A Deeper Honesty

 

I part the brambles, step within -
I seek a deeper honesty -
the portals that it opens
makes it worth the search,
for here a fuller life
is promised me

The small excuse, the better sounding story,
I turn these over, see what's underneath  -
a fear of being judged, perhaps,
or that my truest self
would not be fit to be more fully seen

Or that the short cuts I have taken,
ways I've failed to see another fairly,
were best for me to hide,
(and mostly from myself)
could be concealed, so I'd be let off easy

My honesty will help these flaws in thought to pass away,
and let the skill of my Creator
have the final say.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 5, 2021

Examination

 

Am I brave enough
to put my life under a loupe,
to see and understand
all the loops.of thought -
how they hide themselves
and how they manifest,
and what they do when bathed in sudden light?

And am I willing to be calm and kind enough
to uncover hidden hurts and misconceptions,
to follow down the consequences
and put to right whatever is awry?

One thing is sure -
the way is forward -
neither looking back
nor circling in stasis
will furnish me the needed satisfaction,
and when this work is called for,
and as it is, I'll do it
in humbleness, and willingness,
and trust.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 4, 2021

Rain at Night

 

Rain at night
is a fine coziness  -
more so for its forbearance
through the day, for the unexpected sun
that came in with all kinds
of special effects, and all kinds of power
for batteries, and encouragement
for living things (like us)
getting ready for the short dark days.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 3, 2021

As i have been given

 

In the softness of the cloudy day,
in the quietness of certain moments,
I remind myself,
and it starts to come back to me,
how I have been shown,
how I have been given
a way of walking here
where joy comes up under my feet
and floats from everything i see

I don't want to keep it to myself,
I seek the deepening
that lets me give it
to everyone I think of
and everyone I see

I work it now in little ways
and wait to see it open up,
not by my will
but by my willingness,
not by expertise
but by grace.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 2, 2021

I Choose

 

Well, all of us have broken pieces,

all of us have memories
of things that didn't go the way we hoped

And all of us have voices
with their diagnoses
of where things stand, given what has happened

But all of us have choices,
and they're absolutely different
from what the voices tell us that they are

I choose
to let my love come back,
and not let it be stranded
waiting for someone to be lovable

My love knows where it comes from
and it knows to be itself. It never waits
for a precisely perfect time.
My love comes back - it's happy to be home.
My love goes outward knowing how to shine.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 31, 2021

Light on the gate

 

Light on the distant gate -
the afternoon sun signaling
beneficence,
a gleam I can feel
way up here on the hill,
a settling, a proof
that nothing we do stops the kindness
bestowed on every living being,
nothing they do stops the kindness  -
it has the last word
in the bitterest disputes,
it melts them to calm
like an evening bath.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 30, 2021

OK

 

It's OK to cry,
though it may just be
circles around myself,
stories that invoke the longing
for some deeper comfort

It's OK to cry, for all that wetness
can melt the lines, can help dissolve
what is harsh, intractable,
what is self-important,
what didn't realize
we are all in this soup together  -
all small, all huge, all holy,
all loved and infinite,
all needed,
all able
to tune the unifying chord.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 29, 2021