Tag Archives: communication

Being Free

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In this weightless place
Released from all the loops of thought —
of problems posited, solutions sought —
I offer presence

In this open space
where gentle currents 
run clear and smooth
with time for many folds and curls
I yield my preconceptions

In this present grace
where eyes connect
and we have locked attentive
in a mutual orbit —
In this sacredness we move
and so we learn

Thought stilled of looping is free
to follow grander leadings
ever receiving the impulse
to show forth the truth that we are.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 23, 2012


Listening

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I let myself sink deep
into the gentle gravity
of conversation —
let the weight of listening
match the weight of words
let the chain of story
pull the meaning out
let the feeling be expressed
till it was felt

In its time, but only then
I spoke
responding not to words
but to the fundamental frequency
revealed in this space
where we walked together

So we have learned
communication —
the ready give and take
the ebb and flow
that pulls us ever closer to each other
where words become the froth, 
and understanding
is the sweet, recurrent, steady undertow.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 21, 2012



Approaching You

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The way to your open heart
and the way to mine
may be the same:
When I care more
than any calculated consequence
And I listen
not to words 
but to the cry beneath them
And I hear
not what I’ve thought before 
but that which calls right now
And I ask myself:
What does it feel like behind those eyes?
I may approach you
And if I see 
that flicker of a kindled hope
And if I feel
its resonance within
And if I shine
that flicker back in affirmation
I may arrive.

©Wendy Mulhern
May 17, 2012



Processing

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How will you remember these —
Swing of hammock, song of trees
Blanket filling in where sun has ceased?
Wounded thoughts that need to be released . . .

Every day I send these bobbing forth
Always with earnest hope that some will see
Encapsulated, bottled, swiftly corked
Love notes to my community

There is no string to bring me with them
I can’t expect them to be met, I know
They must be free if I’m to truly give them
I send them out, and I stay here, alone

The sun is sitting in the tops of trees
The wind, affectionate, still musses up their leaves
The afternoon slides on towards evening hours
Punctuated by suburban crows and cars

Evening evens everything
Draws together trees and sky
As here and there become the same,
Things that were distant softly unify

How will you remember this?
You’ll wrap it in the evening scents and sounds
You’ll bring your peace to reign, and here is how:
You’ll set your steady anchor in the now.

©Wendy Mulhern
May 13, 2012



Counsel

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I can’t tell you what it’s worth
to work alongside someone
steady repetition, finding rhythm
common effort toward a common goal
getting grimy, overcoming awkwardness
gaining growing comfort in the job

I can’t help you choose
whether to engage
in this thankless task of working with your dad
who will not thank you, who won’t be counting points
but will slowly feel companioned by your presence
And if it’s not done willingly
you might as well not bother
might as well go hang out with your friends

I know that it’s worth something
but I can’t tell you what
I don’t know what it’s worth to you
I don’t know what you’ll get
I don’t know when you’ll know what you have gained
You’ll choose, and maybe later understand.

©Wendy Mulhern
May 12, 2012



Touch Hunger

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Now that I know about my own touch hunger
I see touch hunger everywhere I look
Faces longing to be stroked
Bodies leaning out toward one another
The boy whose agitated energy
moved him in an oscillating “8”
Just like my daughter moved
when she was small and needed to be held

We live in an emaciated state
Not knowing what we crave, how to relate
Our bodies stick-like, prickly, stiff
from starving for our basic daily touch

Caged off by fears, by norms, by talk of sin
We need to open gates, and so begin
to feed each other’s hunger
so we can
fill up our souls, and so be whole again.

©Wendy Mulhern
April 16, 2012



Holding light, holding tight

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My halo clasp

tender circle ‘round your aura
invokes my care
my longing to protect you
hold you dear
make you know how deeply
you are loved

My tight grasp
invokes my infant instinct
to hold on, hold on tight
to feel your care
to be loved
to trust that you are there
I hold on never wanting to let go
as if I’ll never get enough
I need it so

Your tight grasp
invokes my mother-love
makes me want to hold you up forever
Your light clasp
gives me buoyancy and wings
and sweet permission
to fill myself with light
and let my heart pursue its mission.
Light and tight, each in its proper hour
Each hold has its purpose and its power.

©Wendy Mulhern
April 8, 2012





At a roadside stand

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You can weave rainbows
into your work
its beauty
and yours
will shine as reflections
of each other
You can weave quetzals
and flowers
in the tradition of your grandmother
but with your own flair
hidden there
in that dark and crowded stall
hung so thickly
with tapestries
in impossibly bright colors
we entered to look
and you appeared shyly
third person we’d seen
emerge from the shadow
You said, “You like? This my work.”
You and your weaving
lit up that place
so now we have
one of your rainbows
and, reflected, the memory
of your charming smile.
©Wendy Mulhern
April 3, 2012



Another Lullaby

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Time for another lullaby
One that melts us all into a deep dream
Where all the words that missed,
intentions misinterpreted,
impressions gone awry —
can there dissolve, be fully washed away
And everyone who felt entangled
in the things about themselves
they wish were changed
can move out free
Their only impetus their deepest essence
and the pure desires
that guide their shining
In the morning, may the dream remain
Establishing the pattern for a fresh start
Where nothing blocks the good we may attain
And where our actions fully show
what’s in our hearts.
©Wendy Mulhern
March 26, 2012



Languages

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Perhaps the language of words
is overrated
There’s really only so much words can do
You can use words all day
and not be satiated
Words can leave you worse than empty, too
There are some other languages that can’t lie:
What’s said with touch,
with movements synchronized
with laughter, gesture, easy time together
and signals sent across from eye to eye
consider what we can communicate:
the hum of home, the grace of shared space
the heart’s current, and its precious weight
the way our love so naturally reciprocates
Words may frame thoughts
but still be thin
It takes the other languages
to fill them in.
©Wendy Mulhern
March 25, 2012