Structure of Life

 

Considering structure,
the lock and the brace of it,
over and under,
the link and the lace of it,
eager connection, reciprocal, strong,
stretch and contraction,
heart of the song
           
  *

There is nothing mindless here -
within this temple, it all comes clear -
in taut tensility appears
a firm support, the space to care

*

So interlocked, this life extends
through inner and through outer
realms of space -
the loving structure that allows
the soft and still points,
steadfast protection that gives rise to grace.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 10, 2023

Falling

 

Many will speak of
the benefit of falling,
of coming completely untethered
from all that you trusted,
of having that done for you
which you were mightily unwilling
to do for yourself

And there's truth in that,
for any trust that can be swept away
is false,
and what is truly trustworthy
is waiting for discovery
by anyone who's  secretly lucky
to have lost all else.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 8, 2023

Drawing a blank

 

The words in my head
don't need to face emptiness  -
they are always ready to play

My mind fills in the images -
it can chain any two words together
and take them up the winding street
paved with tawny bricks
in the places of dreams
which may or may not be extant
in the world of my daily walk

It is only in the realm of judgment
that I may decide
I have nothing to say.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 7, 2023

Twilight

 

It's magical outside  - mist and moonrise
and the last blue before the final dark.
Snow has chased through the day
but it is gone now - the kiss of cold remains
but that is all

It's magical inside - the windows
show the same last blue,
and the reflections from our lights and fire

It's just a way of feeling about it,
a way that gathers warmth,
and gathers presence,
and peace that deepens
in the rounded shadows of the years.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 5, 2023

Evidence

 

I followed the trail of words
back through my days,
looking for the consolation
and the brave face
that marked the chasm that I never spoke of,
but it was gone

How can it be that a whole memory
is erased? Not exactly that,
for the facts are there,
but the pit of emotion is gone,
and the weight, the despair

In the place of dragons, where each lay,
will be grass with reeds and rushes

Even so. Hope springs from ash,
green and thriving.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 4, 2023

Focal distance

Where Spirit sees,
everything is seen,
and everything that's seen
sees with Spirit's sight

No object can obscure another,
no shadow can be cast -
to be reflection is to be the light,
and everything is pure reflection here

Nothing waits to see if it is seen -
we know we're seen by virtue of our seeing -
we know how Spirit shines through us
by seeing how we shine,
see ourselves lit
by that which we light up.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 3, 2023

Living itself

 

Well, the day won't live itself -
the wood will not be chopped and stacked
if we don't do it. The garden plot
won't prepare itself for planting.
But the clouds will roll on through,
sun glad-handing among them,
the deer will make their rounds,
and in the subterranean
channels of thought,
the unseen steps you take
may be the greatest thing that's happening.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 1, 2023