Another River

Consider the river of what you want,

how it flows strong and true

beneath the surface thoughts

of what you think you have

and think that you deserve

and what you think is possible

and what you think has happened

We all share that same river,

and if we can find our way

to the connection, perhaps

we’ll help each other overcome

the floes, the snags, the brambles

that catch us up. Perhaps

we’ll help each other break through

and float free.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 2, 2019

Thought for the day

And the vision was flying beside me

like the flock of birds suddenly

at my shoulder, as we walked

near the shore

It touched on

layers of worlds

and how a shift in focus

can operate on each one —

the world of sound,

the world of light in a father’s eyes,

the nexuses of casual intersection

And it said:

All your longings will flow out

of all containers where you try to hold them,

they will turn from light to lead along the street,

but the brightness you desire

is yours, now and always —

it sits, in willing ease,

upon your brow.

©Wendy Mulhern

November 23, 2018

Addiction

Too long I have been sucking on

the sugar-water, straining for the

drug of fulfillment, threading through

the tightly wound dendritic channels

of what I thought of

as my heart and soul

but really was the craving

of a self-looped story

for its own rehashing,

for its expected end

Too long I’ve acted, feeling

that I had no choice,

in modes of movement

that kicked me into corners

with stagnant air that I could barely breathe

And though I feel I’d need to throw out everything

to leave it, (everything! — my friends, my loves,

my sense of worth and purpose)

I’m also sensing this is what I need to do —

free fall at the mercy

of what I hope will bear me up

so I can be lifted,

so I can be real.

©Wendy Mulhern

August 16, 2017

photo by Edward Mulhern

Confluence

Freedom and oneness:

the only way to really

have both of them

is if you have an absolute

confluence of desires,

if in the song of what you want,

all the chords blend in their perfection,

producing new, delicious, haunting tones,

if all the rhythms

set each other off

in joyful syncopation

and all the melodies

chase each other down in bliss,

leaping and rolling,

surging and soaring

And this is how it is

for all of us

in the secret chamber

of what we want.

This, in its various ways

sparks all our quests

and so we can conclude

that it is here.

©Wendy Mulhern

August 7, 2017

photo by Edward Mulhern