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163 · Mar 2022
Fear Not The Ides
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2022
Don’t make the time,
take the time
—life inside the difference

(Warsaw: March, 2022)
163 · Dec 2021
A Pox On Dorian Gray
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2021
The artist may tarnish,
but his art remains clean
His intention stays ageless,
his wishes pristine

Though rust covers over
what’s harder to see
The base is still there
—and the spirit still free

(Dreamsleep: December, 2021)
Wrap your poem
around nothing
its bow mocked
in relief
Each word
but a gesture
of empty
deceit

Wrap your verse
in a vacuum
where all speech
is abhorred
The power
of emptiness
alone
— and unscored

(Dreamsleep: May, 2025)
163 · Feb 2018
Unseeded
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
Fear, like prejudice,
  should not be handed down

To fallow the orchard
—or barren the ground

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
162 · Feb 2021
Accompli'
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2021
The final poem that I write…
a comment on itself

(Dreamsleep: February, 2021)
162 · Apr 2017
Still Lost
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2017
Though great were Joyce’s writings,
—his preference was to sing

Irish ballads and Welsh folk songs,
  his raucous nights to bring

With transience his dearest Muse,
  words speaking for themselves

His truth to roar from greater depths,
—still lost within himself

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
162 · Oct 2018
Searching In Vain
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2018
Carrying your heart
Inside my pocket
I traveled the world
Searching for love
When fate was unkind
You never complained
As I forgot to thank you
  —time after time

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2014)
162 · Feb 2017
Youth
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2017
Like cement before it dries,
Like a promise before it’s kept,
Like words spoken,
—yet unfulfilled

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2013)
162 · Jul 2018
Only Man Knows
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2018
Without there being  
A God
I could never question  
His existence
Through the power of
The question
Divinity shines
Do birds question?
Do apes question?
Do flowers question?
Only man questions…
—and only man knows why

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)
162 · Mar 2024
The Cry
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2024
That voice
from the wilderness
Nearer
than far
Close distant
reminder
We are
— who we are

(Dreamsleep: March, 2024)


Looking Back

One final look
one final stare
The face looking back
the face of despair
One final time
one final shout
Reflection an echo
— reflection a rout

(Dreamsleep: March, 2024)


Jumping The Shark

You can’t time a moment
by counting out loud
Or cross the horizon
not leaving the crowd
Or relive a memory
retention unclear
Or keep the Muse captive
— as silence draws near

(Dreamsleep: March, 2024)
162 · Feb 2017
The Future To The Past
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2017
To tell if you’re a Poet,
  from the first line to your last

Do your words connect with feeling,
—the future to the past

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
162 · Oct 2017
The Dark Abyss
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2017
He found what he was looking for,
   his shadow turned inside out

He moved beyond prescriptive cure,
  all questioning and doubt

He left the future-past behind,
  silhouette of all he’d missed

Impregnating the moment within himself
—to light the dark abyss

(Winston Salem, North Carolina: October, 2017)
162 · Jan 2019
No Turning Back
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2019
The earth cracked in Nepal
  with fire and shame

And thousands lay dead
  on the mountains and plains

Its crust was ripped open
  its heart now exposed

And lives were then claimed
  from a heaven deposed  

The story for mystics
  a legend say some

The day nature demanded
   for things that we’d done

Her climate infected
  her sky ringed in black

Our future as payment
   —with no turning back

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
162 · Aug 2018
Ode To Bobby
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2018
I never wanted to be famous,
   I only wanted to be great

I never promised you an answer
  even now as questions inflate

I traveled each and every highway
  as time kept changing once again

I never told you it was magic
  —just a wish blowing in the wind

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
162 · Nov 2022
Before The Flood
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2022
Death was invented
when life tired of the living
Eternity flexing
—the muscles of time

(Dreamsleep: November, 2022)
162 · Jul 2019
The Myth Of Fame
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2019
Fighting Tuesday’s boredom,
he decided to play a game

And because he’d never done it,
he decided to test his fame

He mouthed the most nonsensical words,
with imagery askant

Then wrote them down from right to left,
a backward forward rant

To see if then his audience,
could make sense of this ruse

He published in the New York Times,
for readers there to muse

To his surprise they cheered and raved,
and called his name out loud

And said that T.S. Eliot,
from his gravesite would be proud

They found deep meaning in every word,
each rooted as a farce

And saw an abstract Moby ****,
within his dark discourse

With pen in hand he pushed away,
and leaned back in his chair

And scratched his head in wonderment
—at the myth his fame could bear

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
162 · Apr 2024
Spiritual Wasteland
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2024
The righteous
may struggle
the righteous may fall
But Hell
only exists
— in a place without love

(1st Book Of Prayers: April, 2024)
162 · Mar 2022
The 8th Deadly Sin
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2022
Caught between
fear and despondency
it came as two trains
passing in the night
with him on the center rail
too frozen to choose
too barren to cry
too orphaned to commit
hearing the screams
from the dying polarity
tearing him from the center
of his emptiness
daring him to move
while forcing him to stay
the 8th deadly sin beset…
D-E-S-P-A-I-R-I-N-G
with the sound of the fury
the pressure and the heat
******* out the last vestige
of the man he had been
before all hope gave in to fear

(Septa’s R5: March, 2022)
162 · Jun 2019
Comedy Of Errors
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
Tweedledee
and
Tweedledum

The fairytale of George W. Bush
and
Barack Obama

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)
162 · Jun 2019
All Roads End
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
Laboring in obscurity...
  my pen a vagabond

Hitchhiking through my consciousness,
  my thumbprint worn and gone

Wishing past the hoping,
  spitting into the wind

All roads end in the desert
  —darkness my best friend

(Dreamsleep: June, 2019)
162 · Feb 2018
A Conflict Sure
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
As a walker,
  I like pavement

As a traveler,
  open space

As a thinker,
  I prefer logic

As a mystic,
  only grace

A conflict sure,
  all age foretells

My soul,
  this state decries

The answer dearest
  to the one

To the other
—always lies

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
162 · Nov 2023
Wages Of Sin
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2023
How much profit
have you made
on your greed

The bursar
of hell
wants to know

How has your
avarice
lived unrestrained

A glutton
those starving
in tow

How many times
have you dealt
from the bottom

Betting
the players
were blind

Sleeving that ace
that sends
you to hell

In debt
to the devil
—consigned

(Villanova University: November, 2023)
162 · Apr 2017
Disowned
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2017
Like leaves in the wind,
  words scatter about

From the woods and high grass,
  they call and they shout

“Come find us, come free us,
  we’re out here alone

“The Muse has deserted,
—and left us disowned”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
161 · Apr 2022
Overdue
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2022
Our mistakes are paid
in generations of denial
Old footsteps defaulting,
new judgments on file

The future in debt
to invoices past
tomorrow debentured
—arrears mounting fast

(Dreamsleep: April, 2022)
161 · Sep 2019
Big Picture Tease
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2019
Bogged down in the details,
truth is undone

Swimming through the corn flakes,
milk overruns

Looking at the forest,
seeing just trees

Life micromanaged
—big picture tease

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
161 · Jan 2022
Beyond The Flames
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2022
You can burn a book,
but never burn its truth
The flames sear the meaning,
tattooed at the root

Dousing this sacrilege,
my felony went untried
Escaping with the Muse in tow
—a fugitive decried

(Dreamsleep: January, 2022)
161 · Jun 2022
Spiritual Tenancy
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2022
Leasing eternity…
sorrowful joy
Rent paid in moments
death’s choirboy
Light deeded tenure
sight to regain
Conceptual escrow
—vision’s domain

(The New Room: June, 2022)
161 · Oct 2018
Three Messages
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2018
A Bigger Threat

Incompetence…
  much more dangerous than corruption
    —when skillfully applied

(Note To The President-October, 2013)


    A Greater Wrong

Within a lesser right
there is a greater wrong
   —begging to get out

(Villanova Pennsylvania:  Watching the 60 Minutes
Episode on Benghazi - October 27th, 2013)


          Implacability

As our resolve hardened
  —the viewing platform changed

  (Villanova Pennsylvania: October 28th, 2013)
161 · Feb 2017
All Heaven For An Ear
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2017
Life’s journey through the darkest night,
  my final verse is clear

Temptation writes now for itself,
—all heaven for an ear

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
161 · Apr 2021
Hermit Of...
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2021
All my friends are
virtual online
Arms-length fraternal,
distance sublime
Safe in my cave,
with cursor in hand
Downloading affection
—beyond all demand

(The New Room: April, 2021)
161 · Jun 2023
Voice Of Acceptance
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2023
An orphan of destiny
whose birthmark disowns
A life spent indentured
his spirit on loan

Caught in a time warp
unable to leave
The future in chains
contentment bereaved

A child of the moment
left on the streets
Time as his captor
in shoes of concrete

Forever unwelcome
a foster relayed
From instant to instant
his memory replays

An orphan of destiny
whose grief is reborn
In weeks unrelenting
his calendar scorned

Last chance at adoption
it calls from within
The voice of acceptance
—from him unto him

(Dreamsleep: June, 2023)
161 · Jul 2024
Tomorrow In Flames
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2024
Smells like
diesel
Tastes like
fire
Exit
burning
Kindled  
liars

First step
taken
Through the
flames
Ghosts left
melting
Tracks
— of pain

(Dreamsleep: July, 2024)
161 · Jul 2017
Final Sunset Commands
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2017
I played out my string,
  I ran my race

My chaps are frayed,
  but spurs in place

Still one horse to ride,
  with saddle in hand

That last trail awaits
—final sunset commands

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2017)
161 · Jun 2023
Once & Again
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2023
Little streams
make bigger rivers

Words unspoken
hide the truth

Where you start
is where you’ll finish

Fate embedded
—at the root

(Dreamsleep: June, 2023)
161 · Nov 2016
The Leaves Turn
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2016
Growing simpler with
   each passing year

 The leaves turn,
    and my mind releases

  Freeing what it’s taken
    a lifetime to acquire

   Freeing what only this moment
     can understand

  (Grantham N.H. January, 2012)
161 · Dec 2023
Last Opus
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2023
Paint in your heart
the colors symphonic
Images dancing
each note brushed with fire
Clapping and cheering
rhythmatic ovations
The prisms last opus
—concerto’s desire

(Septa R5: December, 2023)
161 · Oct 2016
Lazy Susan Blues
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2016
Round and round,
went the memories of pain

As the joy slid off,
in an unending refrain

Round and round,
  the promises spun

And one by one,
  into lies they’ve become

Round and round
  my heart was passed by

Your eyes looking distant,
  mine alone left to cry

Round and round,
  my life came and went

In blind revolution,
—more borrowed than lent

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2016)
161 · May 2017
False Limits
Kurt Philip Behm May 2017
You have to cross the perimeter,
  for your border to expand

Stepping over the line,
  of yourself to demand

You have to follow that inner voice,
  calling out sacred and new

Rejecting false limits,
  on your way to the truth

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2017)
161 · Sep 2022
Highway 104 Blues
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2022
Halfway to Tucumcari
the light began to wane
Halfway to Tucumcari
the guilt turned into blame

Halfway to Tucumcari
I heard that voice again
Halfway to Tucumcari
—running from the end

(Chama New Mexico: August, 2022)
161 · May 2019
The Last Hospice
Kurt Philip Behm May 2019
Once the words are written down
  —you'll never die alone

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)
161 · May 2021
Simultaneity
Kurt Philip Behm May 2021
Time,
the moving image
of eternity

Having no
beginning
and no end

Confounding
every mind
that begs to question

Shaping
all there is
within its bend

(Dreamsleep: May, 2021)
161 · Sep 2016
In The Wine
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2016
I offered up my truest and best love  
  for you

Leaving wishes on the altar  
  for everyone else

A first and last supper combined  
  into one

Judas getting fat from a promise  
  denied

Starved within the memory of a feast  
  uneaten

My bread forever disappearing   
  in the wine

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)
161 · May 2019
101 — 401
Kurt Philip Behm May 2019
Poetry 101:
“Write what you know—write what you feel”

Poetry 401:
“Write what you know—write what you feel”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)
161 · Jan 2019
My Fate Unsecured
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2019
Overspending the bulk
  of my temporal capital

Hourly deficits climb
  and pile into notes

Debts I’ll never repay
  stored in vaults I can’t find

Words lying uncashed,
  as I write overdrawn  
  
Pledging to go back
  and re-sign what’s untendered

I’m unforgiven—overdue,
   my fate unsecured

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
161 · Apr 2021
Kindling The Fire
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2021
You can’t think your way
into a poem
Or feel your way
out of a verse

They first must conspire…
your spirit inspired
Words no longer forced
—or perverse

(The New Room: April, 2021)
160 · May 2022
Libertas
Kurt Philip Behm May 2022
The present is in your future,
the present in your past
The present a sacred mystery,
its moment to unmask
The present is in your memory,
the present in your dreams
The present neither begins nor ends
—eternity set free

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)
160 · Mar 2021
Grand Theft Tiempo
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2021
Larcenous freedom,
mask so divine
Hiding in plain sight
—stealing from time

(The New Room: March, 2021)
160 · Aug 2016
Deception
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2016
Yesterday and tomorrow
 The same impostor,
  —wearing different masks

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)
160 · Mar 2017
First Bite
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2017
Literary vignette,
  snippet of truth

A little bit pregnant,
—baby’s first tooth

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
160 · Jan 2019
Beyond Her shield
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2019
Using me as a weapon
  and not a shield

The Muse would
  parry and ******

Attacking with a message
  that wouldn’t yield

She prowled my light hours
  in disgust

The sword of my fathers
  hers by right

To ensure
  tonight’s salvation

Collapsing the moment
  reversing my sight

Each cut
  a revelation

All time was dead
  its hours uncast

As she thundered out a
  mystery

Her lightning destroying
  all futures past

My soul
  —in forced recovery

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
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