Consider the river of what you want,
how it flows strong and true
beneath the surface thoughts
of what you think you have
and think that you deserve
and what you think is possible
and what you think has happened
We all share that same river,
and if we can find our way
to the connection, perhaps
we’ll help each other overcome
the floes, the snags, the brambles
that catch us up. Perhaps
we’ll help each other break through
and float free.
©Wendy Mulhern
January 2, 2019
Indeed, for each of you is a light —
We bask in dappled illumination,
the moving brightness of each of you
multiplied each time you interact
We are so blessed
by each of you. And more —
you all together
comprise this feast, become this exaltation,
enough, for sure, to light the temple
eight days, that is,
eternity plus one.
©Wendy Mulhern
December 2, 2018
You can go ahead
and set those worries right down
in the hall. You don’t need
to carry them upstairs
Come in, relax — every part of you
is welcome. We will thoroughly enjoy
all that you are
Even Awkward, that funny half-relative,
can feel at home here.
We don’t take him too seriously,
which comes as a relief to him.
I saw him settling in, with new ease,
leaning in to the surrounding laughter
We’re glad you found us. Whether you traveled
five hours in a sleigh, or six in an airplane,
or ten minutes across the bumpy winter grass,
your coming makes our circle rounder —
your presence is desired.
©Wendy Mulhern
November 27, 2018
We need to put our heads together
and entwine our arms,
make a structure,
an impervious protection,
need to spread it largely out —
over everyone, in fact —
to hold us safe,
hold us all within
So when that old corkscrewing vortex
comes hurtling, twisting through
with its cold insinuation,
“what’s the point of you?”
we will each know
it has no toehold
in our sense of what is true,
and that old lie
will simply fall away.
©Wendy Mulhern
November 17, 2018
A big part of us
is the space we make for others,
the shape of them
we hold in our hearts,
large enough to encompass
all their potential,
cozy enough to hold them close
We enlarge ourselves
the more we understand —
the more of others we take in
and hold dear.
We become what we love
and so we love what we become.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 20, 2018
We will be neighbors,
we will not pick and choose,
we will be glad
at those that live near,
those that drop by
We’ll still be neighbors,
though some will leave
and others will move in,
though futures we imagined
involve a different cast
The distance teaches us
to value every face,
the land’s benevolence
becomes a part of us.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 12, 2018
Send my roots down
where they’ve never reached before —
the land is arid,
the former streams are dry
Send my roots down
to the hidden corridors
protecting the secret,
connecting the trees
Let the ancient, strong alliance,
feeding everything that touches in,
be what sustains me,
be what grows my trunk
and greens my limbs
Send my roots down —
it’s a long drought on the surface,
but here underneath,
we’ll share the streams.
©Wendy Mulhern
July 29, 2018
The party across the way
is not my business
but I am curious
I’m not wishing to belong there
but I am curious
I wonder how people find shelter
in each other, and if it feels safe
and if it is real
I don’t feel lonely
in the way I once did
but I am curious
Curious to see
what shelter will unfold around us,
what we will offer
and who we will receive.
©Wendy Mulhern
July 15, 2018
And patience must be
the waiting, in full appreciation
of each growing sense of purpose,
for each development, in turn,
of needed elements
and their essential folding together
into the pattern
Patience must be
hearing the theme afar off,
and letting it come around
through all the orchestra
until it’s time to sound.
©Wendy Mulhern
July 13, 2018
There’s a place for us at the table —
it’s not the raucous one, at the center of things.
It’s close enough to take in all the life
but far enough that we can move away
without a fuss, when we are done.
We circle, still, at the periphery,
and it feels good to be here
where we can observe but not be known,
where we can belong
but not be called upon.
©Wendy Mulhern
July 5, 2018