Author Archives: Wendy

Characters

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sunbreak-with-road

We found ourselves in someone else’s story
and the characters we were cast as,
we didn’t know them, didn’t know
what words and actions, on their part,
would put us in good graces,
or let us even know where we stood

Then we remembered: this is our story.
We own the tale in which these people
think we’re something other than what we are,
and may harbor expectations
that we act in ways to please them,
ways about which we have no clue

And grace — the only way we’ll really find it
is to float up free from story altogether,
to hold their words and gestures
in the kindest light
and count on Spirit —
the universal breath that we all share —
to braid our lives together in its course.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 18, 2016

Given

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sunbreak-with-fencepost

We worked together.
It didn’t matter
that the rain roared through
from time to time —
We were given enough pauses
to move forward. We were given
maybe two sun breaks
and maybe two sun showers

We were given equanimity
and an easy rhythm
and some signs of progress
and now after dark,
rain settled in for the night, it seems,
we are given gratitude
for its forbearance
throughout the day.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 17, 2016

Back

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rainy-windshield

What inadvertent loop
brought me back to the place
where all the stories of ancient fears
had congregated,
where they sat in cold knots
feeling forgotten but wielding
their influence, oozing their stain
onto my outlook?

How was it not enough
to remember
the warm expansiveness
of my liberation? How could I
fit myself, cramped as ever,
back into those constrictions?
And how do I get back to free?

Since trying has failed,
I try not trying.
I look for the stillness
of not doing.
I may find myself back here again —
I’ll gain from learning to escape.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 16, 2016

Rain-proof

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rainy-road

The gift of today
is rain-proof resilience,
quiet shadows under tarps,
wind about the edges,
rain and cat company,
rain blowing onto the porch,
cat seeking caresses
even from my hammer and pry bar wielding hands

Resilience through storms
of injury and memory
and the harm of old stories
drumming relentlessly down
onto the roof

Resilience bridging all the way to joy
and a warm fireplace
and the bliss of companionship
on a quiet evening.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 15, 2016

edward-with-cat

Paper

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cloud-show

Let the paper of my life
be unscrumpled —
smooth it out with hands of revelation.
Let me feel their spreading touch
through my skin, through my bones,
let me stretch into the fullness of my being

Let the paper of my life
be transfigured,
the square of it giving place to light,
the pieces dispersing
like embered ash
leaving a bright space
replacing all that was written,
its opening dimension
now known as me.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 13, 2016

Forecasts, Prospects

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day-before-rain

They’re forecasting rain,
lots of it. Today rested lightly
on the prospect,
its blue sky innocent, its sun soft,
no hint of change till late afternoon
which still was light and balmy

But there are plenty of hours
before tomorrow, and the rain
may slam in around midnight.
It may be dark and wet
for a long time,our planned-on work
thus rendered impossible

In which case we will turn inward,
literally and metaphorically.
We’ll still find something to do.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 12, 2016

Self Alignment

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october-sunset

There is a great calm here,
now that I have taken control
of all the voices that were, till yesterday,
suggesting what I thought
and how I felt

I have no more need
to form an opinion
about you or anyone,
no need to feel discomfort
or dislike. No need to be weak
or make excuses. No need
to be clumsy or give up

All the vectors of myself
can now move together
to serve the purpose
for which I am intended,
something I’m now free to learn
each day a little more.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 11, 2016

Rendered Strong

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mckercher-park

Ah, we are rendered strong
in rushing water,
not by virtue of the swell,
not from the tumble,
but from the way life always
bids us raise our head,
and how we find ourselves connected
to what keeps holding us
even down and down along the rapids

We are rendered strong
in our discovery
of what courses through our sinew —
inner energetic rivers rise
to meet the outer ones.
They celebrate together
and we are strong.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 10, 2016

The Surprising Truth About My Being

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october-on-the-land

There is no element of self destruction
in my being.
There is no fatalistic caving in
to something happening to me.
Nothing can “happen to me”,
for I am entirely the product
of my own thoughts

I don’t come to my being
like coming upon a house
and finding rooms and furniture inside.
These feelings, postures, habits,
were not set up by someone else,
are not dependent on some outside source

This is my house, and everything here
is my choice. And I can give it all
the tenderest of care. I can untangle it
and let it all come clear

What I fathom of my source
provides my model.
What it shows me of my essence
syncs me up with elemental joy

There is no self destruction
in my being,
for what creates me
clearly means for me to live.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 9, 2016

Unflappable

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clouds-clearingfir

So if you’re going to be unflappable,
it doesn’t mean
to a certain extent,
doesn’t mean
until you finally hit your limit
and explode

It means you move in a different ether
where none of the tugs from former worlds
affect you at all.
Your calm is not conditional
nor is your peace
nor is your love

The currents that move you
are those of your own essence
and your belonging
hand to hand
constellation to constellation
springing in cartwheels
through the sky.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 7, 2016