Flow

The river calls its tributaries —

they are drawn to the flow —

all water follows

by virtue of what it is

Of water moved by Spirit

we are formed, we are born,

we are borne along the course prepared

Of water and of Spirit

we find ourselves

new as this breath,

steady as the presence of the infinite.

©Wendy Mulhern

June 7, 2019

Glory and Strength

“give unto the Lord glory and strength”

It is rightfully called glory,

this internal exaltation,

this joy, this calm,

this shining out of

what I now experience as me

and know I don’t create it

Strength, as well, can truly be called given,

when I know this power

(which doesn’t come from me)

keeps welling infinitely,

supports me without end,

defines me as I use it

not to some grand end

that I have conjured up

but in the bright being

of eternal Soul.

©Wendy Mulhern

May 25, 2019

Falling asleep while trying to write a poem

A world made

of everything that happened,

an armature of sighs,

something seen the moment

before I opened my eyes,

not enough time

to make any difference

There may be hope

in the very slightest of things,

the gossamer of insect wings,

the care that has been taken

at every scale where things can be perceived —

we may not understand

but this may help us to believe.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 26, 2019

Take This In

Here is a secret:

Being is not something you can fail at.

This despite the very loud 

opinions to the contrary

and their constant repetition,

throughout all your years

Here’s a truth to take you by surprise:

You didn’t make yourself. And what did make you,

what makes you still, in each moment

of your breathing, each eye-blink of awareness,

is no podunk show, no lazy shop, no third rate joint

The enormity of what you are

(broad as the stretch of your imagination)

bears witness to the size of your creator,

which, besides being too big to fail,

is also the only thing in the whole stupendous

here of consciousness

And it doesn’t let you fail. Not you,

not any of these others.

If you think you stand in opposition,

think again. You are given, after all,

a deep enough understanding

to take this in. 

©Wendy Mulhern

November 23, 2016

Nothing More

I find myself suddenly

very small,

very still,

glad enough to have

nothing to say,

profoundly relieved

to realize

I’m not my life’s designer

Even more, I see

that it has never been my job

to design or to evaluate

any other life.

I am small and still

in the great hush of seeing

All these lives are each their own,

yet meshed together

in a design so many spectra vaster

than I can even count

These lives, like mine

are loved with such tenderness

there’s nothing I can say about it.

©Wendy Mulhern

December 15, 2015

Heritage

On your shoulders,

no weight of generations,

on your head

no folly of past years,

no unredeemed misunderstanding,

harbored, confusedly,

by your parents, your grandparents,

theirs —

You are born of this day,

fresh as a swift cloud

after showers,

sailing through storm washed blue

with its answering catch of breath

You are born in this moment,

ever inheriting

the bright conception

that creates itself constantly,

building the whole timeless universe

in every inspiration,

embracing it all, right now,

embracing you.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 29, 2015

Causality

Give me the lens to see the causal bones,

the structure upon which all movement hangs,

Let me see them shining there like jewels

beneath the mounds of things accumulated

Beneath the the names and forms,

the grades, the price tags,

and everything we shore up

in our struggle for security

Let me see how they stretch out

smooth and powerful,

glowing in translucent iridescence,

moving with the sovereignty

that marks their gait,

framing the procession of all life,

tuning the spheres

world without end.

©Wendy Mulhern

July 23, 2015

Authorship

Well, here’s the story of redemption:

You are redeemed, for you are here.

It takes attention 

to choose you for a story,

to put you in,

to hedge about your life

with these meticulous details,

to give you motives,

give you a past,

give you this burning hope

that somehow

your life has worth and purpose:

It takes an overarching care

to author you. And look —

you’re here.

Know, too, that there’s no character

the author doesn’t love.

It is the way of things —

the way creation works:

The act of care that thinks you up

(pulls you, as her child, 

right out of her head)

is always an act of love.

So have no fear.

You are redeemed

and always have been.

Just look inside yourself to see —

You’ll know.

©Wendy Mulhern

March 10, 2015