Day's Report

 

I feel fine.
The lines of my mind
are smooth  - no ruffles
of family dramas

I have been playful,
I have been thoughtful,
I've laughed, and talked maybe
a bit too much, but with no painful consequence.
I've been misty, but only a little,
and not when anyone saw

Turning the light on inside
has changed the outside color
from blue to black.
Crickets and a cool breeze
preside over nightfall.
Seems like wherever I am
is where I belong, for now.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 18, 2022

Travel, Boston

 

Night shortened by an eastbound flight,
sun comes out in Boston,
more time to wait

Little birds live in airports,
so it seems, and others hop around outside  -
strange habitat, overarching concrete
and some landscape trees

As for me, I've watched and smiled,
listened, slept, written, cried,
and, not having traveled in some years,
am doing fine

Who knows about this thing called life?
Who knows? Or time, for that matter  -
our purpose flows somewhere deeper
than the place these tokens mark,
still rich and powerful
to pull us swift along.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 17, 2022

Pool

 

The pool of regrets

is a deep one. You can be washed
in many colors of sorrow.
You can feel your whole past
roll over you like a wave,
pulling all linearity out of time

Even if you don't wallow,
don't steep yourself in story,
it will color your view. It's OK -
refracting light waves
bring depth and beauty to your days,
and to your character.
You will be prism and pool
to those who find you.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 15, 2022

No Fear

 

Contrary to popular lore
(I must remind myself)
fearlessness is not irresponsible

I am not required
to file dutifully
through the ugly predictions,
the "realistic" expectations
which have nothing to do,
ever or finally,
with the substance of what we are

It is not irresponsible
to be unimpressed, to be uncowed,
to know the fire within us
is far greater
than what might come to take us out,
that they which be with us
(the Spirit and the Life)
are more than anything that seeks
to them us in.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 14, 2022

You are loved

 

That you are loved
can't remain a distant fact,
something told to you by others
(who knows what their motivation?)

No, you wouldn't believe it
if it came from outside,
one of the many things people say
in efforts to direct you

This fact of your being loved
is something as deep within
as your own color, something as intimate
as tinge, as light,
something as fragrant
as your own essence

When you find it, you reflect it back
in gratitude, in wonder,
in the simple fact that this is one thing
that must be so.
Sine  qua non. There you are.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 13, 2022

Your Day

 

The day will lead you
to one and another of your mind's pursuits,
your body eager to serve,
nourished by curiosity and engagement

What you attend to
will grow lush - obstacles notwithstanding  -
you will rise like cresting waves to meet them,
the energy bearing you up
not self generated
but yours nonetheless
by virtue of your grand belonging
to the infinity of Life.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 12, 2022

Not what we think

 

People are not what you think they are.
You may be sure you've got it figured out  -
how someone ticks,
what forces forged them
into who you think they are

But all of that can change
as quickly as clouds disperse  -
none of it is tied to their true being
they can step forth transformed,
and they will know they haven't changed
though you may hardly recognize them

We people are not what we think we are.
We may be sure we're molded to some form
which then determines how we think and feel,
but when we're touched by love
we are transformed - not changed,
but suddenly more real.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 10, 2022