I wake up grateful
to be living in the house,
to have its warmth and work,
its frame and vistas
I wake up grateful
to be living in the world,
fraught and perilous though it may seem –
it is the least I can do
for the life I am given,
my most honest standpoint
for seeing the day.
©Wendy Mulhern
December 31, 2021
It is a contented lipity lap
with which the pages of the day
fall layered and random
in my thought – the talking on the phone,
efforts to integrate new things
into the household order,
planning for a gathering a few days hence,
neglecting chores
And gratitude, although I had no urge to force it,
rose like sun-drenched clouds
through moments in my day,
arresting skys commanded my attention,
rays and colors couldn’t help but draw forth praise.
©Wendy Mulhern
November 25, 2021
The sky lights up,
the trees light up,
the squall eases
The road leads,
we follow
with our daily awe
So many clues,
so many signs
of overarching love
We will believe,
for look – right now
we see the light.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 24, 2021
The rain is not something we have earned,
nor did we earn those morning moments
before it came,
when light and leaf and cloud
revealed their splendor
But it is something we can revel in –
its sound on the roof, the quails
running around snatching up seeds,
the deer skittish as they browse,
the ground greening and softening
It is something that brings up gratitude,
like subtle colors deepening in contrast,
like clover seedlings springing from the soil.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 5, 2021
The reaping itself
is still hard work,
however victorious it may be,
however much in awe I find myself,
collecting this harvest
from the infinite beneficence
After the reaping,
if I do nothing for a day or two,
I am to be forgiven –
each gratitude-inducing wave
must be received, must be accorded
the full wonder of its splendor
Tomorrow I’ll begin again
to gather up the gifts,
take up the work again
and see how I will grow.
©Wendy Mulhern
July 25, 2021
We pick ourselves up,
we bumble forward.
There is little to be gained
by second-guessing
But much is gained
by reassessing
what we are here for,
what powers our days
Let’s have no more irreverence
where reverence is due,
no more complaining,
no dogged powering through,
more cheerful patience,
more open gratitude,
and all in all,
more closeness to our source.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 24, 2021
One is eating daily of the manna,
Two is understanding what it means,
Three is being nourished by the bright truth
of being loved too deeply
ever to be dropped
Four is growing with the promise
that every wilderness provides –
that you are never empty when you look up,
that you can trust your ever present guide
Five is the steady rain of blessings,
Six, unstoppably, is the desire to share,
Seven, resting as the gift multiplies –
the shining truth of substance always there.
©Wendy Mulhern
March 17, 2021
I greet the morning ready
to be taken like a kite
up with the lift of praise,
aloft where brambles
will not scratch
and where my gaze
sees far beyond
the catches of complaint,
to find the ways
where we can soar together,
harmonize,
and all our days
will fill with fragrance
and the wisdom of the wind
and each will yield
a gracious glide back home.
©Wendy Mulhern
March 11, 2021
Thank you for the fullness of the day –
full, in forward progress and in
cheerful sharing of the work,
and working out the problems,
heads and hands close together
Full in feasts of beauty
presented by the land,
and coziness of fire-warmed space
and warmth of smiles
Full, finally, in that great vision
of the harmony that holds us
and its tangible fruition
in unasked for grace
I’ve been a long time approaching
this starting place,
now finding myself,
wonderingly,
already here.
©Wendy Mulhern
March 6, 2021
And what would I not offer,
when everything I bring
is caught up so immediately,
transfigured, brightened, multiplied,
illuminating what I am,
revealing and bestowing
my heart’s desire –
When would I not come
to the place of offering –
What would I want to leave behind?
I will come.
I will remember
it is my natural state
to be full of thanks –
my breath and nourishment,
cause and purpose for my leaping –
I have been lame so long
but now I’m free.
©Wendy Mulhern
November 24, 2020