Dutiful Work Shrine

This morning brings
The need to reinvent
My mind creates
Wonderful decorations
For all I have
For all I am is a place
To hang beautiful things
Yet as a human in form
I create myself as cool brown
Creamy beige and my eyes
Cannot decide what color to reflect
Even with all the power of
Morning's full light range
I cannot stop shifting and adjusting
To meet the need of the day
Or my shifting thoughts
Once landing for a moment
Are thankful for my shelter
Yet yearn for the next location
Away from the dutiful shrine
Of this little work town.

-Kelly Voelker

End of Summer

The end of season
Push subsides
Harvest, savor, put aside
Enjoy the yield
From heat and sun
Put up feet
Let coast don't run
Walk in alignment
Through the lull
Between the weather
Cycle's done.

-Kelly Voelker

Reluctant to Move

The breeze was moist
With a lingering cling to it
Hanging onto  skin and fabric
As if it was reluctant to move

The clouds wouldn't abandon me
Leaving me for the relentless sun
They insulated my thoughts
With a gentler degree of light

I received four gifts
In random locations as rewards
For performing chores
Coffee, a ripened tomato,
A bistro set and a folding table

The cricket's ringing
Surrounding me with
A welcome frequency
Until a loud machine
Slowly passed by
Cutting nature steadily
As a diluting obscenity

These were the day's highlights
At a place without progression
Where time is as reluctant to move
As the humid summer air
A flashy swallowtail passed
Seeming to know where to go and when
Much more than I do now and then.

-Kelly Voelker

My Name

If my name were initials
A symbol together
My essence to hold
One letter would steer me
One letter would fly
Together in tandem
To signify Phi
One letter the handles
Of a bicycle
The other the head
Of a butterfly with
Multifaceted eyes
Antennae light in the wind
Sensing the softest
Differentiating air
All around would be pollen
Stardust and embers.

-Kelly Voelker

Gravity's Fabric

The greater part
My conscious will
Rolls and tumbles
Drifts and thrills
From natural landscape
Laid throughout
The un-owned frontier
Seen still free
Patterns, lifeforms
Reacting to
Sun and water
Fabric of
Gravity and wind above.

-Kelly Voelker

One Last Time

One last time
I'll sort it out
Taking stock
What's in what's out

One last time
I'll walk upon
Land which held
My family on

One last time
I'll treasure scenes
Kept for memory
Reference, dreams

One last time
To end the tether
Moving on
What's new
Not better

Resident of cycle dear
Life spans signal
Journey here
Insignificant from ages

Land just sighs
With gentle winds
Continued allegro
Spinning spun

Who will saddle up this time?
Those who dream a different picture
Of what memories, families differ

-Kelly Voelker

allegro - (especially as a direction) at a brisk tempo.

Rainy Day Recess

Oh summer storm
Saturate my day
Adding flex to stay
Within this repose
Within this recess
I am hidden from
I belong within
This natural space
Thunder begins
Bringing to attention
All in range
To postpone actions
Plans and friends
Sheltered here
My clear pure place
The storm's umbrella
Under which we wait
As a time of respite
From ideas, fate
The timeline stops
Nature's orb of
Healing balance
In awe we witness
Sound and power
Replete in wonder
Grateful for
Inclusion in
Today's rhythm
Without within.

-Kelly Voelker

repose - a state of rest, sleep, or tranquility.
recess - a small space created by building part of a wall further back from the rest.
respite - a short period of rest or relief from something difficult or unpleasant
replete - satisfied and relaxed

With Forces Unannounced

When a character in my life
Can't negotiate a new season
I must imagine a plot change
Now unimaginable to me

Could someone more interesting
More surprising and present
Take the place of a person
Whose story has worn itself out

The unknown value of all questions
Being that of those yet unmet
Who don't need to know the lines
Of the former or future role
But create it in present time
With me and all new talent

This new story created behind the scenes
Beyond what I understand, yet know
Weaves rainbows and sunny horizons
After storms of all sizes that blow
The prepared linear landscape
For changes erasing rows

Poetic and precise in detail
As the tiniest and broadest all are
Holding it all together
With forces unannounced
Yet powerful around and through
Each pinpoint micro cue

I trust and allow the genius
Of those I do not know now
To fill my future with  joy
With laughter and without ploy.

-Kelly Voelker

ploy - a cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage

cue - a thing said or done that serves as a signal to an actor or other performer to enter or to begin their speech or performance.

Slight Flow through the Unknown

When the journey becomes long
Through the endless expanse
Look for the flow
The movement, it's branch
Follow the movement even if slight

As a river 'cross continents
Leads with direction
No doubts no worries
Just varied progression

The map through the unknown
Is flow and it's banks
Will show the way always
With patience and thanks.

-Kelly Voelker

Jewelry of the Dead

Small town cemetery
At peace on the hill
A parfait of deceased citizens
Are released here as fill
The granite and stone
Dispersed in varied colors
Shapes heights and tones
At night it is lit by
Stored sunlight
The jewelry of the dead
Reflects beauty
In its permanence
The anchor of families
Outlasting impertinence

As I roll slowly through
Or walk in between
The names of the people
I know and have known
Strumming comfortable
Familiar chords indicating
Everything is as it should be
Isn't it interesting, isn't it free?

The gushing peonies
Bloom and hang with spring rain
As I drive through here
Again and again
Looking for progress
In trees we have planted
Hoping for living landmarks
Increasing advantage over
Neglected and sinking
Markers in rows

I smile seeing names
Of kind relatives gone
Who loved me in hope
I would turn out alright
Their markers are witness
To my acknowledgement of
Their love and pure kindness
Which continues to glow

This hill has a sweetness
Of beauty and still
A lasting display of our
Ancestry mill
Nothing much matters
But names as they are
All seem quite similar
As an assembled stadium
Of citizens and families
Rooted here long
Some have dispersed
Visiting once

Someday I won't
Return here
Even in death
But my name is already
On my parent's red marker
Attesting to the best of what
Lives can dutifully muster

Let this poem be my lasting
Will and testament
Of an impression once rendered
By visiting often
This small town's collection
Of love and remembrance.

-Kelly Voelker

Washed Away Clean

At any time,
The tide can come in
Washing away
Every pattern and way
Every seed and word said
Feelings, desires
Washed away clean
Leaving a beautiful beach
To walk along nights
To stand on and look out
At all of the sights
Instead of looking down at your feet
Staring at patterns we drew in the heat.

-Kelly Voelker

Home Base of Gratitude

My name is Gratitude
Don't act like you don't know
Don't pretend I don't exist here
Or there or with all unknowns
I see things with a softer
Open relaxed breathe
I'm open honest grounded
The opposite of vexed*

You struggle with such effort
You think through all amends
You wonder what you'll do next
You worry, fret, pretend
This is not a war game
Or a complicated test

If you could see through my eyes
You'd see you're in your nest.
You're cared for, valued, healthy
The opposite of hexed

Now a part of binary
Spinning with no effort
You are the perfect combination
Of Earth and fine Ideals

You've awakened from your dream, dear
I'm the pillow under your head
I offer peace and free you
I'm the grateful state of home base
I'm the grateful state, I SEE you.

-Kelly Voelker

* vexed - 1. (of a problem or issue) difficult and much debated; problematic.

2.

annoyed, frustrated, or worried