Many will speak of
the benefit of falling,
of coming completely untethered
from all that you trusted,
of having that done for you
which you were mightily unwilling
to do for yourself
And there’s truth in that,
for any trust that can be swept away
is false,
and what is truly trustworthy
is waiting for discovery
by anyone who’s secretly lucky
to have lost all else.
©Wendy Mulhern
March 8, 2023
I can’t tell you about this,
snow melting, drips of rain coming down,
subtle elusive smells – cabbage? mammal?
crunch of crusted slush under my boots
I can’t tell you why
a smile circles around and catches me
from behind, from within,
or why the sense of something poignant
hovers, just beyond recognition
Once again I feel
waves of understanding, of forgiveness,
of remorse – of letting these be phases
in the crumbling of old perspectives
so truth can align to hold the
infinitely weighty but perfectly balanced place
where we can hold each other
in exquisite trust.
©Wendy Mulhern
December 30, 2021
Walking down the slope today
I was remembering times of trusting –
sweet connection, like being borne aloft
on a great swing, feeling the lift
Wondering where I left that behind,
how I came to feel
I was on my own,
earning my trustworthiness
with every step
It has been a worthy journey,
and if not earning, certainly learning
what is required of me,
what is my move to own my desire,
how I can follow it back to my core
But somewhere maybe also,
there’s a place for a child’s trust –
the willing reaching of my hand,
the eager leap,
to be caught, and held aloft,
to be caught up and embraced,
to feel the lift,
the certain joy, the easy grace
of seeing love so constant
in my Father’s face.
©Wendy Mulhern
September 19, 2021
I will walk with you
in the trust that can’t be broken,
with faith in the elemental
nature of our being
You may ask, why are we here?
But in that question are assumptions
about both we and here –
Step behind those
and find the answer,
not defined in the channel
down which, river-like,
we tumble and cascade,
but in the source,
unfailing, pure, and infinite,
that sends us out,
that pours us forth.
©Wendy Mulhern
June 11, 2020
The One you can trust
has always been here –
you’ve seen it in lights
that glow, that flicker,
that sparkle, that shine,
you’ve felt it in moments
when you could suddenly tell
exactly where your heart is
You have caught at it
like fishing for the moon in a lake,
you have held it
like a sunbeam across the floor
you have sensed it,
but maybe haven’t known
that the clasp that holds it right to you
is trust
Learn to trust in little ways
or give yourself to it fully,
and feel its unmistakable embrace,
and feel its unimaginable grace.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 28, 2020
Today I consider
putting my whole weight down,
settling into life, letting it
bear me up
Funny, until now
I didn’t notice that all this time
I’ve been holding back,
keeping the tense pose,
assuming I needed
to hold up my own weight
(As if I could, as if
I wasn’t fully riding on this adventure,
as if I could withhold
any dependence on Life’s uplift)
Today I consider
nestling into Life’s shoulders,
feeling its wing thrusts
surging us on.
©Wendy Mulhern
December 10, 2019
With all the offerings of easy trust
we may accept some
that are not trustworthy,
just for the ease of letting go
of something that seems so hard
There is always a deeper trust
we can sink our roots towards —
it will offer strength
rather than ease,
and though the ease may seem
so tantalizing,
the strength, most certainly,
will satisfy us more.
©Wendy Mulhern
April 19, 2019
Can you feel what holds you
as well as these birds can,
diving and darting fearlessly
from the tall trees?
Can you feel it bear you up? —
such a gentle touch, with room for air
between your feathers —
room for you to breathe
but not to fall
Hold still, and see if you can feel it
guiding your steps, your work, your thoughts,
ever in the place where the bright surge
of joy, of life,
pours clearest through your being.
©Wendy Mulhern
July 30, 2018
Look at the arches, consider
all the micro-trusts,
the leaning into,
at even the smallest scale,
that results in this entity,
this contiguity, this structure
in which we now take shelter
Is it not a miracle
that you know you’re safe here?
Is it not a thing to celebrate,
the way we both can trust
there is a place for us?
Indeed, I hardly understand
how these things happen, and why,
though I have an inkling
they are far more common
than our theories of their process
would support.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 11, 2017
I will feel safe
when I know
there is no way
I can fall from grace
in your eyes
by being myself
Then I will stretch
into the farthest edges
of myself. I will wake up
all my toes, my fingertips
and my wings. My skin,
and all the currents within me,
my stride, my dance, my rhythm,
my hearing and my vision
All this will feel secure
in the fine deep space
you hold for me
in the warmth of your gaze,
in the kindness of your eyes.
©Wendy Mulhern
January 12, 2016