Category Archives: Earth Whispering: Poems

It’s my discipline to write a poem a day, and I post a poem here almost every day. To find a given poem or poems on a given topic, use the search bar at the right. To receive my poems by email, please subscribe, at right.

I’d love to hear your comments on any poems. To comment, click on the little speech bubble just under this text, to the right.

Harmony

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Someone once told me that harmony
was first about furniture making –
the fitting and shaping of wood,
the fine joinery
making each piece come together

And that it was metaphor making the link
to that which is found in sweet music,
and people’s relations of joy and not friction
that all of us crave in our souls

Which doesn’t explain
why working with wood
through the course of these last few days
has cleared my head fully
of all thoughts of poetry,
left me with nothing to say.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 17, 2021


Gentle Joy

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Today I felt the satisfaction
of taking the long way,
the path without shortcuts  –
the value of chores that send me outside,
the pleasure of each step
that brings me into contact
with the creatures of the land,
their daily lives

Today I felt the satisfaction
of building a bench that we needed,
from old wood we used for the forms
for the house’s foundation,
with tools and techniques that I’ve learned
through these years

And above all, today,
I was satisfied
to feel companioned by my source,
to feel release from thinking
I was on my own.
Today I reaped the gentle joy
of walking in the harmony of Life.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 16, 2021

Silent Fog

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I walked out lost
into the silent fog of dawn,
and soon began to find myself …

First chirps of birds – a jay close by,
the turkeys’ distant morning declamations …

A deer appeared, and then another,
moving almost silent, stopping suddenly
on noticing my presence,
heads quickly squared,
ears in a wide Y – then turning to move on
a little faster

I considered: this peace is not
mine to manufacture
with my will or.mind. I can’t
force it from my pen …

Today I walked out looking,
and there was wideness
and there was silence
broken open softly
by beings with their own certainty,
their own way of knowing

I will remember this
for other mornings when I need it.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 15, 2021

Keeping On

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I have been warned
that demons follow hard on good works,
attempt to zap them,
try to bring the doer down
with self doubt and depression,
clog the steps, with frenzy try
to obfuscate the footprints

So I’m working hard to keep my cheer,
remind myself that these are signs
this is the right direction,
and using what is given me
to take the demons down,
renew my efforts
and keep on working.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 13, 2021

Bright Gift

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The day was like this –
the kindness of others
letting me feel like a bright gift,
hoping I have done the same,
have passed the gift along,
sensing I have done so,
which occasioned the rich feeling
in the first place

There can be rainbows
in unexpected places  –
gifts of light which emphasize:
things here are truly crafted
for our joy. Our purpose
is to see it multiply.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 11, 2021

One bright moment

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The sunlight glided beautiful
into the afternoon
which before was cloudy,
and it may have been my music
that made the cows come running  –
in any case, I was delighted to be there,
the tones of my recorder clear
if sometimes hesitant
(me mostly avoiding forgotten high notes)

The deer also took notice,
though they swung a wide arc
around my sound,.heading in a line
farther up the field

And I thought the bluebirds noticed, too,
though maybe we were all doing
our own celebration
of one bright moment
in this October day.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 10, 2021

As you are

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Look – I know you grew up
being pushed around  – we all did –
I know you grew up being showed
there was no place for you, unless
you chose your side,
made your allegiance,
and did what you were told
would gain approval

It was like that for us all,
but listen  – remember how
a voice inside protested?
Remember how you knew that somehow
none of this was fair?

Maybe we all do. And maybe
we can save us all if we will notice:
We weren’t designed to be pushed.
We weren’t made to be molded.
The logic of ourselves
comes from the cherished center
where every molecule is given room
to frame the dance and dance it,
to grow up being exactly what it is,
and not be used as pawn or conduit

And you are not a route to someone else’s
distant destination –
you are the place to be.
Right here.
Just as you are.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 9, 2021

In the house

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It’s strange to find ourselves
living in the house
(although it’s not finished,
although it’s not furnished)

And to think how these walls,
this roof, these doors and windows,
keep us warm and dry  –
a place that wasn’t even here
four years ago,
a place that couldn’t shelter us
till now

I feel the wildness
of the great outside,
just beyond the walls,
all around the house,
the daily swings
of temperature and moisture,
that we can step out into
and commune with anytime,
but can be shielded from
when we want.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 8, 2021

Rain

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The rain is not something we have earned,
nor did we earn those morning moments
before it came,
when light and leaf and cloud
revealed their splendor

But it is something we can revel in –
its sound on the roof, the quails
running around snatching up seeds,
the deer skittish as they browse,
the ground greening and softening

It is something that brings up gratitude,
like subtle colors deepening in contrast,
like clover seedlings springing from the soil.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 5,  2021