All the same

This may seem infinitely different

but it is all the same,

the binding loops of fear

are not distinct, there is no

relative virtue in the systems

that hold us down — one pathology

is just as haunting

as another

We can find comfort, then, perhaps,

in what we share,

stop putting ourselves down,

forgive each other,

and in the space that makes,

we’ll come to see

it is the same release

that frees us all.

©Wendy Mulhern

February 7, 2020

In the library parking lot

Children emerge from the library

paired with parents

and two steps out the door

they invariably

break into running or dancing or singing,

bouncing against their parent’s staider gait

like leaves caught by the autumn breeze,

pent up from stillness

now released —

as rich a gift to me

as the tall oak trees,

resplendent red above,

speaking of community,

a place that cares for them.

©Wendy Mulhern

November 13, 2019

Grace, Given

Let me pause and consider

how grace is given us,

moment by moment,

day after day

Not as some rare prize

we came on by chance

or earned with great virtue

or masterful play

Grace is given —

it blesses us,

though we’re confounded

by how we occasioned it,

how it arrives

Grace we live in

will bless, too,

the others around us –

in blessing us, they, too,

will graciously thrive.

©Wendy Mulhern

June 25, 2019

A Lightening

I sense now, in many,

a learning to yearn

for a freedom of being

that lives beyond fear,

leaning into their hope

and their imagination

for the wide open space

where their essence

is unassailable,

thus lightening the field,

allowing room, here, for more people,

if not in the certainty of believing,

still in the place of admitting:

this is something that I want,

this is something that I am.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 8, 2019

If We Knew

And as for us, poor fumble people,

all we need is cuddles,

cuddle of the deepest sort,

that feeds the soul,

that soothes the heart

and makes us know

how dearly we are held

We all come crying, masked, of course,

in our bravado, the efforts we all mount

to prove that we amount to something,

that our presence counts

We ask for others

to give us what we need

but they, too, flounder,

flailing in the chasm of their lack

Ah, if we only knew,

in truth, for certain,

what’s already given,

we wouldn’t need to struggle and to sink —

we’d rest, serenely, in our present heaven.

©Wendy Mulhern

February 10, 2019

Another River

Consider the river of what you want,

how it flows strong and true

beneath the surface thoughts

of what you think you have

and think that you deserve

and what you think is possible

and what you think has happened

We all share that same river,

and if we can find our way

to the connection, perhaps

we’ll help each other overcome

the floes, the snags, the brambles

that catch us up. Perhaps

we’ll help each other break through

and float free.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 2, 2019

Festival of Lights

Indeed, for each of you is a light —

We bask in dappled illumination,

the moving brightness of each of you

multiplied each time you interact

We are so blessed

by each of you. And more —

you all together

comprise this feast, become this exaltation,

enough, for sure, to light the temple

eight days, that is,

eternity plus one.

©Wendy Mulhern

December 2, 2018

Welcome Home

You can go ahead

and set those worries right down

in the hall. You don’t need

to carry them upstairs

Come in, relax — every part of you

is welcome. We will thoroughly enjoy

all that you are

Even Awkward, that funny half-relative,

can feel at home here.

We don’t take him too seriously,

which comes as a relief to him.

I saw him settling in, with new ease,

leaning in to the surrounding laughter

We’re glad you found us. Whether you traveled

five hours in a sleigh, or six in an airplane,

or ten minutes across the bumpy winter grass,

your coming makes our circle rounder —

your presence is desired.

©Wendy Mulhern

November 27, 2018

Protection

We need to put our heads together

and entwine our arms,

make a structure,

an impervious protection,

need to spread it largely out —

over everyone, in fact —

to hold us safe,

hold us all within

So when that old corkscrewing vortex

comes hurtling, twisting through

with its cold insinuation,

“what’s the point of you?”

we will each know

it has no toehold

in our sense of what is true,

and that old lie

will simply fall away.

©Wendy Mulhern

November 17, 2018

Neighbors

We will be neighbors,

we will not pick and choose,

we will be glad

at those that live near,

those that drop by

We’ll still be neighbors,

though some will leave

and others will move in,

though futures we imagined

involve a different cast

The distance teaches us

to value every face,

the land’s benevolence

becomes a part of us.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 12, 2018

Send my roots down

Send my roots down

where they’ve never reached before —

the land is arid,

the former streams are dry

Send my roots down

to the hidden corridors

protecting the secret,

connecting the trees

Let the ancient, strong alliance,

feeding everything that touches in,

be what sustains me,

be what grows my trunk 

and greens my limbs

Send my roots down —

it’s a long drought on the surface,

but here underneath,

we’ll share the streams.

©Wendy Mulhern

July 29, 2018

Curious

The party across the way

is not my business

but I am curious

I’m not wishing to belong there

but I am curious

I wonder how people find shelter

in each other, and if it feels safe

and if it is real

I don’t feel lonely

in the way I once did

but I am curious

Curious to see

what shelter will unfold around us,

what we will offer

and who we will receive.

©Wendy Mulhern

July 15, 2018

One Touch

Cradle me, let your arms

be a touchpoint, take me back

to where I don’t remember

but feel like I could —

This holding that shows me

that I am beloved,

my perfect belonging

wholly assured 

(If there is one body

then there is one touch

that all of us yearn for 

and each one can give)

No need to settle

for that which is partial,

provisional, grudging,

for sometime acceptance

Let this touch assure you, too,

that you have always 

been welcome here.

©Wendy Mulhern

July 14, 2018

Patient

And patience must be

the waiting, in full appreciation 

of each growing sense of purpose,

for each development, in turn,

of needed elements

and their essential folding together

into the pattern

Patience must be

hearing the theme afar off,

and letting it come around

through all the orchestra

until it’s time to sound.

©Wendy Mulhern

July 13, 2018

Interim

There’s a place for us at the table —

it’s not the raucous one, at the center of things.

It’s close enough to take in all the life

but far enough that we can move away

without a fuss, when we are done.

We circle, still, at the periphery,

and it feels good to be here

where we can observe but not be known,

where we can belong

but not be called upon.

©Wendy Mulhern

July 5, 2018

Permission to Cry

A place that’s warm can give me

permission to cry — kindness so often

sets me off, I don’t know why —

I don’t know if it rolls me onto

the underside of long and steady courage,

if it makes my vigil seem bleak, if it allows

a setting down of strength,

and if this flood is something

I just needed, or if it is

a detour from the program

and does no earthly good

I don’t know why, but I feel

grateful and unhinged

both at the same time.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 4, 2018

Release

They roar and rage

outside the door,

they hurl their cries

against the walls of their frustration.

They wouldn’t have to scream

if they could just get in,

if they could have the streaming

of connection

There is no pressure

when hand clasps hand

and understanding finds its level

in the flow between them.

There is a great release

as they let go of static standpoints

and embrace the view

that sees them all as one.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 5, 2018

Proving

We will do this even though

we don’t know how it will be done.

We will ignore the many voices

telling ways they know that it will fail

We will do this because

it is the one thing that can prove to us

we are here, and we are not pretending

From the depths of each of us

we’ll bring our capacity to know the truth,

and we’ll see the truth together,

rolling into awareness like some grand dawn,

evoking cries of wonder 

from all who see it

This understanding 

will unify and strengthen

what we are together

and what we are alone.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 3, 2018

Catalyst

They catch you up

in rings of kindness,

they cradle you,

they hold you sacred,

they wish to see you blessed

with everything you need

This gift to you unfolds

as gift to them —

they are caught up

in the light that kindness brings,

they define it with their actions

They summon it

from the ever-presence —

so they become light bearers

and also light.

So you have catalyzed

and so you shall receive.

©Wendy Mulhern

December 28, 2017

Into the City

When you’re coming across the land

towards the city — the barren, arid land

from which the city can be seen afar,

when you’re riding through the heat,

clouds of dust around you,

we will not wait for your approach

from within the city’s walls

We will send messengers to greet you.

They will wash your feet, robe and crown you,

bring you celebrated into the city

so you will know how to be with us,

so you’ll be included in our peace.

©Wendy Mulhern

December 5, 2017