So much to give thanks for,
silently expressed, as in
the glow of moonlight, and its shadow,
across the porch,
the mute shining of the fields beyond
I can’t even list all the good things –
this gratitude
is for the presence
that lies along perception,
sudden significance
of every smallest thing,
the Love that wraps them,
regardless of their form,
in their own incomparable truth.
©Wendy Mulhern
November 23, 2023
Summer yields abundance –
the daily vegetables,
the daily herbs,
the daily use of them
The wide swing of the day before me,
the wind that bends these trees,
day after day,
and cools the house
The slow build now
of what will yield later –
in shade, in fruit,
in magnanimity
All these things breathe
as one, they join hands
in their common purpose,
they knit together to show us all
how we can do it,
how we are one.
©Wendy Mulhern
July 28, 2023
And if the day let us be lazy
and mostly stay inside and read,
let cold and rain delineate our idleness,
this, too, is cause for gratitude
And when we feel the trees rejoice
at something we could not have given,
to see them make the grateful choice
to sink down roots, to grow, to live
Then maybe gratitude itself has been the gift,
and all these circumstances
combined, conspire to bring it forth within –
this sun-graced ending to the day,
the soaring swoop of unexpected lift.
©Wendy Mulhern
June 19, 2023
The plane rolls in, the door opens,
a woman’s hair blows out like a flag
*
Each in the still point of our thoughts,
we plumb surrender, structure, sovereignty,
we share our common threads,
their startling similarity
*
Rain gathers around us,
bringing us along,
closing us into our dome
as we flow down the road
toward home
*
Gratitude flashes iridescent
like hummingbird feathers,
multiplies between us,
fills the room
like warming fire.
©Wendy Mulhern
March 13, 2023
And as for the things I was thinking about,
in the air that feels like spring
while frogs sing in the north pond,
and the list of things to do
is long enough
that whole categories routinely
drop into the void,
and we feel good if there’s one thing
we can check off the list
(though fifteen more creep onto it)
I forget what I was thinking about,
or what leaves me this odd contentment
while the fire has warmed the room
as evening slides towards night
and our moments, while prosaic,
show small signs of the gravitas
of eternity.
©Wendy Mulhern
February 6, 2023
Satisfaction – good work,
good time spent, good place,
rain coming after outside tasks were done,
rain-framed coziness
bestowing time to read,
gratitude felt all around the edges
of my attention,
less for all this beauty and comfort
than for the underpinnings which hold us safe
and guide us steadily
in the direction of our hope.
©Wendy Mulhern
January 3, 2023
Let me fall back
into very basic gratitude –
gratitude of fingers
for life’s movement within,
gratitude of breath
for its participation –
these things aren’t fooled
by high-minded ennui –
they know in every moment
that life is a gift
From here, my gratitude
can branch out, for there is much to love
in all the people, in all the days –
I can settle back into my purpose
and finding much to praise.
©Wendy Mulhern
November 4, 2022
We each will be grateful
for what has saved us,
for what has proved to be our swing
bearing us steadily up
after our fall,
when we shattered through the bottom
of our fears, and lay there, desolate
Each of us found it there,
the broad, abiding presence,
the sense of not alone,
the sweet nourishment
of being cradled –
when we shouldn’t have, couldn’t have lived,
there we were,
and it means everything to us
And if you haven’t fallen,
have no fear –
in time you will be given
everything you need
You may think you don’t want it –
that’s OK – your knowing will still come for you –
you’ll find it,
in your perfect time and perfect way.
©Wendy Mulhern
September 4, 2022
In quiet gratitude
like evening sun after a weekend’s rain,
I see the vista of our life
rolling out in possibility
Maybe we really can have
fruitful trees and grains,
maybe we can realize our vision,
maybe light can pour as grandly
across our inner landscapes,
and we can walk together there
husbanding peace.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 30, 2022
I’m learning not to pine for
the big enlightenment,
the grand moment
when all illusion is stripped away
Instead I practice gratitude
for each new place
where I can be struck with love,
each small blindness from which
I can be enlightened
For there are so many!
Maybe even enough to last a lifetime –
daily bursts of waking up
just a little bit,
daily bright joy for my new small glimpses
of infinite Truth.
©Wendy Mulhern
January 1, 2022