Take a breath

A sudden light revealing snakes —

twisted, tangled, convoluting —

all the things I’ve thought

about these others here

while never casting light within myself

How could I, then, have thought myself

a better model? How blind to think 

that I could hold judgmental thoughts

without the mud and soot of false opinions

smearing all my windows from within!

Well, take a breath. It’s always

a good idea.  And let the sunlight

reveal what has been cleansed

and what’s still needed. Let tenderness

towards both yourself and others

wash everything and show you what is true.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 7, 2019

Your mind’s delight

Never underestimate the value

of imagining what’s possible,

never assume you can’t 

have what you want,

never believe that you should settle

for less than the whole of your dream,

the whole grand many-branching

multi-plumed array of it —

it is, after all,

in your mind for a reason,

and your mind’s delight

produces clear results.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 6, 2019

The Choir of Heaven

To bring in range the choir of heaven

consider what it means

that there be no more death —

not now or ever — that the whole veil

be drawn away, and we perceive that

no one, and nothing, has ever died

If there has been no loss

of loved ones, or of wisdom,

or of life experience,

of ancient ways of knowing,

of lessons dearly learned,

of birds and animals,

of fish, of trees,

of anyone who loved them

That whole choir of ancestors

and children, and newly resurrected hope

would fill the realm of home,

would fill infinity —

Yes, I will be there, too

and yes, I too will sing.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 5, 2019

Change of Refuge

You have huddled so long

in that poison refuge

that you may have forgotten

how it feels to breathe deeply,

how it feels to stretch out,

to relax, to bask in the warmth

of belonging

You have been surprised

that others haven’t come to join you —

you wondered where they went —

did you suspect 

that there might be a different refuge?

— One that would hold you

in a bountiful affection,

one that didn’t require venom

on your part, or anyone’s,

one that didn’t have

those soul-effacing rules,

the bitter bite exacted for admission

I’ll tell you something true:

if your refuge breaks,

or if you leave it, 

you’ll find another.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 3, 2019

Another point of leaving

I take this ride

fueled by spring —

by blossom scent and balmy air

I hit against the memories

along the road — some time it’s been

since last I traveled here

I’m brought up short

by change — holes in the tree scape,

boxy buildings where they were —

Surprised again by how a gap

can suddenly unhook the tendrils of a place

and make it mine no more.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 2, 2019

Unhooked

I’m amazed

at the stillness

of that which refuses to argue,

refuses to engage

with any of the hooks,

which, in fact, offers

a reality that counters

even all the stridently opposing views

It silences them utterly,

presenting, as it does,

a mode of being that precludes

any of the self-promoting sides.

The arguments of

everything that’s wrong

have nothing more to say

before the simple presence

of what’s right.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 1, 2019

Today it’s good

Today, it’s good

to greet the sun

(the unpredicted sun)

sleepy, to the sound of turkeys

and the sight of steam

from the outdoor shower

turning into a cloud as it rises

against the blue,

to feel a patch of sun between the trees

squarely on my shoulder

Today it’s good to feel

the fountain of my source,

a light, a fire, a radiance,

deep within, and deep below

all the surface fixtures of the day,

today it’s good to notice all of this.

Today, it’s good.

©Wendy Mulhern

March 31, 2019