Author Archives: Wendy

No Fear

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Contrary to popular lore
(I must remind myself)
fearlessness is not irresponsible

I am not required
to file dutifully
through the ugly predictions,
the “realistic” expectations
which have nothing to do,
ever or finally,
with the substance of what we are

It is not irresponsible
to be unimpressed, to be uncowed,
to know the fire within us
is far greater
than what might come to take us out,
that they which be with us
(the Spirit and the Life)
are more than anything that seeks
to them us in.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 14, 2022

You are loved

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That you are loved
can’t remain a distant fact,
something told to you by others
(who knows what their motivation?)

No, you wouldn’t believe it
if it came from outside,
one of the many things people say
in efforts to direct you

This fact of your being loved
is something as deep within
as your own color, something as intimate
as tinge, as light,
something as fragrant
as your own essence

When you find it, you reflect it back
in gratitude, in wonder,
in the simple fact that this is one thing
that must be so.
Sine qua non. There you are.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 13, 2022

Your Day

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The day will lead you
to one and another of your mind’s pursuits,
your body eager to serve,
nourished by curiosity and engagement

What you attend to
will grow lush – obstacles notwithstanding  –
you will rise like cresting waves to meet them,
the energy bearing you up
not self generated
but yours nonetheless
by virtue of your grand belonging
to the infinity of Life.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 12, 2022

Not what we think

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People are not what you think they are.
You may be sure you’ve got it figured out  –
how someone ticks,
what forces forged them
into who you think they are

But all of that can change
as quickly as clouds disperse  –
none of it is tied to their true being
they can step forth transformed,
and they will know they haven’t changed
though you may hardly recognize them

We people are not what we think we are.
We may be sure we’re molded to some form
which then determines how we think and feel,
but when we’re touched by love
we are transformed – not changed,
but suddenly more real.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 10, 2022

Songs

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I go through the day
attended by many songs.
Today I have chosen
ones that remind me
of what I am learning to hold as true

The less mindful ones,
the ones invited by daily sounds,
and those embedded deep in memory,
come around, too

It’s good to remember I have a choice,
if not for silence, then at least
for songs whose music and enlightened thought
can take me someplace  new.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 9, 2022

Power, and love, and a sound mind

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As I begin to recognize my spirit,
see how it grows and moves,
distinguish it
from other things it seems to grow among

As I begin to see
Spirit as the only source
of who I am, begin to exercise it
as a sound mind

It’s easier to see
how fully fraudulent is fear,
how broad the claims it makes on me,
all illegitimate

I claim my power
and I claim my love,
and they, in turn, provide protection,
I claim my mind as guided from above
and touch, in awe, a shimmering perfection.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 8, 2022

My mental home

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In this home of my mind
I endeavor
to welcome anyone who comes to thought,
to see them, and to wash their feet,
give them a cozy place to rest
and lots of room to stretch

In this home of my mind
I endeavor
to keep out wayward cobwebs
of old presuppositions
and to challenge the impostors
before they make it to the door –
I won’t let lies regarding me or you
clutter up the corners
or hold court

Fear and frustration
will find no lodging here.
Courage is welcome,
as is grace.
In this domain I find my power
and strive to use it
in every place.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 7, 2022

Near Sundown

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The last glow of evening
marks high summer over,
though we will have more heat,
and the dry wind isn’t done blowing
through the trees and grasses,
but the loop of temperature
is entering its long ellipse again  –
as soon as early evening,
open windows will cool the house

We feel the changes,
we feel the overarching calm,
and though there’s so much we’ve yet to master,
in yet another mode (for they are infinite)
hope will find its way to rise.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 6, 2022

Taking Flight

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Not so much
not having words
for things beyond these realms
as simply being so full
of every new perception
to not have space to say

What’s left behind  –
so many shells, and yet
each one has all the traces
of the brilliance, each husk
a smooth inside, the hollow
showing something of what emerged
and took flight

And all that can be spoken of
must also show the essence
of that desire that powers every motion,
of that for which we each will sometime
leave everything to find.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 4, 2022

Stripping

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These old habits I drop one by one,
unravel them string by string,
approaching, thus, a clearer way of seeing

Why not be comprised, after all,
of the light, the spark, the truth
of my core animation?
Why not release the constructs
of needing to accumulate
a fat enough accrual of accomplishment?

I practice stripping my thought
of all but the joyful wonder
of being here, given the gift of sight,
I practice receiving,
honoring life,
finding myself in that which I perceive.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 3, 2022