The Allness

There is no word

for the vastness of this Love.

It encompasses

so many oceans of tears,

it melts

every shard of broken, wounded fears,

It sweeps up everything

whose individual outcome

seemed to matter so much,

it holds them softly,

makes each a gem,

a light-refracting prism

of more brilliance

than they knew to hope for,

Sets all of us

on our sure and glorious course,

smoothes us together,

releases us

into the bright waterfall

where we sing our days,

still held, still safe,

still wrapped in rapture,

whole.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 6, 2015

To Heather, Again

My sweet family-maker,

you bring us together once again.

Deeper than faith, this essence of you

makes us rise in the living of love

The demand of this purpose

shines through each hardened thought,

each tight-lodged obstacle,

clears away everything but the true light,

our calling, our unique blessing,

the role we play in raising up each other,

our certainty

of why we are here.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 6, 2015

Harvest

Wind gently bobs the seed heads

in the sheen of golden afternoon,

breathing through each strand

the gentle separation —

what has always been

from what has seemed to be

Everything has always grown in this love —

nothing has been condemned,

nothing has been sullied,

The sweet purposes come to fruition

and are gathered safely,

ready to bless through the winter,

ready to bloom in the spring.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 4, 2015

Intermission

There is a pause in the story.

In the brighter lights, the moving

and talking in between,

there may be speculation

of next plot twists, of characters,

performances

We will go back in,

we will go down under

to be swept along by the spell

but for now

we will stretch our legs

and take in the crisp fall air

and remember

that whatever happens in the story,

we’ll come out here.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 3, 2015

The Earth Sings

The earth sings under the city,

patterns passed through rock and sand,

in slow waves moving,

lore stored in mountains,

riffs originating in the craggy pools

along the shore

All this is known, all this is felt,

nothing made in the last two hundred years

can mar the message —

It goes around the deep holes

we’ve dug in the ground,

it moves beneath the places we regraded

It makes no judgment about these,

for they are minor —

transient as shadows

moving across a day.

The earth sings

her long song

among the stars.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 1, 2015

Your Passage

Though it seems amazing,

even to me,

I am not afraid.

Though you face this void

and I can’t be there,

though I can’t take your steps for you,

I am not afraid.

I know the riches you’ll reap

from this passage

are without compare,

and are for you alone —

You will attain them,

you’ll bring them home

Then we will celebrate,

for you will share this with us all —

We’ll be elated,

and you’ll be free and whole.

©Wendy Mulhern

September 30, 2015

Confidence

I’m really good at

holding your hand

and keeping up —

skip-step in perfect trust

I like it, too, when you swoop me

high through the air,

our laughter mingling

under the bright sky,

I’m good at

filling up with joy

There have been names

given to me, and to my family,

names establishing our strengths

and our shortcomings,

generations of stories,

many never told, about them

But today I don’t want any name but yours,

don’t want histories, don’t want prognostications —

Today I’ll hold your hand and take your name:

I Am.

©Wendy Mulhern

September 29, 2015