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

Proper Fall

We were living the shock of flash-frozen fall.

Now today is the true spirit of fall
With its sunshine, fresh air and
The healing smell of properly brown leaf litter.

I see a whirling bunch of leaves
dance by my window
I hear the undulating sound of crisp wind
As it rises and subsides
Leaving me breathless and
My eyes open wide.

-Kelly Voelker

Productive Poise

She behaved and was punctual
Day in and day out
She prepared, preserved, planned and did
She reserved her opinions
Refrained from the crown
Refused to dream outside
As procedure surrounds
But the Buffalo was silent
The Raven was roost
The Ibis was wading and silent to boot
So where was the magic, the thrill and the loft?
Patient and waiting 'til systems produced
The useful whole offspring of planning and couth. 

-Kelly Voelker

*couth - good manners; refinement.

Autumn Grounding

The Raven was with her mind
As it floated o'er the tides
Inspiration waves and ebbs comprise
Still not landing
Where toil and thoughts blend
Laughter and profanity cackled aside
Her ease as she lowered
Descended and died.

-Kelly Voelker

Hence

As photos dissolve into digital images
Organized on a man-made information cloud
As books become hence, transferred from
author to reader by invisible means
As paintings become digital photographs
enhanced by the light of computer screens
As consciousness sees the world through
technological portals
The memories, the expressions, once
assisted by plants via paper and canvas
Can be owned by us and our own creations
The warehousing and curating of material
Expressions will dissolve, and resources
Freed back to their own natural realms
after ages of division in purpose
We had no other way
The lighter and freer sharing of thought
Beauty and memories automatically
Organized better than before
Disappearing forever once witnessed and born.

-Kelly Voelker

Hence -
1.  as a consequence; for this reason.

2.

in the future (used after a period of time).

Plain Truth

In my mind
Exists the intention
To take in beauty
To observe as
A simple intvention
Asking supreme design
For a crumb, a tid-bit
A pixel, a misfit
A signpost of truth
From designs to unwrap
Hidden in my mind
A treasure of moments
To pass on or amplify
Highlight or pacify
In my mind ideas
Like tumbled plain stones
Become more beautiful
When turned and polished
In my mind are treasures
I reach in to choose
What shall this day reveal
Which thought will thus pose?

-Kelly Voelker

plain - 1. not decorated or elaborate; simple or ordinary in character.

             2.

(of a person) having no pretensions; not remarkable or special.

3.  clearly; unequivocally (used for emphasis).

           4.  a large area of flat land with few trees.

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

What Do I Sound Like Inside Your Mind?

For those who don't know me
When reading my poems
What do I sound like?
In your mind on your own
You must make up a sound
As you're reading the lines
Fashioning an image of
What someone like me
Would sound like if fluent
And speaking to thee
I never read aloud my own poems
It feels unnecessarily naked
Like my voice cannot own
The sentiments shared here
From an ancient wise soul
Sarcastic about society's
Strongholds and norms
Yet hopelessly loving
Trace sentiments hidden
In mundane experience
Each horse had been ridden
Each path had been trod
A great depth of experience
Eager to respond
A witness and sympathizer
From the mysterious beyond.

-Kelly Voelker

Auto Finish

Yesterday opened a chute
Gravity was waiting there
Ready to receive
What the Center will transmute
Somewhere a silent sun
Masked by the light of One
We call the Sunshine

The chute opened at night
When all waves became troughs
The moon was irrelevant
Pulling its way but the Center
Pulled harder and I trusted it

I gave away my idea of what I should be
Leaving only what I AM
All the moral debts paid towards
Countless bad investments
All the blame for making these decisions
All the blame for not seeing the risk
All the blame for not finishing
A race which I cancelled

I was not meant to produce
I was meant to create
What has value only to
Others who create beauty
Out of deep contemplation
Out of casual accidents of beauty
Born from the act of merely starting

What I was meant to produce
Finishes itself because I introduce
The Source of Creation to those
Who doubt it comes through
Each of us as we are turned
Uniquely inside out.

-Kelly Voelker