A Moment's Peace

I look for just a moment's peace
Because that is all I need
To pump out what is drowning me
From inside from down deep
What I feel is flooding
From inside from some source
Is nothing more than changes
Some which I am not versed
The irony is balanced
For what I usually seek
Is o're the next horizon
Beyond where I now sleep
To reach the next horizon
Of changes that I want
I must first survive drowning
In changes from beyond.

-Kelly Voelker

Iris = One

I contemplate the I AM
Without true meaning known
The explanations hollow
The scriptures won't bestow
A deep and integrating
Knowing from inside
But all along it's been here
Growing every spring
In my hometown gardens
In artist's favorite things
It is the Living Iris
So common that it's void
Of meaning or enlightenment
A fleeting burst of joy
I've always had a reverence
For these unique flowers
As exotic as the orchid
The Midwest's own endowed
It's time to seek them out now
The season is at hand
Examine with full focus
Their exquisite high design
Unfolding in unlikely
Unattended scenes
Displaying truth that beauty
Cannot be so erased
By neglect or abandonment
By drought or hottest sun
The iris comes back always
It's I R ... I is . . . ONE

-Kelly Voelker