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 Oct 2022 ju
William J Donovan
Honesty is a drunk poet
no fear of retribution
**** my reputation
rhyming a solution
truth will not submit
to bluebird censorship.
Are you keeping
those thoughts to yourself,
sleeping on pillows of guilt,
why?
 Oct 2022 ju
Kurt Philip Behm
Do you have five fingers
without a fist

A hope that lingers
a wanton wish

Do your letters jumble
beneath the words

Does your breath cut off
before it’s heard

Does silence threaten
what can’t begin

With empty horror
begetting sin

Whose grip wraps tightly
o’er digits limp

Your soul indentured
—creation’s gimp

(Dreamsleep: October, 2022)
 Oct 2022 ju
Kurt Philip Behm
A motorcycle and leather bag,
  life seemed so perfect then

When everything I cared about…
  my backseat was for them

The world was such a smaller place,
  ideas grandiose

To wander aimlessly I did,
  and never be morose

The road became my staunchest friend,
  new places passing by

Those girls I met, the love I spent,
  the promise in their eyes

That special place my memory held,
  for years now time sets free

A motorcycle—a leather bag,
  and all that was to be

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
 Oct 2022 ju
Kurt Philip Behm
After Midnight
The narcissists fall
After Midnight
A new lyric calls

After Midnight
The bugles will blow
After Midnight
There’s more left to know

After Midnight
The lizards collect
After Midnight
All tales to reflect

After Midnight
The ticking won’t stop
After Midnight
The bottom has topped

After Midnight
A cancerous tome
After Midnight
Malignancy known

After Midnight
Betray and deceive
After Midnight
Alone in the siege

After Midnight
All footsteps fall deaf
After Midnight
Last palate uncleft

After Midnight
New story to front
After Midnight
A star for the dunce

After Midnight
The comets rebel
After Midnight
The coroners yell

After Midnight
A suit made of steel
After Midnight
Its melting reveals

After Midnight
The plain and the slack
After Midnight
There’s no turning back

After Midnight
A sacred oath sworn
After Midnight
All memory forlorn

After Midnight
The wheels bend and turn
After Midnight
Lost vision relearns

After Midnight
False birth is stillborn
After Midnight
Old vestments are torn

After Midnight
The here and the now
After Midnight
That one sacred cow

After Midnight
Past-Future unseen
After Midnight
—new eyes that believe

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)
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