This habit of being,
of being together,
of being comfortable in contact,
fitting naturally into the curves and hollows
of each other
provides a wordless nourishment,
a sense of home never achieved
by staid convention
or polite conversation
Our bones know
this is what we need:
We put our hands together
to feel the shared vibration,
we put our heads together
to hum as one.
©Wendy Mulhern
April 11, 2015
Pottery by Jennifer McCurdy; photo by Gary Mirando
None of these arrays,
none of these enemies
make any difference
There’s no need to analyze,
no need to have a contest
to see which ill is most egregious
One group’s pleasure
is another group’s primal, causal bane —
that which, if once snuffed out
would let the touted virtue save the day
No matter,
for we’re all just trying
to find the same thing —
the same mother’s milk,
the same father’s smile,
the same certainty that
our being is worthwhile
There will be many
with whom we don’t connect
but that’s OK —
They, too, will lift a load
in the great rising
in which we bear each other up
into the new day.
©Wendy Mulhern
January 23, 2015
Everything you need is here.
This is not something to talk about —
Come here:
Your eyes are half the amulet,
My eyes can be the other,
Your heart, your hands,
are half the story —
Joined, we will complete the arc:
Everything we need is here.
It takes no more than willingness,
No more than the desire
inherent in living,
No more than open presence
to ignite the ever waiting spark
that sets the current surging
on and on in affirmation
of what we’re here for,
everything we need.
©Wendy Mulhern
January 13, 2015
photo by Eric Mulhern
Wake up. Wake up,
but do it carefully —
for where, within your dream
you thought you were on solid ground,
you’re not. The place we are
is sort of like a life raft,
one that depends on you,
and all of us, to keep the balance.
We need each other,
and if you call someone an enemy,
that image, in your thought,
is like a hole. From which
the air that floats us
can seep out.
We all need
to keep our minds free
from those leaks. And we need
to learn to move
in concert with each other
so we can guide our craft safely
though the sea may try to swamp us,
hold together through the storm
and reach the shore.
©Wendy Mulhern
December 4, 2014
This loneliness is proof
that I can’t be allelopathic,
can’t live producing patterns
that keep others at bay
Let me be tangled with vines
Let violets grow around my feet,
Let many eager plants all grow together
and let me be one of them
fitting my growth
to share the sun with many.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 5, 2014
Right here, in this wilderness
(mile upon mile of suburbs)
is everything that’s needed
(just as in every wilderness)
Among the observed inhabitants
(cars and flickering TV screens)
Are also bright emitters
of love, of thoughtful questing,
able to reap bounty with their care
And if I don’t see them,
if I walk away
in efforts to find something
that will nourish me,
It may be hard for me to find it,
For if I’m blind to what’s already here
Why should I think
I’ll see it somewhere else?
©Wendy Mulhern
September 26, 2014
Here is my love
that doesn’t cling
that doesn’t slide around its objects
to the dark side
that doesn’t grasp
that doesn’t weigh them down
or take up residence within their forms
as jealousy, possession
Here is my love
that must stay love
— all light —
illuming and infusing everything
and never changing —
Light as these wing tips
poised on the edge of that taut span
that masters flight,
poised to guide my actions
in the nuance
of the sweet embrace
of all that shimmers
and all that waits to shine.
©Wendy Mulhern
September 11, 2014
I want to share a place
where I can touch home,
a point to which we come
between our journeying,
And our convergent energy
provides collective heat,
and our communal comfort
recharges us
I want to be a place
where you can touch home,
a point to swing around
in your exciting orbit,
a place to gather strength,
a place to feel
that you are seen and welcomed,
and belong
I want a core that’s large enough
that no one ever feels the need
to bear the weight alone,
and everyone can nestle in
and anyone can find it,
so we will always have a way
to touch home.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 25, 2014
Through some lenses
it’s easier
to see people’s blindness
than their lights —
Those are the lenses
affixed to us like blinders
to make us go a way
we haven’t chosen,
and wouldn’t want —
the way in which
before the joy (we’re told)
must come the suffering —
Suffering to pay the price,
suffering for us or them,
suffering to earn the prize
or wrest it from another.
Try these lenses:
They’re designed
to magnify the lights —
The light behind each effort,
each ungraceful try,
each stumble,
The light of love that longs
for one straight chance
to be seen true,
the light of love that,
when you see it,
will come through.
©Wendy Mulhern
April 1, 2014
If the web is strong
the storms that come
will do no damage to the land
The rain will slap
against the earth’s soft blanket
while underneath
the tiny bugs will thrive
in humid comfort
And wind will lash
the shaggy trees
and they will give, in grace,
And underneath,
for all the smaller living things,
they’ll hold the quiet
If the web is strong,
the energy
will pass from hand to hand
and be absorbed
and add its eager strength
into the earth.
©Wendy Mulhern
March 21, 2014