A bird in a picture
can no more fall
out of the painted sky
than you can fall
from the grace that attends your being

No matter how high that bird might be
and how young — a fledgling, really —
no matter how hard the painted trees
may show the wind to blow,
that bird will stay aloft,
so have no fear,
for so shall you

I try to explain these things —
I know my own fear
in former times
was hard to overcome —
It was hard for me, as well,
not to think of these words
as some incantation
to keep the bird from falling

Believe me — I know
that words aren’t enough,
that you, too, need to feel
the upward-bearing lift
that holds you, blanket-sure,
on your true course.
And so you can —
you, too, can feel that Love
that is the only law.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 16, 2015