At the work site

How does it feel

to be a crayon among nails?

Your purpose distinct

but immeasurably far

from the other ones sharing the pocket

Your substance, which never could manage

to do what a nail does,

is suited for doing a thing that they never could do —

they will sink into wood and remain there,

you’ll leave your mark on the surface and stay where you are

There will be times

when the hand reaches in

and picks out the nails one by one,

but at other times,

it will reach through their sharpness

leaving them, searching for you.

©Wendy Mulhern

September 1, 2019

Kids playing soccer in the park

Focus power

Focus kinetic skill

Concentrate the energy

Make it do your will

Let it return, so it can fulfill

that sense of presence

that brings you joy

though you don’t name it

nor consciously employ the game as therapy

For you it’s fun

But there is more to it

for in your sending forth

and trapping back

you have created some kind of spirit track

The vectors emanate from where you run

You and the ball and field becoming one

magically connected to your team

So suddenly I understand

This isn’t pointless playing with a ball

This is the growing practice of command:

By owning this part of your world

you own it all.

©Wendy Mulhern

June 28, 2012

Ode to Improv

In this playful place

We have permission

to ride on currents

that we surely feel

though they don’t map

on what we call reality:

A fabricated character

may still know joy, 

know grief, know glee

A made up situation

triggers genuine emotion

in a synchronistic serendipity

A lobster may engage in final banter

with one for whom she’ll be his evening meal

We’ll laugh because we recognize the truth in it

and how, for us, the lobster is so real

And we’ll love because the laughter binds us tighter

and shows us something deeper that we share

And this reality will make us richer

as we move in our quotidian terrain.

©Wendy Mulhern

June 26, 2012

Stardom

The sun came out at six pm

Grand, sporting brilliant blue sky

And a few gratuitous fluffy clouds

A fine entrance

escorted by strong winds officiously

brushing away the excess warmth

But it was charming enough

to warm us anyway

Make us sit and bask

if only for a moment

It is a busy star

with many others it must see

We can’t expect its glow to last for very long

and so we try not to depend on it

try not to hang on its every gesture

But face it

We are smitten

We will pine for it tomorrow

if it’s gone.

©Wendy Mulhern

June 23, 2012

Teach us to play

Spirit of wind and water

Spirit of dolphin, otter

Teach us to play

Teach us the readiness

in every moment

for swift and creative response

to each impulse offered

by each of your creatures —

The swoop that follows the drop

The twirl that follows the swoop

The delight of surprise

at our supple capacity

brought out so suddenly

brilliantly, happily

perfect precision and time

Spirit of song

Teach us to play life

like a flute, like a drum

like a cello

All our cells being

the deep sounding board

sending our praise to the sky.

©Wendy Mulhern

June 17, 2012