I have been warned
that demons follow hard on good works,
attempt to zap them,
try to bring the doer down
with self doubt and depression,
clog the steps, with frenzy try
to obfuscate the footprints
So I’m working hard to keep my cheer,
remind myself that these are signs
this is the right direction,
and using what is given me
to take the demons down,
renew my efforts
and keep on working.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 13, 2021
The day was like this –
the kindness of others
letting me feel like a bright gift,
hoping I have done the same,
have passed the gift along,
sensing I have done so,
which occasioned the rich feeling
in the first place
There can be rainbows
in unexpected places –
gifts of light which emphasize:
things here are truly crafted
for our joy. Our purpose
is to see it multiply.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 11, 2021
The sunlight glided beautiful
into the afternoon
which before was cloudy,
and it may have been my music
that made the cows come running –
in any case, I was delighted to be there,
the tones of my recorder clear
if sometimes hesitant
(me mostly avoiding forgotten high notes)
The deer also took notice,
though they swung a wide arc
around my sound,.heading in a line
farther up the field
And I thought the bluebirds noticed, too,
though maybe we were all doing
our own celebration
of one bright moment
in this October day.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 10, 2021
Look – I know you grew up
being pushed around – we all did –
I know you grew up being showed
there was no place for you, unless
you chose your side,
made your allegiance,
and did what you were told
would gain approval
It was like that for us all,
but listen – remember how
a voice inside protested?
Remember how you knew that somehow
none of this was fair?
Maybe we all do. And maybe
we can save us all if we will notice:
We weren’t designed to be pushed.
We weren’t made to be molded.
The logic of ourselves
comes from the cherished center
where every molecule is given room
to frame the dance and dance it,
to grow up being exactly what it is,
and not be used as pawn or conduit
And you are not a route to someone else’s
distant destination –
you are the place to be.
Right here.
Just as you are.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 9, 2021
It’s strange to find ourselves
living in the house
(although it’s not finished,
although it’s not furnished)
And to think how these walls,
this roof, these doors and windows,
keep us warm and dry –
a place that wasn’t even here
four years ago,
a place that couldn’t shelter us
till now
I feel the wildness
of the great outside,
just beyond the walls,
all around the house,
the daily swings
of temperature and moisture,
that we can step out into
and commune with anytime,
but can be shielded from
when we want.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 8, 2021
In the deepest reaches of your being
the jewel of humility
is ready to shine,
its pearly surface
catching the light,
showing itself beautiful,
casting its luminescence,
pure and iridescent,
rendering you enchanting.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 7 2021
The rain is not something we have earned,
nor did we earn those morning moments
before it came,
when light and leaf and cloud
revealed their splendor
But it is something we can revel in –
its sound on the roof, the quails
running around snatching up seeds,
the deer skittish as they browse,
the ground greening and softening
It is something that brings up gratitude,
like subtle colors deepening in contrast,
like clover seedlings springing from the soil.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 5, 2021
Dust can’t array itself
against a river
No amount of intricate
setting of snares
to catch and defraud,
to frame and denature
and marginalize
have any power
to halt or turn or block
in any way
the quick and vital current
of your being
Dust finally
has nothing to say at all.
The river of you runs clear
and wild and full,
loving every bank and turn and fall,
singing of its cause, its source,
its all.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 4, 2021
Alchemy has become
a popular word,
and I, for one, have experienced
that perfect balancing
where suddenly
all that came from me was gold –
truth from my mouth,
light from my being
But I need a deeper practice,
for my goal is not the sense
of being lit up from within,
but the illumination
that renders all the rumors of the shadow
irrelevant, forgotten, as they are,
in the bold line and color
of the day.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 3, 2021
Well, I have to remind myself each morning,
have to go back to it again
however many times in the day
I feel myself slipping
Follow the cause lines back
through the tendrils of my longing
and the flitting lights of my desire,
under and over the fears and blocked places
back to where the light comes clear
and the desire flames without guttering,
and everything in my being
that needs to be nourished
finds its connection to what feeds it
I have to go back
so I can start from there,
so what I am can flow freely
all the way down to where I find myself,
all the way through to what fills my days
with the giving of my gift
and the holy song of praise.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 2, 2021