Eternal Now

We live in the eternal now
and nothing else can touch us -
no troubled echoes from the past,
no fears of future outcomes

Here in the eternal now
we are fresh each moment,
and all the resources of now
are present for our use

In the eternal now,
there can be no sore spot,
no place rubbed raw, no pain
from previous exertion

No troubled memories,
no shell-shocked caution,
nothing cordoned off as minefield.
So we can thrive, forever safe
in the eternal now.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 31, 2020

Willing

I'm willing
to give up
any previous sense
of me,
willing,.instead,
to be mirror,
to let myself be defined
in the light and color I reflect,
let my presence
multiply the infinite,
learn who I am each day
by what it shines.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 28, 2020

Breath of Life

The perfect fitting of things

is not mechanical, 

though we may observe 

the intricate meshings, 

though we may think

it's a fragile webbing -

one strand misplaced 

and all could fall away,

one beat missed

and everything could crash 

But it can't, it won't. 

It's not mechanical. 

No one thing depends upon another, 

though it seems to. 

This is the breath of Life,

everything moving in one Spirit,

each one bound 

in deepest love,

directly to its cause.

©Wendy Mulhern

July 27, 2020

Heat Wave

The heat kept ramping up
through the afternoon,
furnace winds blowing through,
drawing the moisture
out of everything

We looked for places
where we wouldn't wilt,
employed extravagant technology,
and then, in hammock's shade,
a breeze could soothe us some,
as long as we were quiet

Inner peace can help us cool
until the evening finally
releases its refreshing breath
and we can rest at last.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 26, 2020

Alone

Each of you,
alone with your soul,
is doing a mighty work

There is no referent of comparison,
no one's soul against which
you can hold your own
to take a measure

You are alone with your soul.
And what blooms in you -
particular concoction
of what you came from
and what you brought to it -
will always be as much a wonder
to yourself as to the others
who see it shine forth

You are companioned,
but that companionship is deeper
than the sum or product
of everyone you know

You are loved
before you even step out,
loved as you are,
alone with your soul.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 25, 2020

Partnership

The land starts to tell me of our partnership
in phrases I can understand -
scent of sweet grass, and blackberry,
carried on the wind,
fledgling birds - jays, swallows, towhees,
calls of doves and hawks and deer

It hints of sensing our potential,
and patience till we come into our own.-
that we will tend it, and that it will flourish,
with more and more life
flowing in our home

Not a relationship of need
so much as dance - that we will each
bring out the richness of each other -
We will thrive, and it will thrive right with us,
all attesting to the potency of love.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 24, 2020

Chores on the Land

We spent three days
thwarting the plans of tansy,
pulling it by the roots,
cutting its yellow heads,
filling the plastic bags

There was time in the work for thinking -
how you spend so much of your life
trying to prove
to yourself and to others
that you are worthy,

And when you discover
your worthiness never was doubted,
always was secure,
there's still a sweet desire
to be of service,
to lend your gifts
to the great unfolding
of every day.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 22, 2020