Tag Archives: daily living

Magnuson Park, Mid October, 4 p.m.

Posted on by
Reply

Windless, sunlit afternoon —
The lake has grown smooth and bright,
subtle colors — mauve and silver,
powder blue and olive,
dark blue lines cut through by speeding boats,
waves rolling in towards shore.

We feel the satisfaction of momentum —
things that, now started, will move out on their own
while we bask in solid comfort
of companionship and Sunday
(the waves turn at the shore and bound out,
rippling like animal muscle)
where we have suspended time,
for now.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 13, 2013


Evening music, home

Posted on by
Reply

Rich textures of sound
invite me to close my eyes,
to open up the inner view
on which the images can be portrayed.
They play out
in that deep, spherical realm
that opens out above, in front, beneath me,
they fold and recombine
in colors and in forms,
invite my movement,
invite my song.

And when I join them
I can feel how this world intersects
the one my open eyes can see
just like reflections
from these inside rooms
intersect the outside scene.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 12, 2013


Sun showers

Posted on by
Reply

Sun and rain share easy space
in autumn sky —
light-drenched drops plunge and bounce,
sparkles dance with shadows
on wet pavement
and the day’s mood swings swiftly
from stern to gracious,
from glad to somber.
Places of convergence
delight in their strange mix
and how they wake us up.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 8, 2013


Cloud Cover

Posted on by
Reply

Through the dark hours,
clouds raced on their night errands
accompanied by trees’ rush and wind chimes,
fleeting across the sky
(stars peering through from their distant field)

Early morning finds them running late —
patches of emergent blue not yet hidden —
but they’re moving with grand momentum,
sure they’ll have it covered
by sunrise.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 7, 2013


Mind and Heart

Posted on by
1

It’s said the mind can’t solve its own snarls —
A pro at spinning yarns, it is too linear
to see beyond the knotted interweavings —
that, though it flows with ease
through many convolutions,
it’s too invested in the string
to let the tangle go.

Have a heart!
It doesn’t really matter
who said what, who did what, and why —
(Wait — that’s still the mind speaking)

The heart says,
Hush —
Your wisdom and your love
are strong enough to ensure
that every actor in this story
get full due,
be wrapped up in the care
compelling them to thrive
as the wonderful creations that they are.

The heart says,
Sink deeper
into these infinite arms
that ever hold you up.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 28, 2013


A first-world problem

Posted on by
Reply

Darkness looms about the house,
enters the old man’s dreams,
makes him heavy —
He won’t get up.

My love is far away,
my friends move in their own orbits,
the music pipes on bravely
but I’m lost

This is a first-world problem —
my house is warm and dry
and safe
and well-supplied.

The only thing I lack today
is feeling useful —
the sense of purpose and essential role
that serves community,
helps make it whole . . . 

I will fight for this
each day I have to —
to feed some greater need
would fill my soul.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 27, 2013


Monuments

Posted on by
Reply

We think we build for eternity,
Yet all those heavy, heady things —
documents of finances,
records of transactions and transitions —
become as useful as the old computers
that contain them,
decaying towers of plastic obsoleteness.

We think our lives are fleeting,
Yet those moments
like where a hug reached through
beyond the mask of separation,
and where you saw a soul
and felt illumined,
and how you worked together
in the quiet, deft companionship
of knowing what was needed and delivering —

These times, uncaptured by recording,
still remain,
undimmed monuments
to the heart of life.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 23, 2013


Evening contrasts

Posted on by
Reply

The coziness of a heated house
is made stronger
by a foray into crisp evening
which is made fresher
in its contrast
with the warmth inside,
which is made sweeter
by the movement of the outside wind.
So blessed we are to venture out
and to return,
renewed, embraced
in this
as in the cycling 
of every breath.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 22, 2013


Blues and Olives

Posted on by
Reply

Things that have
the bitterness of olives
and dandelion greens
should not be sweetened.
You have to take them down
with salt and garlic
in the dark rolling flavor
that seeks the underside of tongues
in the wild place
where stomachs growl
and teeth chomp.

It is the same with Blues —
low crooning twang
taking you down 
into the satisfying
soothing ooze
of deep brine.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 20, 2013


Empty Nest

Posted on by
Reply

We move among the circles
that close quickly now,
tasks suddenly rendered easy
by lack of interruption,
huge projects now looking feasible

And we need to hang on hard
to the sense of purpose
that propels us forwards,
and learn to be sustained
by something other than
the scanty tidbits
gleaned from afar —
Harvest our joy
in what they have become,
but forge forward on our own.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 16, 2013