For Ethan

(with all best wishes)

If all of this is energy

and all of it is interactive,

then everything from that leaf

to this train, to the flickers of lights 

between eyes

can span together

(cat’s cradles in the mind, new geometries 

from interlaced connections)

And you can’t really call it risk

to put your all

into what calls you,

put your hand on the core of

what will draw from you

the spark of increase

Splendid views flash

between the cars of passing trains

and we are all on an adventure,

we are all going deeper

into the heart of awakening.

©Wendy Mulhern

September 26, 2018

Too Many Hours Alone

I face the void,

I face my cluttered house

(my consciousness, that is)

I wander driftingly

for lack of company

I take myself in hand,

try to straighten up the stories,

pull at some of their recurring loops,

so many of them feeling old —

I don’t believe them anymore

(if I ever did)

These narratives arise from isolation,

they build inside, reverberating

from props I have set up

(characters to populate my constructs)

They become a burden, a distraction,

a show that takes attention

from present interactions

and I think how awkward it would be

if anyone could read my thoughts —

so far removed they are

from the expected present care

But if we all could read each other’s thoughts

I think these ones would dissipate

with all their lame assumptions and their fears

We’d feel the reinforcement 

of acceptance, of approval

And we could walk easy

in the joy

of how light a touch of thought

could send such waves of comfort

to each other.

©Wendy Mulhern

September 9, 2014

The language of touch

The language of touch

Is as broad, and as nuanced

As any language

And it can be learned

And passed from one to another

Like any language

And like many native languages

It has been forbidden

It has been almost lost

But it can be reclaimed

Pieced together and reconstructed

From the snatches of what we remember

What some gifted few

Embody

It can spread like oil

It can multiply

Till every body knows

How to speak it

And it can sing

In rich and glorious harmony

Shared, rising, rebellious

Overthrowing the long-enforced silence

That kept us boxed off from each other

We will sing this language

Of touch

Until everyone hears it

And finds their way home.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 14, 2012

Transformation

Can the world really change?

Can a massive sanity

Descend like mist

Be breathed collectively

Till we regard each other

With dew-touched eyes

And realize

This is what we always knew

And we can have it?

Can courage spread

As chemical reaction

A wave of instant change

So we say no

To all oppression

Yes

To everything we’ve always loved?

If a day can be a touchstone

And everyone decides

To come as one

What does it matter

If the calendar has caused it

Or the stars

It is our choice

It is our hearts

That come together

Where we are.

©Wendy Mulhern

11/11/11

Today's treats

Beneath the passive surface

on which my days may glide

through duties and routines

between anticipated highs

hide a plethora of moments

which can fill me with surprise

when they open out to show me

what was hidden deep inside

Today, a smile I gave a man

as I was riding up a hill

and he was walking with his cane

invoked a light that multiplied:

His smile came back to me

and made me feel all bright

And later, when the trick-or-treaters came

and I resounded with delight, I understood:

Each gift is reciprocal; the little treats I gave

rewarded me an escalating good.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 31, 2011

Magic

A box unfolds

Each side becomes a box

These boxes each unfold

Each side a box again

Each box contains a story

that opens out its own world

its past

its cast of characters

an atmosphere

and changing seasons

days and nights, and different scents

Each story leads along a path

that changes everyone who walks it

taking them along while still contained inside its box

Each box in you

A gift

Each smile of yours a key

that you may give to one who sees

who then may open up a lock and know

a tiny thread of something in your soul

which, if they follow, leads them to your gold

The stories loop away but all return

—for one who has the patience to discover—

to that sweet core your essence hinted with your eyes

Whoever walks with you along this path

(in which you both will change)

will gain a prize.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 29, 2011

Today's gift

so touched

to the core

so held

nothing more

is needed

so loved

all the ancient questions

hold their breath

and then release

in sweet relief

their chronic tensions

slowly, dawns

awakening

a stretch that rolls and rolls

through waves of rising power

a fresh intake

of bracing inspiration

new meaning for this hour

hold it dear

and share it as you can

the crystal call for all

to know

they’re ever of the clan.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 19, 2011

String Theory

The pull of this bright river

Strong comb along the currents of my breath

Stops me in time

Captures me in wonder

Tugs my being up from unknown depth

And no, I don’t know what it means

And no, I don’t know where it leads

But know I won’t say no

For anything that calls me so

I must respond to

And I will take these strands and hold them out

Between my fingertips

I’ll cast them forth and let them fall like starlight

On these tender heads

Fling their sprays of joy across the room

And make with them a sweet cradle

For a longing soul

To rock and rock until we know we’re whole.

©Wendy Mulhern

September 22, 2011

Mind Touch (more)

They said the robot’s jerky movements

Kept her from being seen as human

Although the robot knew the proper cues

The turn of face, of eyes, to hear your news

But what they hadn’t programed for

Or analyzed, or knew to see

Was how the long wave of connection

Moves between each you and me

How that first click of recognition

—Human, kinsman, lover—spotted from afar

Strings a taut line between us, core to core

On which then afterward the signals run

The turn of face, the eye contact, the mirrored smiles

Come later, when we’re already in tune

When every move of mine will synchronize with yours

No wave will fail to flow all the way through

From you to me, from me to you

Each thing I feel, you’ll know

Each thing you know, I’ll feel

Though we may not acknowledge it

It’s surely real

Your wave will hit against the door I finally close

The echo back will show how far I let you in

Though you may have no words for it, you’ll know

My openness will zing across your skin

And if you open all the way, I’ll be compelled

To recognize you holy, priceless, true

Your heart in mine with tenderness to hold -

I can’t escape the Mind touch any more than you

The robot, though meticulously programed

Couldn’t tell

How much at one our movement always is

How deep the input, how apt the response

However much we try to mask ourselves.

©Wendy Mulhern

September 16, 2011