Seeds

Consider how these maple seeds

have within them everything they need —

cloistered protection

and precise instructions

for when to sprout, how to become trees

Likewise never underestimate

the power of this now —

everything contained within

to realize dreams:

imagination, memory,

just right alignment

with time and timing,

protection and release,

everything to move in poignant harmony,

all you need

to become peace.

©Wendy Mulhern

November 29, 2016

Window

This is my quiet space,

this is my window

into the universe

This is where

what I can see

is only limited

by the size of my willingness

to receive. I can take in

myriad vistas, flying undulating planes

of microscopic order. I can see the worlds

for whom my being moves

in geologic time. I can feel

the grand repose 

of the colossal slowness

of my motion

This is my place to wait for

the touch that lights me up,

that reckons me

in the scale of infinity,

that renders me relevant

in the love of all things.

This is the touch that loves me

and awakens my boundless love.

©Wendy Mulhern

November 28, 2016

Requested Prayer

The indigenous nations

have asked for prayer —

it’s one thing I can do,

one thing they say

can really help

I’ve been steeped in stories,

wandering the internet,

my heart now ragged

from screaming with some stories

and raging against others

It has asked for a moment of silence.

It agrees that the only way

to get to truth, to peace,

is to sink down in prayer

and so I offer this:

Truth, be with us. You are

the fabric of our being

and you hold our wholeness

and you let no lie stand.

You deliver us from the ravages

of our oppressive culture

You speak to us from within,

you let us know

you are here to deliver us

from the whole centuries long

network of lies. You are here, Truth —

open all our eyes.

©Wendy Mulhern

November 27, 2016

A Missed Day

Late in the drizzly night

we walked past puddles

while nearly bare November trees

glowed slick in the streetlights

We talked of ascension,

of hopes and struggles,

of resolutions versus being present,

our boots familiar with the dark streets

It had been sunny earlier

but we missed that window,

brief as it was in these

end of year days

It was good, finally,

to rally against darkness

and the onset of rain

to drag ourselves from early sleep

to amble on our customary rounds,

to talk and find our solid common ground.

©Wendy Mulhern

November 26, 2016

Thankful

I am thankful

for my love of music

and my love of color

and my love of friends and family

and my love of strangers

I’m thankful for my love

of wind and rain, of trees,

of wild waters, sun and skies,

of light and motion, and fluid patterns

I’m thankful for my love,

because all these things are wonderful

but if I didn’t love them,

I wouldn’t know.

©Wendy Mulhern

November 24, 2016

Take This In

Here is a secret:

Being is not something you can fail at.

This despite the very loud 

opinions to the contrary

and their constant repetition,

throughout all your years

Here’s a truth to take you by surprise:

You didn’t make yourself. And what did make you,

what makes you still, in each moment

of your breathing, each eye-blink of awareness,

is no podunk show, no lazy shop, no third rate joint

The enormity of what you are

(broad as the stretch of your imagination)

bears witness to the size of your creator,

which, besides being too big to fail,

is also the only thing in the whole stupendous

here of consciousness

And it doesn’t let you fail. Not you,

not any of these others.

If you think you stand in opposition,

think again. You are given, after all,

a deep enough understanding

to take this in. 

©Wendy Mulhern

November 23, 2016

Truth’s Battle

When faced with truth,

why does the lie

continue to assert itself?

Why does it cry

with added vehemence,

why does it escalate violence?

When faced with truth

the lie does what it always does —

proceeds to blithely mouth itself,

pretends that volume

will give it substance

Keep holding truth! The lie

has no power of its own.

After all, it isn’t true.

The lie can only gain ascendance

in the chamber of other lies

Once people taste the truth

they must believe it

so keep holding on

and truth will win.

©Wendy Mulhern

November 22, 2016