Dynamo

I have to stop myself many times

just to remember,

just to consider —

I have to sit still and realign myself

with the nature of my power

I can’t convince, I can’t persuade,

can’t influence, can’t teach, can’t prod,

I can’t make anybody else see something different,

can’t steer their ship, can’t bear their load

But in the core of who I am

resides a dynamo,

for I am master

of my own mind

And I can see the truth

in everyone I think about,

and I can love

anyone I want,

and I can find

a way to bring out goodness

where I am focusing,

while I am here.

©Wendy Mulhern

January 29, 2018

Class

In whose name

could I ask her

to sit still and listen

when the resplendence

of life, of joy, of music,

was dancing through her being?

Whose very presence

was effervescent Spirit, Soul,

whose love of life

was overflowing?

No, we would listen

together, with the inspiration

of that very bounce,

to show, not tell

what goodness is,

to live, not talk of, truth.

©Wendy Mulhern

June 18, 2017

After you wake up

After you wake up

you no longer see the point

of doing things senselessly,

of hauling your water uphill,

and making children sit

like monoculture rows of plants,

not touching, on the classroom rug.

And you no longer can be made

to spray the space between them

with things that kill all other plants

and break the life-engendering connection

whereby they might gain strength

from one another.

You will not force them to grow

by virtue of some outside fertilizer

which you’ve distilled and now will re-impart.

When you wake up

you’ll let them them grow as they’re designed —

a liberation that will also feel most wonderful

to your unfolding self.

©Wendy Mulhern

May 25, 2013