Tag Archives: joy

An Everyday Occurrence

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view from hammock1

Confronted suddenly
with such fullness
I am left without words —
the place where they were
has gone liquid
and it flows around and permeates
all the pores of my perception

I don’t respond
for I am transfixed
almost clumsily
I lean into the contact

My tongue has assumed the aspect
of infants drinking
I feel the suction
against my soft palate

It’s time to fly
time to cry or cry out
time to throw my whole being
against or into the vortex
(I don’t know which)
Time for gratitude
for overwhelm, for wonder
for this Life.

©Wendy Mulhern
April 23, 2015

Stalking

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reeds

We imagined
our joy would come
with the conclusion
of our hard efforts,
with the attainment
of our long-strived-for prize

But in fact
our joy had been there
hiding in the bands of shadow
of our suspense,
slipping into the footsteps
of our work,
stalking us

Not waiting for the finish
but for us to notice
it was right there with us
ready to slide around
shafts of hope
into the sunlight.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 5, 2015

The Daily Choice

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daily choice2

In the riddle there are two knights —
One can only lie, and the other
only tell the truth,
In the riddle you don’t know
which is which
but in real life, you do

So stop conversing with the lying knight!
He won’t, at any given time,
decide to guide you right.
He’ll keep you rammed against the same brick wall
facing disappointment, facing blight

In the daily choice for joy or misery,
the misery will tell you you don’t care,
that nothing matters much, and death comes anyway
and nothing is worth trying hard for here

But joy waits too, in every moment
steadily affirming life’s sweet worth —
If you don’t want it for yourself,
choose it for others —
It will rescue you and bless the earth.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 4, 2014

A Meditation

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You close your eyes
and lean
into the strong broad back
of that which loves you

It’s too delightful, for a time,
for you to sleep —
You pull the warmth
into all the corners
of your being
while the soft fresh air
cools your edges

And it’s so exquisite,
all you want to do
is breathe,
absorb this present
as cats absorb the sun,
feel how alive you are
and how blessed.

©Wendy Mulhern
April 21, 2014

 

Today

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Joy springs up,
bubbles along its channels,
overflows.

So much goodness in today —
Things that waited many years to surface,
deep in hidden aquifers,
pulled up by gratitude,
sweet from long, cool resting
under rock;

Things that came just now —
the rising to the challenge
of present weather,
the brightness of success in being true.

Joy feeds joy,
as gratitude brings forth the same,
Goodness stays
when circulated day by day.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 22, 2013


Crickets

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Cricket song, like stars
in the soundscape of the night
illumines the crisp air
with points of aural light

Memories of moments
stretch across the years,
bright spots of joy
like cricket song
fill my eyes and ears

There is a place
for every sound,
for every voice.
So crickets,
alone and in their undulating chorus
invoke my inner song,
let my heart rejoice.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 4, 2013


Everyone Gets to Come

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Don’t be afraid —
Don’t look ahead in dread
of narrowing life choices,
of chances missed.
It doesn’t matter —
for in the plan of days,
Everyone gets to come.

To the grand reception
of our timeless gifts,
to the celebration
of what we’ve always been,
to the home that holds us
splendid and beloved,
Everyone gets to come.

In the great rapture
of interaction in the moment,
in that enchanting weightlessness
where you can’t tell for sure
if the impulse comes from you
or from another
(though it is yours as surely as you feel it)
In the joy of that transporting,
far beyond what you could know to ask for,
Everyone gets to come.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 16, 2013


Good Times

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We came riding down
chutes of laughter
like kids on a water slide —
great swoops of bright sound
cascading and splashing
and we felt renewed,
and we set each other off
again and again,
perhaps less for amusement
than for how it made us feel —
ready to scamper around
and up the ladder again.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 15, 2013


Hollows

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Sound loves hollows —
deep bodies of cellos,
silver shafts of flutes,
wet echoes of tunnels
and the ever-longing span
between the heart and throat

In the roundness of the cavity —
concave convergence of the waves —
the sound can dance and dance 
and gather strength
till it emerges, pure and confident

Some hollows must remain unfilled,
must wait in ready emptiness
to send the sweet song 
down the cove of deep desire —
must welcome it in circled emptiness
a steady vigilance
that holds the still
that gathers joy.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 14, 2013


Development

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Let rain wash around my stones,
Let wind drop fallen leaves
along my fences,
Let the gathered nutrient
from all my edges
call forth ever richer
teaming life

Build up my attention along contour
so what flows to me slows down,
Drops its gift to my receiving gratitude
Let me take the time to soak it in

There is no end
to the permission Life gives
and the ever-presence
of its care,
Its willingness to bless
gives rise to ever new recurrences
of the splendid circle
where all the living things
resound in bliss.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 8, 2013