I’m Wendy Mulhern, poet and author, publisher, thinker, spiritual seeker, mom.  This site is where you can access my blog, find out about my publications, and read my various thoughts about poetry and the creative process.  I’m also interested in hearing from you — please comment on any of my posts and I will reply to you.

You can access all of my poems from the menu Earth Whispering Poems above. In Earth Whispering Press, you can find news of my publications, and, under Press Notes, an occasional blog about my experience with the publishing process. The menu Audio presents an archive of the poems which also have recordings of me reading them. The menu Video will have my videos. Most of them are short, but here’s a whole reading, from July 2016:

I have also published ten books of poems, each book exploring a theme that’s close to my heart. All but one of the following titles have been published by Earth Whispering Press, and are available from me, or can be ordered online or from your favorite book store.

Time, and Times, and Half a Time

Here is a radio show (aired on January 13th, 2022, on KXCR.net) in which I read from this, my newest book:

This is my most intimate work so far … the poems were written in the first two years after our daughter’s passing

As a poet, it is my discipline to write a poem each day.  My primary criterion as I write is that my poems be deeply honest – that they explore the landscape of truth, as precisely as I can understand it, at whatever level of experience is accessible to me at the moment. Therefore, my daily poems, when I look back on them, depict the terrain of my life more vividly than a diary might.

Some poems in this collection reflect the altered state I/we were in, and the changed perspective with which I found myself viewing everything. Many show the spiritual support that allowed me to find meaning in the place my life was shattered. Many are a tribute to our daughter’s wonderful spirit.

I hope this book will be meaningful to others  – those who have experienced deep loss, those who know deep love, and those who yearn to understand the experience of others, to stand with them.

My book is illustrated by my friend Susanna Maria Weiss, who captures the spirit of our daughter Heather, and of the experience of this passage.

This book, published by Schiffer Press in 2017, is a collaboration with my sister, porcelain artist Jennifer McCurdy. We paired the images of her porcelain vessels with my poems — vessels holding imagery and ideas. It was a rich experience of discovering and highlighting the bond of sisterhood and the shared artistry of two different media. (Click the image to buy the book)

I Will Dance

 

In this book I share my love of dance — ecstatic dance in particular — the euphoria of the embodiment of music and of sharing rhythm and movement with others. Illustrated with photos of members of the Seattle dance community. Click the image to buy the book.

 

 

 

The Law of Life

These poems reflect a synthesis of experience and inspiration, of love and an insatiable desire to understand. They express many dimensions of my perception of the Law of Life — the primal order seen in everything. Paired with photographs taken by me and my family members, these poems offer delightful insights into life’s intricate wonder, and the hope that comes from close observation. Click the image to buy the book.

 

 

Being One, Being Two

 

Being One, Being Two is actually two collections. Being One shares my experience of love for and in community, and Being Two shares the love in my enduring partnership with my husband.

(Click image to buy book)

 

 

 

Journeying

Journeying — selected poems. This volume contains four poetic journeys. The first, called Journeying, invites you to travel along the path of transformation, with all its swoops, turns, and still points. The second, Thought’s Landscapes, takes you on explorations of the mind — the realm of story, dream, perspective, time and infinity. The third journey, called Earth Whispers, takes you through the arc of the seasons, with its changes, emotions, and epiphanies. The final journey is Prayer, which takes you inward to where everything opens out and you find peace and home.

(Click image to buy book)

 

Cuddle your Curmudgeons — domestic storms and sun breaks

This is the fourth book in my set of illustrated collections.Cuddle your Curmudgeons is a tender and honest look at the heartaches and joys of family life. These poems are among the most personal and particular ones the author has written, covering a short period when her children are teenagers, and the family members struggle for harmony, connection, and a clear sense of purpose. Through the struggles shine bright gleams of the triumph of love and the victory of peace in her household.

(Click image to buy book)

Here are some of the illustrations from Cuddle your Curmudgeons:

 

Revolution is a call to action — not so much the dogged plodding of political activism as the rising of hearts in the spontaneous assertion of the right to live full and free. Wendy Mulhern’s poems offer inspiration and empowerment, and her artwork unfolds a story of strength and hope.

(Click image to buy book)

 

 

Capture Rapture is about romance — all facets of it — from the initial attraction through all the uncertainties and questions, and including both the joy of union and the necessary regrouping when things don’t work out as hoped. Through all the aspects of romance, it provides spiritual resources that lead to the calm of love.

(Click image to buy book)

 

 

Infinite Permission will take you along a path of liberation — liberation from constricting concepts of body image, identity and purpose to a fuller range of movement and a deeper sense of spiritual wholeness. Wendy Mulhern’s tender poetry finds a synergistic accompaniment in Mellissae Lucia’s luminous art.

(Click image to buy book)