Tag Archives: land

And home

Posted on by
Reply

Days start a little later here
but stretch out even longer –
plenty of time to grow, and keep growing,
from small seedlings into big plants,
swaying strongly in the strong wind,
taking what is given by the strong sun

I feel bee-like in my steady buzz
from task to task, taking strength
from every specimen of sturdy growth,
surprised to feel a slowdown in the evening  –
I had felt I could go on forever

In the process, I am learning home,
sharing of place, rhythm of days,
essence of Spirit that holds us
in our harmonious ways.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 15, 2023

Bread

Posted on by
Reply

I’m learning the ways of bread,
and it’s much like
learning the ways of people,
customary treatments and assumptions
proved far different
from what will do the best

The nuance needs attention,
and attention
is more valuable than rules,
and to have a gentle hand,
I must know what I am working with –
each moment has its own requirement,
each touch, its perfect place and time.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 15, 2022

The dance of land and sky

Posted on by
Reply

The belly of cloud
against the contour of the land,
just enough space between to feel the closeness,
the constant slow adjusting of undulations,
a small view into blue distance

The dance of land and sky
goes on throughout the day,
continues through the night
and never pauses
except for the exquisite rests
where all is truly still,
which we, sometimes,
are also blessed to feel.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 8, 2022

A day on the land

Posted on by
Reply

We were raking grass
before the sun came up,
before our shadows
bumped long across the fields

The heat hadn’t rolled in yet,
so we worked in comfort,
boot toes wet, filling the tarp
and dragging it back to the pile

We finished that task by eight,
others awaiting, needing to be done
before the sun began to burn,
before the hot winds rose

Then we retreated into coolness
(as sun-produced as outdoors’ heat)
and finding our center
and fathoming what it could mean
to be love.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 27, 2022

City Interlude

Posted on by
Reply

Truth is, I already miss the soil
and the sound of frogs
and walking on the land,
but as we walked the night suburban streets,
quiet, between the glowing houses,
the hwyl we’re learning still came through our feet,
still showed the way to walk in native power

We still walk in time
but maybe less so
as we are borne, as we become
the flowing stream,
the stories leave much less of an impression
while we’re living at the center of our being

Truth is, just like the river,
we’re flowing ever on towards home,
and everything we’re given
will find a way to come along.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 13, 2022

Happiness

Posted on by
Reply

The land holds happiness within,
deeper than the roots of trees
that pull it up

I can tell because of the laughing clown dance
I did with my shadow,
for no particular reason
while running down to the cabin, twice

And the way the nip in October’s wind
brought forth a sense of excitement,
and the way we settled into cozy
so easily, once we decided to stay home.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 1,  2021

Reverence

Posted on by
Reply

The lessons of the land
seep in wordlessly
with no taint of instruction,
no directive to change

They seep into my hands, my gait,
my consciousness, they become
the way it has always been,
the way I’ve always seen

When I try to think of what has changed,
how I used to think, in contrast
to how I now perceive,
the whole thing goes out of focus

But I can find it again,
just like I found the cat
who rolled in the dirt and then
almost disappeared in the grass

I can find it again
by setting myself to receive,
to take in and hold in reverence
each life in its singular sphere.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 1,  2021

Today I found

Posted on by
Reply

Today I found it better
to be working
than to be wilting,
to defy the beating sun
with steady movement

Today I found
that joy springs up
in the doing of a thing,
in the stance of thought
that harbors no excuses

Afterwards, we had earned the right
to sit and talk and dream
even as darkness settled in –
we had lanterns to see with
for supper and showers,
and well-earned sleep
at the end.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 15,  2021i

Town Pants

Posted on by
1

I’ve got my town pants on,
which renders me a little helpless,
in the can’t get dirty kind of way

To tackle tasks around here
it seems essential not to care
about a little soot here, a little mud there

And dust – this time of year, and, too,
this phase of project  – one or another
kind of dust will get all over everything

As to the matter of grass seed
and how it sticks in socks – even boots,
it seems, can’t keep it wholly out

But town pants have their own troubles,
being prone to spills of chocolate,
and pizza, it seems. Whatever.

©Wendy Mulhern
June 10, 2021