it with you
through the dream and out the other side?
Are your moments kindled
to ignite more? If you need a spark,
please take one from me -
I have plenty.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 7, 2022

The tribe of yes

 

It's not so hard
to be of the tribe of yes,
the ones that make you glad you're here,
the ones that want you
and everything you are

It's not so hard
to hold the yes till it soaks through
any layers of worry and self doubt,
and proves itself to be
the only thing that's there

Look how we soften,
look how we shine
when held so easily
in the glowing yes
of the tribe.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 6, 2022

Sheen

 

In my image of you,
your toes and wing tips
are dipped in gold -
you have a sheen about you

And you are held
in high regard
by all the threads
that weave you into place,
that hold your context
and your community

In my image of you,
you are blessed - it is a buoyancy
that lifts you clear above
any kind of judgment  -
your very definition
is safe.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 5, 2022

Solid ground

 

Today I take a stand
for solid ground.

And anything that seems to be a wobble,
a thing to be grabbed quick before it falls,
and anything that's built on fear,
or anything that's built on lack -
none of these can sway me in the least

For I am set to be here,
and I am set to witness,
and I am set to show
we are more potent than we knew

We are here to show
that nothing topples what is true -
We are here to stand on solid ground.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 4, 2022

Promise

 

I've given up knowing
what should be in my days,
what should be in my years

(having come up with terrifying emptiness
one too many times)

I've given up thinking
I could choose this, or steer
my world to any kind of outcome

My faith, then, is in the daily gifts -
the promise in bright sparkles,
the sparkle of bright promise,
that which comes steady and confident
into my mind, and shows me what I'm here for,
if only for today.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 3, 2022


I

Adventure

 

We name it an adventure,
we let the hours accumulate
until they rattle
in the darkened house

The outside weather
has some say in the matter,
but we are quite comfortable
even with less electric

We name it an adventure,
and that's important,
for that naming gives us what we need
to get through darkness,
to power on.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 1, 2022

Clear

 

As I seek a way
to smooth the river of your voice
so it runs clear,
the way I've always heard it up till now,
I know it can't be words I use
(for stones, however well placed,
won't stop the rush,
won't still the turbulence)

Instead I lean in to our source,
the Principle, the essence of our being,
I name that as the cause
of everything we hope,
and all we strive for,
and all we do -
I let that be the course
for all our currents,
and all that runs
must hence run true.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 30, 2022

Parade

 

You don't need to ask yourself,
What can I bring? What thing to carry
would make me worthy
to walk in this parade?

No one is watching,
and no one is judging,
but the light of blessing
that falls, just so, upon your head,
the light that graces you, and then reflects
in every face with whom you interact  -
it is the thing we all are here to walk in,
and all of us can tell that it's enough.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 29, 2022

Light Show

 

Now it's evening. The light show is over,
its last act, some pinkness in the clouds ...

The light has gone to gray,
the gold is gone -
though dark has touched down many times today,
this time the rain will not blow through
with sun fast on its heels,
brightening the rain drops,
nestling shimmering clouds among the hills

Now the clouds have tucked themselves in,
pulling darkness over their heads,
letting the last light slip away
into the west.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 28, 2022

Abide

 

I came up from where
it was raining inside my ears,
I came out from where
everything was melting,
I closed that scene like a book,
the characters no longer marching
their abject stories
through my halls of mind

There is a truth
that nothing can  be written on  -
no ink, no etch, can mar its face -
it fills all consciousness,
so nothing more or less
is seen or felt or thought,
and everything abides with it in grace.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 27, 2022

Rendering

 

We all curl back from everything
we have called our days,
we all roll up in recollection,
in gratitude or in misery,
in peace or in regret  -
at this grand reckoning
none of that even matters

All the names we called ourselves,
and what, reflecting those, we called others,
all our fears, facades, and tears
fall together, tumble in
to be smoothed, to be cradled,
to be rendered

And what we all become
is all we've ever been
and everything we've dreamed for -
what we are has proved itself to be
our ticket home.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 26, 2022

Shirking

 

Something like a phrase I don't quite hear,
distorted by a phase shift, fog, or dream,
sidles up against my waiting thought -
could I be your  poem? but says no more

It's gray, and has some drape or flounce of fabric,
holes that could be lace, or rags,
a shuffle and a flutter  -
if I'm still, maybe it will come closer

This could be the price of reading all day
yesterday, and even for some hours today
(though I did dredge up some discipline
to do some chores)

Sunset came anyway,
colors mirroring the fire,
even its shapes echoing the logs,
while fog crept up beneath it ...
granting grace in giving me the sight
before it swiftly rolled off into night.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 23, 2022

Music

 

Every tone that waits to chime
in the hollow of its time,
the perfect silence, opening
to give it space, to let it ring

Every voice that waits to sing
into the perfect listening,
the heart that hears, and tucks the song
where it can echo, sweet and long

All sounds, received, so find their rest,
a still point of their own,
the consummation of their quest,
the hum in which they're known.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 21, 2022

Belonging

 

Who wouldn't give up being a drop
to be a river? It's not as if your essence changes -
it's just that the illusion of isolation
is swept away, in the thunder of the power

It's not as if the forces you run with,
the gravity, evaporation,
are different, though in the multitude
of your collective run,
you may feel more of what they do

And nothing stops you
from leaping up anyway, being
a sparkling drop, dissipating into mist,
drifting far into the forest
to commune with trees

Just that you always feel
the pull home, and the desire to mingle,
and your belonging
in all the secret passageways,
above ground and under -
everywhere the river calls its own.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 20, 2022

Your place

 

Back up, back up, pull your hand
out of the puppet, pull your voice
out of the dream. Stand up
and shake out your mane. Stand straight
and assume your actual character.
You can walk free of the whole set.

You are not bound by any script.
Your  scenery is here - so much vaster
than the theater. You can walk out
into the wild wind. You can laugh
with the whistling trees. You can
let your heart be filled
with the power of your truth.
More than magical, it holds you steady
in the awe-filled unfolding essence,
harmony, and your place in it,
life, and your reason for it,
Love, and its touch in all that you are.
You, now being known.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 19, 2022

Wellness

 

Seven o'clock, and the wellness of the morning
sits more steady than the fog
and the frost that cases spider silk
and grass stalk

It settles in the warmth from last night's fire,
radiated from the stone,
shared with floor and walls

Seven fifteen, and the wellness of the morning
crackles in the new fire,
rests softly in the work
left over from last night

Be well - your life thrives
before any of these things -
it brings the wellness through,
its source infinite,
its expression unconfined.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 17, 2022

Smile time

 

In the smile time of the afternoon,
strands of spider silk gleam with sunshine,
they hang from fences, they catch the wind
and float off - I don't know
if they have a purpose now,
except to be delightful

Deer stayed for about an hour
on the shadowed north side of the house
after the frost was gone,
on ground that never warmed -
they browsed, then sat, and moved on later -
I don't know why they chose that spot

In the smile time of the afternoon,
the air relaxed, and let itself get warm
even out beyond the porch's shelter,
and no one could resist
the quiet calm
the infinite provided
for that fleeting time.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 16, 2022

Invitation

 

When I come to the beach
and I take off my shoes
and the wind and the water
ask me to dance,
I can never refuse,
for the sound and the smell and the feel
of that last salt-tinged rush across the sand,
and the sheen, and the pattern of ripples,
push the ocean message up through my feet  -
all that vast chorus of power -
and I can't help but fly.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 14, 2022

When you know

 

When you know what's true,
the cabinet of stresses
opens its doors
and lets everything fall out -
all the pressures, all the worries,
chagrin, regret, despair  -

They dissipate, and the place they were
begins to fill in
with the obvious order
of things that are living  -
branches reaching up,
roots extending down,
everything expressly purposed  -
nothing random, nothing useless

The clatter of clutter
gives way to the hum of living,
and its clear alignment
shows itself to be
all that was ever here.
When you know what's true,
you see and feel it.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 13, 2022

The just shall live by faith "

 

This morning quest
has me once again
seeking the well of hope,
learning what I hope for

Sipping the substance,
tasting the flavor -
my hope for truth, my desire
for life and love

I ponder: this indeed
must be the substance of my being,
this spark, this longing,
must hold the definition
of who I am

Must remind me
what I live by,
what I live for,
what will guide me
humble and exultant,
through the many turnings of my day.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 12, 2022

Realms

 

In the clear water
the clear fish come into view,
delicate skeletons seen by their flickering,
swift shimmer along the edge of fin -
they drift, they ghost - I can almost
see one through another

Whole networks are made of these -
food chains, symbioses  -
conducting their business mostly unseen -
vast webs of them stretch through oceans
which they now define,
here in my mind
where they swim silent,
widening my realms.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 11, 2022

Surfeit

 

Surfeit of saturation,
more light than we can use,
overflowing brilliance

What in our nature
gains energy taking this in,
translates it into joy?

So much of what we're never told
is right here. Our eyes show us
when we notice. So much of what we are
is right here. Spirit
makes itself known.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 10, 2022

Holy

 

Pre-dawn encounter with holiness
had me walking thoughtful  -
each of these steps,
the realm in which they fall,
the course where I am led -
a wholly different world
from what I thought,
but which has been here all along,
and I've been walking in it
though I didn't know

What changes with this shift?
It is a new land, or more,
it is remembering  -
it's how my feet proclaim
this is their always home -
they find the balance
comforting, empowering,
something the world could never
make them forget how to do.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 9, 2022

The dance of land and sky

 

The belly of cloud
against the contour of the land,
just enough space between to feel the closeness,
the constant slow adjusting of undulations,
a small view into blue distance

The dance of land and sky
goes on throughout the day,
continues through the night
and never pauses
except for the exquisite rests
where all is truly still,
which we, sometimes,
are also blessed to feel.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 8, 2022

Darker

 

The rain reminds us
of our dependencies,
and how small our world can shrink,
and how easily the kingdom of mud
slides on in

We fortify ourselves
with wood and with frugality,
remembering how we honor this darker season -
in the way of its exacting, not our own,
finding our cheer in our plans for more inventions,
and in the bright fire
and the returning green.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 5, 2022

Basic

 

Let me fall back
into very basic gratitude  -
gratitude of fingers
for life's movement within,
gratitude of breath
for its participation  -
these things aren't fooled
by high-minded ennui  -
they know in every moment
that life is a gift

From here, my gratitude
can branch out, for there is much to love
in all the people, in all the days -
I can settle back into my purpose
and finding much to praise.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 4, 2022

The devil makes a bid for my evening

 

Where's the tsunami when you need it? -
when you want to give up on everything,
when you want a quiet box to hide in,
when at least, some thought inside you
makes a case for all of that,
says that you're sad,
says you're discouraged,
says you deserve to feel bad
(so go ahead, indulge)
and what you've undertaken
is very, very hard - who wouldn't feel the same in your  condition?

So it insults me, in its wager
that I won't get the insult,
won't notice that by saying this is hard,
it calls me weak, won't notice
these are not my thoughts at all

But I will overcome  -
there is no gain for me in going down,
there is no win in naming myself lost,
there is no reason to listen to these lies -
Enough - I say, begone!

©Wendy Mulhern
November 2, 2022

In Heavenly Love - a vision

 

In heavenly love

you open out your arms
and all the little animals come running
to dive into your lap, into your aura,
to snuggle there in bliss

Everyone says, let's go up to the mountain,
and so they go, and as they climb,
they are filled up with heavenly love.
When they are full, they turn and sit,
and open out their arms,
and everyone is drawn -
drawn to the light, drawn to the love

When they are full, they also turn
and open out their arms,
and soon the whole mountain
is radiant as a star -
it sends its light out
and pulls everyone in.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 1, 2022