I will hold you
until all your anxieties
and all your busy analyzers
turn around three times
and settle down

I will hold you
till the counsel of your inner stillness
finds its fire,
lights up its knowing

I will hold you
until all your little animals —
the ones that hover in the dark
just out of view —
come curious and hopeful
to the fire, and,
still alert but now calm,
lie down

You can hold me
till all my little animals
leave all their little dreads,
come in to settle by the fire.
Yes, you can hold me the same.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 24, 2014