Attending to the tasks of care
makes space for easy kindness,
time to listen, time to hear,
time, once again, to find us.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 24, 2022
Care
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Tag Archives: relationships
Walking it out
We walk around the neighborhood,
looping back around the streets like scribbles,
talking out the tangles, winding free
another layer
There is much to do, many miles
to unwalk, reclaim, release –
we will take it in stages,
come out again for another loop,
trace the path till everything comes clear.
©Wendy Mulhern
January 14, 2022
Bones
Let’s start at the beginning
where my bones know your bones,
where they can feel them laugh,
mirth ripples echoing
down their shafts,
delight inherent
Let’s start at the beginning
where they confide trustingly
the solid truth about themselves,
the longing and the confidence,
the places they hold open
for the rest of us to play –
how glad they are that we’ve availed ourselves
of their hospitality,
that we have come home here
to be together.
©Wendy Mulhern
December 13, 2021
I Choose
Well, all of us have broken pieces,
all of us have memories
of things that didn’t go the way we hoped
And all of us have voices
with their diagnoses
of where things stand, given what has happened
But all of us have choices,
and they’re absolutely different
from what the voices tell us that they are
I choose
to let my love come back,
and not let it be stranded
waiting for someone to be lovable
My love knows where it comes from
and it knows to be itself. It never waits
for a precisely perfect time.
My love comes back – it’s happy to be home.
My love goes outward knowing how to shine.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 31, 2021
Tree and Wind
I could be the wind.
I could be the wind that blows
sometimes hard, sometimes soft,
from different directions
I could be the wind
that swirls around and picks things up
and lets them fall elsewhere
And you could be the tree,
your leaves first, and then your limbs
stretching out along the lines
of my blowing, your roots reaching,
grasping a deeper anchor,
lines of strength growing up
along your trunk
You could be the tree
growing more and more
into yourself, the essence of you
gaining power
It wouldn’t be that I shaped you,
or that my essence
determined yours,
but what you are would not be harmed
by my presence –
what you are would reach into itself
and bring up more.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 19, 2021
Afternoon Nap
We’ve been here before,
in this furry intimacy,
mammalian and wordless,
where our togetherness mirrors,
then reaches, a more expansive place –
the togetherness embracing
everything alive,.holding us all
so tenderly, rejoicing in the perfect place
each of us is given
in the open secret of Life.
©Wendy Mulhern
July 21, 2021
Easy
As easy as the transformation
into evening, accompanied by thrushes,
when the wind stills
and the sun releases its grip,
slipping gracefully behind the hills,
and small zephyrs of coolness
lace through the air
As easy as that has been
our transformation into togetherness,
when the traffic of our daily cares
has softened into something calmer
and the breath of forgiveness
sweetens the place we share.
©Wendy Mulhern
July 13, 2021
My Story
Why am I always the bad guy
in your stories? I said
Who else do you see around?
you said
But why can’t I be the good guy
sometimes? Oh, I see – you’re
the good guy …
In the still space, after the laughter,
I considered – I will only ever
see played out
what I believe to be the story –
if the story doesn’t change,
the reason’s obvious
If I want a different story,
I must first believe it’s possible,
and then see it pre-existing,
a thing already true.
©Wendy Mulhern
July 2, 2021
Poem written in the dark after it was finally cool enough
Everyone is looking for places to stay cool,
and I’m feeling the wish
to write a long story,
one of missed connections
and broken threads –
lost threads seeking each other over years,
sad and tragic mismatches
that people settled for
after their dreams were lost
But all the threads of the story
are subsumed,
changed as tide pools change
when tide comes in –
things that were disconnected
become one,
things that were lost
unite on holy ground.
©Wendy Mulhern
June 25, 2021
Reflection
Things about you made me happy today –
your humming just now,
your hand’s touch earlier,
and how, when you were working
(around the corner, out of my sight)
the feel of your presence
was joy invoking – little warbles
jumping up inside, making me smile
(though you couldn’t see me)
And the color of your presence
was like dark wood burning in a fire,
one side turning to coals
glowing that compelling white-orange,
sending its heat out like chocolate
I wasn’t thinking of you in the old way –
this was something new –
the reflection of God walking
right here, so close to me –
in the very same house!
©Wendy Mulhern
January 2, 2021