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

When Progress Receded

Towns once essential
Grew along
Railroads crossing countryside
The newspaper there
An essential bearer of opinion
Open proper government
Order and guide to
Entertainment, social circles
Mercantile and market tides

Laying out an array of
Births and deaths
Meetings and borders
Columns of news
Eagerly awaited
Marking the weeks
Unabated

When progress exceeded
The horses went first
Replaced by machinery
Autos and hearse

When progress receded
Railroad torn out
Storefronts abandoned
Activity ceased
Streets and mortar
Crumble away
Neither passion nor care
Can spare the dismay

The newspaper has no
Word for good bye
No headlines reserved
For itself but
NOTICE I'm going
Dispelled as a proof.

-Kelly Voelker

Each Night

The land dims as the

Sky still glows

The sun walks slowly

Past the most Western sea

Simultaneously

The blackened Eastern seaboard

Ignites in flickering patches

Then advances like a front Westward

The villages lit thusly 

As this steady wave of night

Moves evenly West and the

Humans within their dwellings rest

The land itself releases its wild

To hunt and feed 

Away from humans

Instincts freed

The fog and dew

Refresh and vitalize

With manna for

It's creatures who

Balance what has been disturbed

An entire planet fixed and cured.

-Kelly Voelker

Pain Runs Usually Parallel

I used to be good at cryin'
I'd process much with tears
I've lost my old connection
To the storming of the heart

I feel like lately events
Will soon cause me to falter
Start crying loose the scars
I've ignored, denied and barred

As pain runs usually parallel
But sometimes wants to cross.

-Kelly Voelker

My Quill is Bent

My quill is bent
My instincts went
After those who
Are paid to persuade

My sentiments are spent
Reeled in and past
Where they should have

Can I just feel and grieve
What's being lost
In this great void
Those who I cannot see
Or engage with enough

My heart is helpless to assuage
Any fear or panic that's engaged
In those around me waiting
The results far past the present fog

Let's clean and straighten what we have
Exiting the excess salve
Of which we've often gotten used to
Excess comfort, that'll teach you.

-Kelly Voelker

What Ensues Doesn't Matter

How gentle is the voice
Of the first person to awaken
Creeping softly onto the stage
Where no sound visits
Where no actions await

How magnificent is the scent
Of the first smell to befriend
Soon the vital gurgling
The coffee pot is urging
More of the spirit to commence

The sunrise validates
The heart as it romanticizes
How precious all is
The frost on the rooftops
The stillness within

How short is this period of silence
Such singular pleasures
The beginning of each story
Each day is the start of
Another page or a new chapter
Gentle silence the escort
What ensues doesn't matter.

-Kelly Voelker