Author Archives: Wendy

Summer evening on the land

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The evening chirps of turkeys
are almost as refreshing
as the coolness that hasn’t come yet
(though I expect it soon)
— something like the sound
of bright cold water drops

I know enough by now about their language —
this chirping is the dialog of mom and chicks:
I am here and you are here —
let’s gather in this place
and call it home —
we are safe when we are here with you,
you are safe with me

They’ll fly up later into trees,
the mama birds will spread their wings,
the chicks will snuggle in.
The cooling night will magnify their coziness,
its quietude a lullaby for them.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 23, 2018

Tansy

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The heat will have its say
and tansy ragwort has had its way
with our fields — bright yellow proclamation
of ground disturbed, outrageous brilliance,
enough to out-radiate
the scorching day

We will wait in shade
and in the stillness
that allows the wind a voice.
Yellow jackets hum and then are silent,
and take up the buzz again
as the long afternoon stretches languidly
towards the evening cool.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 22, 2018

The Kingdom Within

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Let me be a kingdom unto myself,
a kingdom within, a well, a spring,
a law establishing the truth
of all my eyes can see

Let my kingdom rule me absolutely,
and let it offer sanctuary
to all who flee their demons,
to all who come here hoping to be seen

This kingdom of the inner infinite
has room enough
to shelter those who enter by the door,
to nourish what we are and bring it forth.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 21, 2018

Aftershock

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Nobody knew the right thing to do.
Lots of people would have had stuff to say,
opinions on appropriate directions

Where was my intuition?
Why had I not been honing it through many years?
How could I have thought
it was unreachable or optional?

If I had known better,
could I have done better?
If I had done better
where might we be?

This wave comes over me and passes through
and in its ebb I feel again
how I was grounded.
There will be other waves —
when they recede
the light will gleam again along the sheening sand.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 20, 2018

A Word of Advice

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If you’re too tired to find your daily poem,
don’t stay up late to read a novel —
its world will trespass on your dreams,
displace you from your peaceful center

Beware the morning, then, whose overcast
may not pierce through the web that spun you in —
you’ll sit in stupor trying to remember
what gives your life its lift, how to begin …

But if you find yourself in this condition,
it’s folly to succumb to doleful doubt —
you have an easy, obvious solution —
even a silly poem can pull you out.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 19, 2018

The Lark

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(to Oohna, inspired by a collaboration)

Alleluia, intoned the lark,
for song can overcome the dark —
take it under your wings like wind
to soar through the bright canopy
and bring the light of hope across the land
in echo of the joy of morning trees.
Listen within to where your heart says, “hark”
and say amen — so you become the lark.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 17, 2018

Joy in Heaven

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In the calculus of salvation
no effort is wasted, no case
too hard to take on, no soul
so lost as not to be worth saving

There is joy in heaven
as each of us is brought home
and especially for those
most widely thought to not deserve it

Be glad, for your intransigence
is a gift, as much as your eagerness —
whatever you are is enough
to get you in.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 16, 2018

Curious

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The party across the way
is not my business
but I am curious

I’m not wishing to belong there
but I am curious

I wonder how people find shelter
in each other, and if it feels safe
and if it is real

I don’t feel lonely
in the way I once did
but I am curious

Curious to see
what shelter will unfold around us,
what we will offer
and who we will receive.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 15, 2018

One Touch

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Cradle me, let your arms
be a touchpoint, take me back
to where I don’t remember
but feel like I could —

This holding that shows me
that I am beloved,
my perfect belonging
wholly assured

(If there is one body
then there is one touch
that all of us yearn for
and each one can give)

No need to settle
for that which is partial,
provisional, grudging,
for sometime acceptance

Let this touch assure you, too,
that you have always
been welcome here.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 14, 2018

Patient

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And patience must be
the waiting, in full appreciation
of each growing sense of purpose,
for each development, in turn,
of needed elements
and their essential folding together
into the pattern

Patience must be
hearing the theme afar off,
and letting it come around
through all the orchestra
until it’s time to sound.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 13, 2018