Healing Waters

 

River of peace
flows out from us -
be still enough to notice  -
to notice that the heat of argument
is not us, the rage
at the bland cruelty of some other side
is not us, the hot tears
at having tried so long, so hard,
and still not seeing any signs
of coming any closer
is not us

Much as all those things claim
to need our attention, what they really need
is our calm. One that extends
all the way to the bottomless
limpid clear
simple justice
of truth. One that extends from our source
and rises as it flows
and where it goes,
the land will thrive
and all the waters will be healed.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 30, 2021

In the place of dragons

 

In the early perfection of the morning,
deep breathing while still half bound in sleep,
I felt the wakening hand
of what moves everything,
the easy all encompassing of harmony,
the power of waterfalls
and teeming life

And I felt that, if I had to face
the dragon's breath again,
I would know what to say,
or not say, I would have the softening
that we brought back from the ocean  -
soothing of clouds and waves,
comfort of heads resting on shoulders  -
enough to dissipate what had threatened
to swallow us before.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 29, 2021

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with love, 

Wendy 

Love, unstoried

 

I"m looking for a way to be home,
looking for a way to love that won't fail,
seeking to wean myself from stories
of the quick flicker and mysterious arc
of love - how it can flame and crash
or just be gone

I know that love has never been like that -
when it touched into the stories,
it brought a power with it
that no story could sustain,
contain, retain, restrain -
and so I'm seeking love
outside of stories,
the love that, when they're done,
will still remain.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 28, 2021

Enduring

 

At some point I noticed
I was thinking of the day
in terms of enduring  -
waiting out the heat till evening,
so I took a cold shower
and sat on the porch in the shade
listening to cicadas and quiet  birds

I've been training myself to step away
from the clenched pause from enjoyment
I called enduring,
to recast that quality
as a more alert patience,
a nimbler approach to living the moments
I will traverse anyway
and might as well enjoy.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 26  2021

Poem written in the dark after it was finally cool enough

 

Everyone is looking for places to stay cool,
and I'm feeling the wish
to write a long story,
one of missed connections
and broken threads -
lost threads seeking each other over years,
sad and tragic mismatches
that people settled for
after their dreams were lost

But all the threads of the story
are subsumed,
changed as tide pools change
when tide comes in -
things that were disconnected
become one,
things that were lost
unite on holy ground.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 25,  2021

Empowerment

 

If we understood our power,
every one of us,
we'd know that all of us are rich
and any one of us
can bring in the divinity of peace
the game-arresting concord of divinity

If we understood our power,
we'd know that none of us
can be impoverished,
for nothing can be taken
from our wholeness,
and nothing can deprive us
of our sovereignty

If we understood our power,
life would flow abundantly
at our hands, lush gardens
would spring forth
and be inhabited,
and every living thing we thought was lost
will find its way back
to flourish and bask in our grace.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 24,  2021