Sexy

Sexy eyes
are eyes that see me
recognizing what I really am
Sexy eyes
are eyes that smoke
with that singular vulnerability
of being turned on
They hold me
they promise to take me places
they move with me —
quick concatenations of comprehension
between us
pulling me in.
A sexy body
is one you live in
all the way out to the surface of it
and beyond
A sexy body feels the invitation
and responds.


©Wendy Mulhern
June 4, 2011



End-of-bike-ride note to myself while ascending the hill towards home


They stand there, your accomplishments
You’ve stacked them up from time to time
against the dark opacity of the null set
A house of cards to prop up your self-esteem
or propped up by it, a fragile lean-to
Your master’s degree, the languages you (used to) speak
your second dan in Tae Kwon Do, your job, your home
your status as a wife and mother
Don’t you know
All these things are just wisps
of what you are, seeping
into  this dreamscape
They well may fade
don’t be afraid
Their source remains infinite
Who you are has powered those
and can power many more
can make you ride royal
across the dream
and into awakening.


©Wendy Mulhern
June 3, 2011



Seeds

In the dry time you may hear
the high conversational click of seeds
shoulder to shoulder
camaraderie of waiting
quiet comment of ticking down rain sticks
rolling in rattles, patient in stasis
When the water comes and soaks them through
washes off their inhibitors, you may hear
their oscillating excitement
Brownian tremors, the movement within
uncontainable high of expansion
lift of life.


©Wendy Mulhern
June 1, 2011



Takeoff

At first our words were small
I wasn’t sure they had the room
to hold the meaning that began to rise
behind my mouth and eyes –
the warming impulse of a truth
that I might share
At first my words were closed
but then they opened out
The invitation of a question
led to my expression
and the light came flowing in
filling out the thoughts
Then she picked up an ember
spoke with growing warmth
her face lit up
her smile grew real, and soon
we both were smiling broadly
and someone else was drawn into the glow
And where before our nods and looks
had been polite but short
not clipped but still not free
we now took off – three of us – soaring
a rushing sense of substance
potential, infinity
rising under our wings
bearing us up.

©Wendy Mulhern

June 1, 2011



After the Dance

I feel somewhat shy about sharing this poem.  Though I have tried to get as many people as possible to look at my blog – alerting them to poems I have written about them – this one I will be quiet about.  The feeling too strong, perhaps; the danger of being caught gushing.  But I think it actually captures my true experience.
After the dance
The lift of life along my finger’s edge
sends forth a joy that flows up through my arms
with every surface sensitized, each movement led
by something holy, every footstep charmed
I come away at night in rapt communion
still preciously suspended in a web of love
still ringing, still held quiet in the chord of union
but reaching, soft, for what I’m thinking of:
to seek these friends beyond the open door
of dance, the place where now I see them shine
To learn the syntax of each life, and find
particularities of grace unknown before.
And so I humbly send forth my intention
to take these friendships to a new dimension.


©Wendy Mulhern
May 30, 2011



The Hundredth Post

This is the hundredth post on my blog.  Not the hundredth poem, as I’ve sometimes posted two at once.  I decided to start by quoting the hundredth psalm from the Bible:
Ps. 100
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 
Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 
Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; 
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: 
be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; 
and his truth endureth to all generations. 
Recently I have found great joy from the feeling that, rather than being comprised of a material body, my being is an impulse that moves along in waves of oneness with the harmony of the universe.  The more I look at the world, the more this seems to me to be so for everything I observe.  That is the subject of the following sonnet:
What we are made of
The world is framed in elemental waves
the vibrant patterns every movement follows
the undulations rolling through the forms
of squirrels, snakes, whole flocks of birds, one swallow;
The gracious give of tree limbs in the wind
the water’s lullaby against the shore
the ebb and flow of cricket song, the hum of bees
reverberating ring of crystals deep in caves.
We find these very waves define our arcs:
the impulse as we launch into our stride
is carried, wave on wave, as we continue –
harmonic pattern on which we then ride . . . 
How could we frame ourselves particulate
feeling these waves that all our moves articulate?


©Wendy Mulhern
May 29, 2011



Restoration

This is the place I need prayer more than poetry
listening more than expression
here where transmission is stretched and distorted
and practice is far from profession
The picture is lost in the turbulent medium
all I can do now is wait
seek the source, let it shine the true image out once again
in its original state.
Here in the stillness you need no bravado
alibi, justification
here you’re forgiven and freed for tomorrow
to ring in your purest vibration
So we’re restored, and so we will be
united in love, reconciled, whole, free.


©Wendy Mulhern
May 27, 2011



The Teachings Say

The teachings say
the secret of life is effortless
for love is effortless
it’s what you’re made to do.
The teachings say
attaining love is a struggle
you have to give up everything, every day
I believe these both are true.
Love is as effortless
as holding yourself open
in the searing fear
the roaring passage of thundering water
(or is it fire?)
To keep the membrane valve
from shuddering shut
against the pressure
of a change so large
there will be no words for it.
Love is as much of a struggle
as a quiet step through an open door
to a meadow of wildflowers and sweet grass
where the soft wind
lifts you like a kite
and trees sing your name.


©Wendy Mulhern
May 26, 2011



Weeds

My garden grows in dashing weeds
purple, yellow, blue
their colors so exuberant
I can’t say no
scilla and forget-me-not
campanula
dandelion, buttercup,
fennel, winter cress
They clammer, gallop, swarm
and the planted things
lilies, asters, dahlias
fail to come up, or shrink
among the riot of flowering weeds
that have stormed my garden.


©Wendy Mulhern
May 25, 2011



For Scot

Sometimes a sorcerer
sometimes a clown
sometimes a child in deep wonder
raise up a magic orb
or tumble down
rolling in wild mountain thunder
forces – you hallow them
sources – you follow them
sometimes you know where you’re going
sometimes you’re lost
but you go forward anyway
moving in trust without knowing
So you commit to the moment – no monument
just what unfolds in right now
Thus you create from the spirit – no institute
just what this moment allows
Then we spin into
your silk-spun container
tossed in bright curtains of sound
You revel in rapture
invite transformation
while waves of connection abound
and in effort to really bless
dive into silliness
wallow in wackiness
settle for nothing less
Pass around turtle juice
help things get really loose . . .
Thank you for sharing your opus
with all of us.
Happy Birthday!
©Wendy Mulhern
         May 24, 2011