Patterns and Depth

I AM the patterns and the depth I sweep away in a flurry of gust All the papers and tokens kept I accelerate the rust On ironclad beliefs you trust I change the weather In front of and behind To rearrange the plans you make To show you undulations of fate And spread apart the leaves you rake. -Kelly Voelker

The Precipice of Today

Is this the first day or the last Which progression will unmask Is it the last day of security Or the first day of impurity Where my beliefs and instincts fail Or my newest triumph will prevail Is this the last day of a glorious age In which we were too distracted to Realize it was the best we knew Is this the gateway to being tranquilized For an operation we wouldn't choose otherwise But settle on as diminished options rule A ways and means to stay as best As we can with herd control Today however beauty streams Even within societal extremes I still feel happiness and hope Stronger still than yesterday On the precipice which is today. - Kelly Voelker

Sweetgrass and Sage

Within my chest The power of the sun My vision aligns with great and powerful heroes My heart aligns with all inclusive compassion My mind aligns with genius and order As part of a beautiful web of design and harmony Invisible to my human eyes Yet here, in my humble room Simple and unfestooned My spirit decorates the world With parties and celebrations Out of fashion and out of reach To a day filled with uncertainty and strife What situation is this test That I should witness for what reason For what purpose am I in this body Of a sensitive woman Seasoned with contrast and experience For what outcome can I broadcast my will To outshine the complexities I have outgrown To leave behind the drama I once enshrined Can I now in this age of sunflower's fade Shine what I need to with sweet grass and sage? -Kelly Voelker

Fishing for Answers

The thought that the worst

Could contain all the best

The thought that I might be

A little bit wrong

Even this thought felt

Like a new favorite song

The thought of recovery

After sickness and death

The thought of connection as

A new escape hatch

We're in it no matter

We're together the same

Let's hook the answers

Like a fish in our brain

So deep in the unknown

It won't yet have a name.

-Kelly Voelker

Black Candle

 I lit a black candle

To process a darkness

'Round the town

I started to focus

On the flame

Then tears of wax

Down the candle came

Black tears on the left side

The tender side 

Of a rigid place

Leaks from where

There's no mistake

A loss of certainty wakes.

-Kelly Voelker

Ground Squirrel is He

Thirteen stripe emblem
Large black eyed gaze
Filled with mischievous
Intentions to save

The fruits and the flowers
The seeds of the grain
His favorite the clovers
Which he eats in the rain

He lives in the drain pipe
And out in the field
Now eating cucumbers
To his taste have appealed

Forever watching
Aspiring to seek
The most delicate morsels
To keep in his cheek.

Endeavor's Trail

We do not grow into templates
Or soar by flight plan
We do not live to fulfill
What others envision
Or even master what
Towards we are driven
Instead our lives build upon
Complicated networks
Time and motivation pawned
For stable stature and a lawn
To what end endeavor's trail
Enjoyment, freedom may derail
More a term, agree, consent
Roles reverse then boundaries set
Perspectives none are cut and dried
Sediment of content rich
Settles after current slows
Looked upon as sky at dusk
A wonder after toil and trust.

-Kelly Voelker

Rain or Slim Chance

Living daydreams of fear within domestic hours
Wondering about changes to plans
Which were borrowed from simpler times
Before opinions were locked
During scheduled decency, holidays lined up
Nothing could stop us from keeping them up
The endless parade over the calender's horizon
The vanishing point of which the future's comprised
From our vantage point nothing much would surprise us
Maybe from now on, we shouldn't rush
To fill up our calendars a year in advance
When we aren't too sure of a rain or slim chance.

-Kelly Voelker

The Vacuum of Doubt

Doubt is a shift
From belief to fulcrum
Powerful or weak
Inviting new information
Thought which will seek

Doubt as a default
Weakens the will
Of others and self
Dampening virtue
Actions then shelved

Doubt as a vacuum
Leaves room for unseen
Forces of benevolence
Scorn or misdeed

Fill your doubts
With better not worse
Empower as someone
With truths to unearth.

-Kelly Voelker

Our Consciousness Withstands

Will the speed of our tomorrow
Allow for the humanity of today?
Will the lapse now in our schedule
Breathe life back in our day?
Will mechanized influences
Damage who we are?
Will the lessor of emotions become
Time consuming waste?
Leaving productivity and
Pressure to make haste.
Recognize advantages
We still have close at hand
Which will keep us human
So our consciousness withstands.

Kelly Voelker

The Disruption

The disruption rife
Ending attachments
Separation from
Earnest practices

Set down upon
Neutral time
Intentions frayed
Emotions stayed
Loyalties played

Let humanity
Refocus purely
Person to person
Look upon
One another

Stay unplugged
A little longer
See reality
Start anew.

-Kelly Voelker

A New Dream Circumspect

I reach for the familiar
To tame the unframed now
Looking for a preview
Of what could come up next
Nothing comes in focus
I remain perplexed

What remains of yesterday
As promise to back up
If I slip from reaching
Beyond what holds true now

A better, newer version
Everything upgrades
Everything renews itself
To simply make the grade

Discomfort in the stretching
Past what we may regret
Create a better system
A new dream circumspect.

-Kelly Voelker