Here I am, in this day,
in this project,
with no future to think of, beyond
it may rain this afternoon, beyond
we may get this house built sometime
Not sure of the purpose of future anyway,
with days as full as they are,
clouds coming in across the hills,
new mom turkey walking with her brood,
little nuthatch heard before sighted
flitting among the firs.
©Wendy Mulhern
June 5, 2019
It is a time of sturdy growth —
bracken fern at chest, head, height,
grass still green but growing purple heads,
tender bright new needles on the firs,
daisies lifting white across the fields
We, too, are feeling sturdy,
nourished by the land, the ground,
and by the care we give.
Some roots we never knew about
are taking hold,
making us steady, stable,
here where we live.
©Wendy Mulhern
June 2, 2019
I consider the faces of gratitude
and notice
they don’t include
a feeling of not deserving
what has been given,
though the gift is immense,
though I have longed for it
all the way down my memory
as far as I can see
When I see that I have it now,
I can’t say I shouldn’t want it,
or that I haven’t earned it,
or that I have.
Gratitude is exactly the price
for the beauty of my days.
©Wendy Mulhern
June 1, 2019
Everywhere we stopped,
I wanted to eavesdrop,
wanted to throw myself
into the current
of other people’s lives,
wanted to feel
whatever it was they were feeling,
though I never really could quite hear
Out on the land
I am alive to the sounds
of geese and ravens,
turkeys, owls, the cycles
of water, of the seasons,
and the tutelage of Spirit,
my mind cleaving eager
to what it teaches
The world of people
drifts so far away,
I forget the goals, the games …
and though I don’t know
if I’ll ever play again,
I still, it seems, am drawn to watch.
©Wendy Mulhern
April 21, 2019
Here on the land, I discover
ways I can walk that I never had known,
ways I can think, ways I can work,
direction transcending my own
Learning to trade myself in,
day after day,
for a newer, more humble model,
learning to quiet my mind,
not looking back,
faithfully tending my steps
Here on the land
there’s no need to be right,
only the need to be willing,
willing to listen, willing to move
placing my feet in the light.
©Wendy Mulhern
April 16, 2019
In this moment I understand
how green is magical,
how it transcends the rain
and is exalted by it,
how it finds a way to glow
even under the darkest sky,
how it fills me,
how it elicits joy.
©Wendy Mulhern
April 13, 2019
The land can teach you
about deep breathing —
breathing days of rain
and water running down
under the ground, surfacing
in unpredicted places
breathing hours of sun —
the freshness of everything
shining its praise
in scent and in sparkle
breathing the rhythm of work —
what we can do, what needs us now,
when we can rest,
when we are done
The land is teaching me
ways of fewer words
and more action, less policy
and more decision based on
what is present in this moment,
based on what the land
is breathing now.
©Wendy Mulhern
April 12, 2019
Here we are
playing double dutch
with the rain,
looking for a place to jump in,
feeling confounded
though not yet wet
Eventually we’ll guess
there’s nothing to be gained
by waiting inside
delaying our move —
wetness is, after all,
temporary, as also,
though less obviously,
is mud.
©Wendy Mulhern
April 10, 2019
Today, it’s good
to greet the sun
(the unpredicted sun)
sleepy, to the sound of turkeys
and the sight of steam
from the outdoor shower
turning into a cloud as it rises
against the blue,
to feel a patch of sun between the trees
squarely on my shoulder
Today it’s good to feel
the fountain of my source,
a light, a fire, a radiance,
deep within, and deep below
all the surface fixtures of the day,
today it’s good to notice all of this.
Today, it’s good.
©Wendy Mulhern
March 31, 2019
We hope our kindness
will be felt by the land,
the trees we plant,
the soil we tend,
we hope it will respond
with life that springs forth bountiful
We hope the land will teach us
the kind of kindness
that makes things grow —
fledgling efforts strengthened,
courage built, endurance lengthened,
everything that had been tentative
standing forth to claim its place
in the blessed rhythm of the day.
©Wendy Mulhern
March 23, 2019