Cipher

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Wendy

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What kind of day can leave me

at the end

without a single thought?

— A day of traveling —

of packing up and leaving

— car for plane, plane for car,

car for home

A time to wait, then move —

Wait for lines

Wait for land to turn in panorama

underneath the plane

Wait for our ride,

wait for traffic . . .

A day in which I thought I glimpsed

the key to everything —

to my whole life

and life for all of us —

the end to all the troubles

that have haunted us

A moment where it seemed so clear

and yet I had no words

except “of course”

— a thing I’ve seen before

and so can wait

to have come clear again.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 6, 2012

Being Here

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Wendy

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(Mid August, Vineyard Haven)

Cardinal swoops over the roof

Chickadee perches on the screen

Behind the songbirds’ companionable chatter,

Motors roar — boats and planes

Voices rise across the water

Metal masts clang in distant wakes

Smell of onions cooking drifts up from the kitchen

Pale clouds drift across the languid sky

Trees and pond stand still in windless afternoon

There’s space enough between the sounds

for each to take their turn

Later come the crickets

till the soft warm rain silences them

Though it can’t silence

the beat of party drums and tunes

and dance laughter

from the town across the pond.

©Wendy Mulhern

August 15, 2012

At a roadside stand

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Wendy

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You can weave rainbows

into your work

its beauty

and yours

will shine as reflections

of each other

You can weave quetzals

and flowers

in the tradition of your grandmother

but with your own flair

hidden there

in that dark and crowded stall

hung so thickly

with tapestries

in impossibly bright colors

we entered to look

and you appeared shyly

third person we’d seen

emerge from the shadow

You said, “You like? This my work.”

You and your weaving

lit up that place

so now we have

one of your rainbows

and, reflected, the memory

of your charming smile.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 3, 2012

Trip’s end

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Wendy

1

Lazy as lizards

in wilting heat

we wait

The fans twirl

Time has shifted gears

as we descend:

Loud, hot, slow rumble

of our trip’s approaching end

Roads are shorter, returning —

Signs and sights less strange

And as we travel back, we see

how much we’ve changed

how much we’ve grown

how much we’ve done

So much experience

we’ve crammed

in this small span of time

Tomorrow we’ll arrive at home

We’ll sleep, and then unpack our clothes

Allow the normal tendrils once again

to wrap us in the patterns of our days

Much later, over weeks and months

We still will be unpacking

perspectives, images, connections, loves

new things to share, new family to be tracking

We still will be considering

how much there is to learn

And now will be imagining

our next return.

©Wendy Mulhern

April 1, 2012