Tag Archives: work

Foraging

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One of the deer
regarded me through the window
for a long time
before it moved off
stepping stiffly through the light mud
and paused again, until another
came and nuzzled it

I think these were the twins of summer,
their mother coming up behind,
their coats now in the duller
shades of winter
to better blend with spent and battered stalks

Our walk through winter
is not unlike theirs,
our first time through this passage,
following signs we haven’t seen before
but which are clear enough  –
foraging the prospects of the day.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 10, 2020

Observations while roof building

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These short cold days,
the sun, even when it does come out
doesn’t have much time
to melt the ice, to warm the air,
and while it can land steady
on the south slope,
it only glances down the north,
leaving long shadows behind short stubble,
unable to dry the wood
dampened by fog and frost

This time of year
we fall short of our goals,
leave the night watch
to the cold stars,
start up next day
as slow as the sun does,
move through our project the same.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 3, 2020

Nonetheless

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It could be a small thing.
It wouldn’t have to be something like
the raising of a barn
or a transformation in consciousness

It could be the view across a field
just in one moment,
or the huddle space
where the fire is warm
while the cold air
creeps around my back

It could be a small thing I notice
that shows, nonetheless,
the sweetness of our lives.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 29, 2020

Weathered

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The cold sun has weathered me today,
leaving me attracted to fire,
to radiant warmth,
though it washes me
in sandstone red, muting
my thoughts and feelings,
wearing down my words

Sleep will be easy
as the outside cold
sucks the heat out of the cabin
once the fire is gone.
We will stay warm wrapped in blankets
and dream on through the darkness
to the cold dawn.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 8, 2020

Working in November

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That we can work together
through rain,
that we can be cheerful
as puddles form
and gloves get wet
gives me a chortle,
a bright warming,
an inner heat source
to counteract my dampened clothes

We kept on working
while the rain came harder,
and then it stopped, and we continued,
the appreciation that we had
each for the other
as strong a structure as the frame we built.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 3, 2020

A Gift

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It may be a great gift
not to have the choice
whether to notice
the specificity of days –
the arc the moon takes through the night,
the temperature, whether the fog will lift,
or if it settles to a soft drizzle,
slowly saturating gloves and cuffs

In many striking moments
we look up from our work
and call out to each other – look –
the way the light is sitting on the field now,
the way the moon peaks through –
It is a gift,
though we may wish it otherwise –
it makes us richer,
despite how we may feel.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 30, 2020

Raising the Beam

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It took us longer than we thought it would –
designing methods, designing rigging,
and time for extra careful execution of the steps,
several hours to get ready,
then fifteen minutes to perform the deed,
and maybe half an hour, after that,
to shore it up

When we were finished
we felt victorious,
mind having triumphed over dead weight,
heart having triumphed over cold.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 26, 2020

Fall Arrives

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Rain rips across the land,
freshening the air,
wind tousles fall colored trees,
the days are getting dark around the edges,
it’s time for hearth fires

The frenzy of our project
needs to take a pause,
though to be honest, it was mostly
expectations that were reined in –
we hadn’t been progressing all that quickly

But now the walls are under wraps
(and puddles) and I’m lighting fires
to keep our spirits cozy,
and our schedule, once again,
will need to rearrange itself,
and we’ll pick up our feet and follow after.


©Wendy Mulhern
October 11, 2020

Framing the Barn

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It was a good day’s work,
however many times I had to recut the boards –
Recut, remeasure, try to find the place
where my precision slipped. Eventually,
I got them all done. Well, all but one,
which was persistently too short

It was a good day’s work
because I could contribute –
things I could do helped us get through
to the almost where we hoped for
place we ended up

We were a team, and we will be
an even better team tomorrow.
That, as much as structure,
is what we build each day.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 9, 2020

Haloed

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It hadn’t occurred to me before then
that our work, too, could be haloed,
could glow in the perfection of unfolding,
could be a blessing to both us
and all that touch it

It hadn’t occurred to me that, in fact,
it must be haloed, must reflect
the impulse that brings it forth,
must show, in its development,
and in the gratitude it hails,
the way we bless, the way we grow,
the way we’re loved.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 6, 2020