Merging Light

I like the suspended feeling
of early evening
when my reflection merges
with the yard outside —
I take form among the shrubs,
a tree grows out of the piano

The rain drips down outside,
inside, the heater clicks,
the refrigerator sings

Yesterday, in the reflection
of the back door through the front window,
I saw my husband appear
in the space that had framed
the oak across the street
but could also project
a ghostly image
of someone in the back yard.

©Wendy Mulhern
February 1, 2018

The edge before sleep

In the view behind my eyelids
everyone kept walking through
with marked purpose.
They made stories for themselves
out of the ambient sound

It didn’t take long
for me to drift away
nor yet to jolt back
like falling off a cliff
awakeness catching me
just enough to set me down

When there is nothing new
in what the day has to report
there is always the allure
of the edge before sleep
and thought’s opening
to the vast expanse of dream.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 28, 2018

Appliances

The dishwasher in this house
is louder than the washing machine

They are engaged
in an industrious duet

Their rhythm is suggestive
of riding on a train
dancing down the slightly swaying cars

The washing machine
is using hot for cold
to the detriment of all our woolen socks

The dishwasher sounds
as if something came loose
and is flailing around in the slosh

I’m grateful to the one
who will give them their adjustments
so they can faithfully perform their tasks

They both are doing work
I’m glad to let them do,
so I will not complain about their music.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 20, 2018

Playing House

What does it mean for us,
this mode, where every day
feels like the weekend?
— a weekend that we’ve filled
with many tasks, a mode
of casual forgetting
what any other sectors of the world are doing

It feels like play time —
playing house, playing
let’s figure out how we’ll live,
let’s make new path habits
for our movement

At some time we’ll need to look up
and reconsider where we fit in,
how our days contribute
to the greater good. For now it’s something
to just be happy
as we work these little problems out.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 16, 2018

Fringe of Day

Over the edge and down
into the suspended space,
the color — rings of shifting brown,
a lazy torus rolling, drifting outwards

This is a picture
of where I landed
after a day in which I wondered
what I had done in it,
how my work had seemed so short
and why I was so tired

I had to acknowledge
there were no real thoughts there —
just images,
and a desire for sleep.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 14, 2018

In Sum

It comes around to
what tasted sweet
at the beginning —
simple companionship,
working towards a common goal

The things we gained and lost,
the ways we failed, what we gave up on,
and what graced us in between
when we were least expecting,
are all packed up now,
or packed off,
and here we are
not far from where we started

It’s been a good life, so far,
to quote a phrase,
a life to keep renewing
in these later days.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 8, 2018

Mist and Movement

The day was filled with a fine mist,
the night came early.
No frost, nor fear of it
seeped in around the edges,
the wet was generous, and almost warm

The day was filled with movement,
slow and steady towards a goal.
The goal itself kept managing
to jump ahead of its pursuers —
progress present, but no end in sight.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 6, 2018

Last night of the year

Soft jewels in the dark
as I gathered rosemary
for root vegetables

I touched their shine
to see if they were water
and felt their smooth leaf

Ah, they are oregano
glowing with perhaps a hint of moisture,
grown up among the fragrant brittle sprigs
catching little pools of moonlight
mute and low

celebrating what I’d hardly seen —
a gift of the moment
offered, on this year’s last night
to me.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 31, 2017

The Longest Night

We couldn’t believe in darkness
because there is always some light somewhere —
the soft reflection of moonlight,
far stars, and nearer lanterns,
the dream light that dances behind eyes
before and during sleep,
and inevitable morning
that eventually rises
even after the longest night.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 21, 2017

Attentions

The day has pressed its paws
into my lap, claws mostly sheathed,
the insistent kneading
accompanied by soft purr

I have offered my attention
but perhaps was more distracted
than I noticed — maybe didn’t give
the approbation it deserved,
maybe didn’t take in, with enough wonder,
the unparalleled glory of its presence.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 16, 2017