Obituary of David M. Kelly

David M. Kelly, age 86, of Geneseo, died Monday, January 13, 2025 at the Livingston County Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Mt. Morris, NY. He was predeceased by his parents, Peter and Margaret Kelly and by his brother, William Kelly.

He is survived by his wife, Sylvia and four daughters, Jordu (Mark Sutliff) Kelly-Sutliff of Rochester, Colette Kelly of Avon, Willow (Michael Smith) Kelly of Seattle, WA, Esodie Geiger of Albuquerque, NM, grandchildren, Miles Kelly, Loryn Sutliff, Hayden Kelly and Cassandra Kelly, sister, Marilyn (George) Nugent of Lansing, MI, and several nieces and nephews.

David was born June 23, 1938 in East Grand Rapids, MI the son of Peter and Margaret Weisel Kelly. He was a graduate of Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids, MI. David earned his Bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and earned a Master's degree in Journalism before receiving his Master's in Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writers' Workshop Program at the University of Iowa. He taught in the English Departments of the University of Wisconsin - Stout and the University of Iowa before accepting the position of Poet in Residence at SUNY Geneseo in 1967 where he retired from the English Department in 2009.

David has an extensive body of published work which includes numerous books and other publications of his poetry, including appearances in the Paris Review and "Rolling Stone Magazine." He received many awards and accolades for his work. Notably, he was awarded National Endowment for the Arts fellowships for poetry and a fellowship from the New York State Council on the Arts. In addition, he received awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Poetry Society of America.

He was a teacher and a mentor to numerous student and aspiring writers as well as to many other established poets and writers.

David's volunteer work included teaching writing workshops at Attica Correctional Facility, in area Migrant Farmworker Camps through the BOCES Geneseo Migrant Center, and in local elementary schools through the Writers In Our Schools program.

No prior calling hours. Memorial Services will be held privately at the convenience of the family.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the ASPCA; The Wolf Conservation Center or the The Young Writers Project.

 

REMEMBERING YOU

 

When I close my eyes I can play back the film of you,

of your green shirt, your hand out and up

as you explain something, down as you reach for your glass.

 

I can play back your face with its voice behind it

and the unbeatable silence that fills a room you have left.

 

When I close my eyes I can see the piano as it lies

under both of your hands, under your head, turned down to

the keys, or your shoulders, too small for work;

 

Oh, I can taste the wind and the sound of an ocean

as it finds its shore, I can hear the songs that say no

and the songs that say yes, I can feel myself turning over

 

in the air like this, a paratrooper of the memory,

sleeper who falls through layers of darkness

 

and too many times I wake up, wondering why my left leg jerks,

afraid of the bodiless spaces I’ve stumbled on,

of the falling without landing that continues the night

 

through itself, after itself like the beast who is

lamb in front and leopard behind, who falls on his own neck.

 

And, like the man who reeaches into his pocket and finds

Nothing there but his children, or places himself

On a saddle that owns its own horse, I reach for this hand

 

With my own, my eyes close both of themselves, and I play

That film back again, as you have taught it to me:

First the shirt, then the hand, then the face; shirt, then the hand…