Inspiring Vitality

If I want to grow
By leaps and bounds
I will inspire
With others in tow

If I want survival
Beyond what I see
I will inspire
By thoughts ever free

Whether person or village
It matters not much
If there's no inspiration
It's mortal, unjust
Life-span inevitable
The story done told
No need to create
No need to unfold.

Whether person or village
Inspiration will seed
Unfolding of change
Which will blossom and feed
This imagination is: Vitality

-Kelly Voelker

Bad Blood

Bad blood eventually becomes
The infrastructure all come upon
When suddenly finding oneself
Caught up and captive
In red tape and systems
Which won't dare or heed
But hide in the shadows
Occluded by vagueness
Stonewalling ideas
Rooted in greed.

Secrecy protects
Ulterior motives
Preventing solutions and
Straight common sense

No news is possible
No facts can be found
No opinions well stated
So gossip abounds

Free flowing progress
Dries up or goes elsewhere
Preventing some new blood
From healing the wounds of
An old bad blood network
Too hidden to see
Stunting the quality of
The whole community.

Kelly Voelker

Without and Within Memories

Without memories
Without a doubt
I can transform anything
From dismal to devout.

Without memories
Without a doubt
I could transform
A neglected room or house.

Without memories
Without a doubt
I would charge after
What I was without.

Without memories
Without a doubt
My life full of treasures
Fortunate to live out.

Without memories
Without a doubt
I would govern
Ideals I sought.

Within memories
Are my doubts
A true filter for these
Would create a new ease

Such as it is
Such as I AM
I will sift through
And mark some memories
As Spam.

-Kelly Voelker

I AM for now

I AM for now

A spirit symbol 

Not a name 

No ownership 

No fame

The Sun and Moon of Spirit

When my spirit faces the sun I string optimism 'round Problems and neglect. I see promise in the condemned Misused and historic relics. When my spirit faces the moon I realize I was seeing the world Through a lens of the future Not seeing right what is important In this particular reality. Not in this town Not at this time Only in this world At magical moments Appearing just often enough To keep my spirit facing the sun As an example or moment To outlast who won And during the moon I'm still here but not seen Waiting for a better day To improve what I see. -Kelly Voelker

Getting Caught Up

What would it take To get catch up with the pace Does it feel like you'll always Be losing the race? Have you fallen behind while In route of your dreams? Perhaps you have realized Nothing is as it seems. Not dreams, not your visions Not your career or provisions Not easily acquired Or maintained within hours You reasonably expected Or thought would suffice Instead you are living On borrowed money and time. What would it take to Achieve something more simple Within easier reach Not likely to stumble When satisfied within means Of a natural human Caught up is the person Who at heart is more humble. -Kelly Voelker

Feeling Alive

If not a cog in routine By what other means Shall one feel alive In this one and only Moment in time? Do you make plans For to feel this in grand Ways and splendid procession Of beautiful vehicles and things? Does one fiddle with details And manage to balance Though forward momentum Drags on and to challenge? Does one keep on moving Through space and so time Feeling each second As forward and towards Various declarations unsigned? Do schedules and clocks Demonstrate a progression Or do they block The retention of seconds Held to one's own As a moment of presence? Do constant sipped beverages Feed safeness inside Does inhaling the smoke From a ritual side Keep you in principle Engaged in this Small but true break From succeeding at tasks Meant to gain what's at stake? -Kelly Voelker

Occupy your Neighborhood

Looking out at
A day in January
Nothing moves
Winter's sequence
Slow serene.

In the upper register
Of a monochromatic sky
A small hawk tests the wind
Another follows left behind
Until two hawks glide
Side by side.

Another day of winter's still
A house cat traveling
A visual thrill
Disregarding property or fear
Meandering along, through
Between and to
A random destination near

Be the only, be the one
The moving focal point to see
The singular spectacle
The star attraction
Moving through it as you would
Only you, especially should
Occupy your neighborhood.

-Kelly Voelker

Face of Time

I am the face of time
Can you look at me
Without squirming inside?
My eyes change
As adjustments are made
The way you see me changes
You'll see.

I am the face of time
I no longer try to tell you
That which you wouldn't understand
Because you believe
As you take your stand
In the end result of your notions inclined

I don't speak because I know
I don't seek because I've grown
From the inside in patterns
I can't now express

I'm solid and patient
I'll wait 'til you've spent
Your years of currency
Towards what you expect
I'll be here for sure
When you come to me after
Wanting to know
If I've known your disasters

Wanting to borrow
The time that you've spent
Only to find you've been banking
Pure knowledge of
An infinite kind
Of folly and heartaches
No intentional design
Just a unique catharsis
From intentions sought blind.

-Kelly Voelker

The Roots of What is Sane

On a road trip or at home
A companion
Busies himself in the periphery
Talks about his day
Discusses his thoughts or
Sits silently nearby

In the corner
Orchids bloom
Plants grow
At work
a cat sleeps
on the inbox
at my desk

All the while I drift
Seeking newness
Seeking what's next
What new things
Are growing, appearing
As surprise ingredients
For this day and the next

My peripheral companions
I scarcely acknowledge
As I check digital inboxes
and appear in the feed
of my friends as they scroll
to see what new, what's old

It has to do with trust and hope
I concluded only to find
Trust means both

In whom and what I trust
Within my circle of home and
At my portal to the world
Simple domestic routine
Harmonious and pristine
Easy to maintain
The roots of what is sane.

-Kelly Voelker


Definition of Periphery:
 the perimeter of a circle or other closed curve

Definition of Trust:

1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

2. confident expectation of something; hope.

Definition of sane

1: proceeding from a sound mind : RATIONAL

2: mentally soundespecially : able to anticipate and appraise the effect of one's actions

3: healthy in body

January Village

Bring me soon

A fresh white sheet

With no festoons

A clear and open road

A bright fantastic snow

For my heart rests best

When options are new

Complications few

Chimneys on rooftops

Sending signals of

Peace and warmth

That those inside

Are provided for

And stood by

Always as a village does

Together, winter’s trudge

Through cold then slush

Inviting all to take solace

In the simple pleasures

Owned and honest.

-Kelly Voelker

An Appeal to the Sun

You are missed
The grey days extend
Far as the frontier horizon
Never seems to bend

We know you are contracted
To focus elsewhere more
During this time of the year
We understand the terms

Yet our eyes half open
Much the day long
As our filtered daylight
Seems like a flat backdrop

For some it simplifies
Their day's required tasks
Fewer details, fewer ties
Our known annual last reprise

I somehow feel neglected though
Your radiance is missed
A depth it warms

Although my lament is futile
To express it helps to ease the chill
Longing for your gentle gold
Cheer and joy when shown through snow
Making beautiful the cold.

-Kelly Voelker