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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Not a tilling of the soil,
not a toiling of the soul,
but intrepid steps
into the mystery of being,
bearing nothing but receptivity,
ready to give all, in return
This is what leads me forth in the morning,
this is what brings me home,
riches of Spirit right here to garner,
everything living a poem.
©Wendy Mulhern
August 1, 2022
I fantasize about a mud Anna,
a figurine of clay, made at the riverside,
a thing that children do, their mothers
playful, too, their daily work
fresh with discovery
I reimagine life as full of play,
needs for survival
managing to bump along somehow,
be met in flexibility
instead of worry,
with laughter
instead of anxious toil
It could be possible, not that I have a key
for reinventing work and play
in our society,
but for myself, I think I’ll find a sweeter way
the more I can allow myself to play.
©Wendy Mulhern
July 31, 2022