Tag Archives: daily living

Evening, pre-poem

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I sit quiet, waiting
for something to say –
all I hear are the now-subdued sounds
that continue into evening  –
the high bleat of the towhees,
blackbirds with their jewel-toned songs

A while ago, I saw a turkey hen
walking home, sampling evening bugs
among the ferns. Now I hear one fly
from tree to tree

The wind has quieted, the sun has gone,
coolness starts to reassert itself.
Some cars, or maybe motorcycles,
are rumbling up a distant street,
but that’s part of another world.

©Wendy Mulhern
May 16, 2021

Tax Day

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Oops – forgot about the taxes –
dropped like so many things
in the sprint where we keep thinking
we’ll get to a place we can pause

It feels good to be exercising
our marathon powers,
pure and singular to be streamlining
our lives to do as much
as we can. But irresponsible
to forget the taxes
and have to do backflips tomorrow
to get things back in line.

©Wendy Mulhern
April 30, 2021

Things of beauty

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In our little hovel cabin
the only things of beauty
are the fire, and the warmth it gives,
and the corresponding glow
in our faces, from the fire’s heat
and the day’s work, and the comfort
that we have with each other

And a few good books,
and some words of hope,
and the darkness,
once we’ve gone to bed,
and the quiet, deep enough
to hear a heartbeat.

©Wendy Mulhern
February 9, 2021

A touch of melancholy

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And yes – could be my tears
are self indulgent  –
they haven’t risen, anyway,
but hover somewhat below the surface,
a slightly troubled pool
like the puddles were this morning,
with just a little rain

Rain and sun have beat
through the day,
rainbows have refereed,
raindrops have glittered,
falling against the blue sky,
winds have whipped around

And also there’s been stillness,
those moments met with something
a little less than spirited within me,
to pass without analysis or comment
like twilight into night.

©Wendy Mulhern
February 3, 2021

Getting Through

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Though it’s hard to think
how we will make it through the winter,
it’s not so hard to deal with every day  –
get up, perform the work at hand,
persevere through darkness
and through cold,
be graced, be blessed,
by glimpses of the light

This is how we’ll get through  –
one day into the next,
grand plans dimly in the background,
committed to the way this moment plays.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 30, 2020

Nonetheless

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It could be a small thing.
It wouldn’t have to be something like
the raising of a barn
or a transformation in consciousness

It could be the view across a field
just in one moment,
or the huddle space
where the fire is warm
while the cold air
creeps around my back

It could be a small thing I notice
that shows, nonetheless,
the sweetness of our lives.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 29, 2020

Pack up day

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It’s a series of small tasks –
some have an order,
more than are possible
want to be done last –
we push them along
as well as we can

The hours tick on tiptoe –
we’re always surprised
when well after ten
there are still more last things

But we’ve done it enough
that we move along calmly,
trying to get all the edges pulled in
and early tomorrow
we’ll pick ourselves up,
load up the truck and head south.

©Wendy Mulhern
November18, 2020


By lamplight and by moonlight

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By lamplight and moonlight,
cricket undulations coming to the fore,
we settle into day’s end, sit on the porch
for just a little more

Cooked from the high arc of the day,
cooled by darkening evening,
we feel the equanimity
from work and well earned rest

There’s more to do tomorrow,
there’s a night’s sleep to slide into –
cushion for the coming day,
so little time to find a rhyme
before I slip away.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 28, 2020

Waiting

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It takes one kind of fortitude
to stand against the flame,
to face disaster, to act decisively

It takes another to endure the smoke,
the dreariness, the waiting,
to find some way to still be active
when there’s nothing you can do

Life goes on anyway,
algae forming in the pond …
leaves turn, dragonflies hover,
berries ripen, and dry out,
their own cycles
absorbing them entirely.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 15, 2020