Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
144 · Jun 2018
Memory The Master
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2018
Truth is a title,
  reason is a slave

Love is a mistress
  forgiveness, bed unmade

The past for excuses
  the future willed in vain

Memory still the master
—of what goes round again

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2018)
144 · Feb 2021
Dew On The Lilacs
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2021
Surrogate reality,
divorced from what’s real

The news on your cable,
and movies conceal

The brands that you purchase,
the labels you wear

Convince you of something,
the ‘Emperor’ shares

While consciously vacant,
unconsciously lost

The dew on the lilacs,
impermanent frost

Like quicksand it’s calling,
disguised as a beach

Your essence is falling,
and far out of reach

As peacocks left strutting,
unable to fly

Your time ever wasted
—and waving goodbye

(Bryn Mawr College: February, 2021)
143 · Aug 2018
'At Bay'
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2018
Start looking outside your frame of reference
  for that which stands you alone

Stop longing for praise or high endorsement
  things only borrowed or loaned

Start feeling those words you preach unto others
   no longer idling yourself away

Stop blaming the time and the message it brings
  —for those excuses that keep you ‘at bay’

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
143 · Dec 2019
End Of All Ends
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2019
The ****** footsteps of man

EXTINCTION

A different kind of death

(Dreamsleep: November, 2019)
143 · Dec 2021
Coup D'etat
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2021
Fashioned in enameled vacancy,
the gentry’s veil was pierced

Exposed unclean, all vices seen,
through fury sharp and fierce

The folly of their blasphemy,
whose cover all but blown

With blood to flow from ramparts high
—once driven from the throne

(Dreamsleep: December, 2021)
143 · May 13
Waste In The Fire
Trimming fat
off his soul
he searched
for the bone

With every
new slicing
his consciousness
honed

All waste in
the fire
to sizzle
and fry

Excesses
like smoke
rise forgotten
— incised

(Dreamsleep: May, 2025)
143 · Feb 2019
Another Spring
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2019
The string is broken,
  the past is lost

A road forgotten
  late winter’s frost

Memory clearing
  new thoughts to spin

All distance thawing
  —another Spring

(Court At K.O.P: February, 2016)
143 · Jun 2017
Angel Guardian
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2017
In the still of night, between the sheets, she came to
  me again, her mission clear, I must adhere—and let
  the dream begin

My fears and hope she then ignored, and covered both
  with dust, to mask the past and future lies, whose
  weakness I entrust

In the dimming light her wings were spread, as sheet
  and blanket flew, and from her back, a world
  estranged—from what I thought I knew

She burned my eyes and entered deep, to places I
  had banned, and far within what I’d become—she
  let go of my hand

Now looking back, I see the dust, it marks my entry
  clear, and covers up my last denial—and buries
  every fear

The dream to end, my soul to mend, new eyes to open
  wide, but when they close, my spirit knows—the truth
  now sleeps inside

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)
143 · Apr 13
Butterfly's Wander
Once upon a time
the old songs were new
On prairies unplanted
invaders were few

Where rivers rolled onward
no ferries or towns
All riverboat minstrels
new ages impound

The time of the season
unmeasured refrain
And cursed belladonna
tomorrow to reign

As butterfly’s wander
o’er questions unasked
A dark shrouded answer
—  the future unmasks

(Dreamsleep: April, 2025)
143 · Apr 2024
Niagara Falls
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2024
When form betroths function
— the honeymoon awaits

(Dreamsleep: April, 2024)
143 · Nov 2021
Cry Of The Flute
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2021
Lost in today,
found in tomorrow
tears roll like silver
lace beaded swans
Chasteness wanton,
timestamped forever
music absolving
—calling beyond

(Dreamsleep: November, 2021)
143 · May 16
Inkwells
What stays
unwritten
silence claims
forever
— to remain unchanged

(Dreamsleep: May, 2025)
143 · Mar 20
Circling The Square
If I give you
today
Will you give up
tomorrow

If I ask
you to wander
Can direction
be saved

If I say
that I love you
Will the words
meld the seasons

If I surrender
this moment
Can forever
— be gone

(The New Room: March, 2025)
143 · Jun 2023
Abandoning The Watchtower
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2023
Dylan got bitten
hard by fame
and though wounded
continues to tour

A thundering
majesty
in makeup and veils
jesters by the score

Divorced from
his wandering
a pilgrim of dreams
the past too great a cost

A caricature
of genius gone
eyes clouded over
—Camelot lost

(The New Room: June, 2023)
143 · Feb 2017
An Angels Hymn
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2017
The light burns brightest,
  that burns within

The embers warm,
  as memory dims

That final verse,
  an Angel’s hymn

The light burns brightest,
—that burns within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
143 · Feb 2021
Time Frozen Deep
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2021
Buried in the leaves of a Fall gone by,
memories wait for Spring

Entombed in hope as Winter reclaims,
till birds return to sing

Cold and dark, the seeds of change,
lay dormant ill disposed

Snow is falling, the wind blows hard,
escape routes all but closed

Hearing new footsteps walking above,
the weight compressed and strained

My sentence malingers, time frozen deep
—the cold to ease the pain

(Dreamsleep: February, 2021)
143 · Jul 2018
Fear Turns Into Song
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2018
For forty years I walked alone
  and lived on borrowed time

And thought each year that came and went
  would be my very last

The ending close as days rolled on
  tomorrow left unrhymed

Caught looking back or then ahead
  the moments never fast

For forty years my steps were soft
  the eggshells cold and hard

With broken dreams to mark my way
  and rocks my garden thronged

But now my mind has been released
  the past and future charred

With time undone, all reference lost
  —my fears all turned to song

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)
143 · Nov 2024
Verba Cantus
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2024
Stealing from a thief
those phrases gone
Scales rebalance
words in song

Once recaptured
then released
The chorus joyful
— the world at peace

(The New Room: September, 2024)
143 · Jul 2021
The — Edge
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2021
Ideas…
cut glass of perception,
Obsidian tomorrows
—etching today

(Dreamsleep: July, 2021)
143 · Feb 2019
Throne Of Pain
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2019
Broken feelings…
My chest of gold
A torments ransom
No trinkets sold
The treasure bounteous
Walls lined with blood
Its hurt and pain
I have withstood
The jewels lack sparkle
But shimmer deep
Their cut and clarity
My soul to keep
And words if cheapened
Must leave this throne
As the lid reopens
  —on the pain I own

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2016)
143 · Jun 2017
Caught In The Jaws
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2017
Reaching into the demon’s mouth,
  the search entraps and burns

With every click and byte we choose,
  the less we seem to learn

Our privacy we save as bait,
  the wolves set free to run

Stripped and naked, to live as prey,
  —our pasts now theirs to hunt

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)
143 · Apr 2019
Solus Ipse
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
Not like her,
And
Not like him,
And
Not like you
  —I write!

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
143 · Jul 2018
Prisoner Of The Light
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2018
Lay your feelings out there,
  put them on the line

Send your fear back down to hell
  forever to remind

Evil in submission
  darkness wrapped in fright

Its voice silenced with your words
—prisoner of the light

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
143 · Jan 2022
Until The Mirror Cracks
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2022
The ego of the atheist,
himself the standard bearer
Where power of a mortal mind,
inflates beyond repair

His facts he weds intensely,
dimension fencing in
What’s not explained, he must profane,
all emptiness within

Whose formulas and strictures,
his Rosary to proclaim
What can’t be solved, new facts resolve,
dismissive in his shame

The ending predetermined,
his choices lock the door
Alone, his dialectic dies
—naked to implore

(The First Book Of Prayers: January, 2022)
143 · Jan 2022
Jail Break
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2022
Hiding between imprisoned lines,
a fugitive of verse
turning my back on pleadings made,
musings that amerce  

The lengthy sentence of my mind,
fleeing my recall
to leave the spoken word confined
—released to scale the wall

(Dreamsleep: January, 2022)
143 · Jan 2019
The Voice Of An Age
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2019
Poetry is different
  when spoken than read

The words more musical
  outside my head

No longer imprisoned
  or held on the page

Their freedom unharnessed
  —the voice of an age

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2105)
143 · Mar 2017
Palette Free
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2017
Musical words and painted phrases,
  dance around my memory

Reds and Blues and vivid Gold’s,
  rush across my bridge of dreams

Stream-streaking into the sky,
  their song a magic portrait

Clouds chanting in vibrant hues,
—as the light sings palette free

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)
143 · Jan 2017
This Moment Now
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2017
January 1st,
  a crescent moon

The past crossed over,
  the future looms

A New Year dawns,
  as daylight breaks

With wishes fresh,
  new oaths to take

Feeling lighter,
  old burdens gone

New lyrics written,
  a familiar song

The year to bring,
  what fates allow

As wonder ages,
—in this moment now

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2017)
142 · Oct 2016
His Voice Again To Call
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2016
The Crucifixion self-endowed
  by the greatest of all men

His death then chosen, not denied,
  his message not forsaken

His torment was a sacrifice,
  an offering to all

Our souls to rise through bread and wine,
  his voice again to call

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)
142 · Jun 2018
Hell Upon Earth
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2018
The livery on fire
  its horses set free

Misery beckons
  the future to bleed

The gates are broke open
  all streets painted red

Death has awakened
  life dragged from its bed

One bugle is left
  blowing perdition’s melee

All swords are unsheathed,
  terror sharpens dismay

Tomorrow unpromised
  today but a curse

The monster has cometh
  —a hell upon earth

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)
142 · May 2020
Abandoned Tears
Kurt Philip Behm May 2020
I can’t cry anymore,
or mention your name

I can’t sleep through the night
with fury and shame

I can’t give anymore,
stakes gone from my claim

I can’t cry anymore
—tears salting the blame


(Dreamsleep: May, 2020)
142 · Apr 2019
Redemption Near
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
Did you waste your life
  just making money

Did you eat the bread
  and not the honey

Did you sell your soul
  as your children watched

Was your heart left cold
  in a tinderbox

Were your excuses rich
  and your reasons poor

Did you wake up full
  and still ask for more

Were your blessings shunned,
  as you scratched and clawed

Saying: “No harm done,
  I never broke the law”

Were your teeth all straightened
  and your motives bent

Were your eyes detached
  from what heaven sent

Were your memories lost
  in some dead refrain

As a lonely footnote
  to another’s name

If you had one chance
  to re-right these wrongs

Would you hide in silence
  or break out in song

With your soul imprisoned,
  the choice is clear

All joy awaits
  —redemption near

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
142 · Jul 2021
Breaking Free
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2021
Living at maximum RPM,
the world outside surrounds me
Setting traps and digging holes
to slow my motion down

I bob and weave, increasing speed,
the pitfalls deep and mighty
Hunted for the threat I pose
—their treadmills overwound

(Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania: July, 2021)
142 · Nov 2023
Nunc Domum
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2023
Day by day
hour by hour
minute by minute
the moments return
Calling me softly
calling me inward
calling my name
—calling me home

(Dreamsleep: November, 2023)
142 · Jan 2023
Feeling Its Weight
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2023
Waiting with answers
to questions unasked,
a vacuum state appears

Smelling the ozone
feeling its weight,
all time reduced to tears

A newness reborn
a prophecy filled,
the words await unsaid

As what was created
before it was made
—returns to raise the dead

(Dreamsleep: January, 2023)
142 · Nov 2021
Kingdom Of One
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2021
Opulent solitude,
how rich it becomes
alone in one’s shadow,
times riches in sum

To revel monastic
o’er sultans and earls,
whose joyous reflection
—your diamonds and pearls

(Dreamsleep: November, 2021)
142 · Oct 2021
Short Straw
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2021
Eenie, Meenie, Miny, Mo,
drums beat loud, a finger shows
Tigers prowl within our reach
—on tippytoes our fate impeached

(Dreamsleep: October, 2021)
142 · Aug 2019
Through Tears
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2019
She wiped the tears
from the eyes of tomorrow

Her present uncovered
—her vision refound

(Superior Wisconsin: August, 2019)
142 · Dec 2021
Invisible Ink
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2021
Before the writing,
collecting memories
silent endowments
pages without lines

Before the writing,
I traveled a dreamer
imagining truant
what tomorrow defines

Before the writing,
the words clouded over
passing in bunches
like birds on the wing

Before the writing,
the wind was my compass
direction e’er changing
intention to sing

Before the writing,
my spirit a bachelor
no phrases to husband
no verses to wed

Before the writing,
immersed in tomorrow
my freedom untethered
—to go where it led

(Dreamsleep: December, 2021)
142 · Jan 2022
Rod Serling Remembered
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2022
What’s in a photograph
in reference to time
The events as portrayed
or what they call to mind

Focused on tomorrow,
the picture is lame
Its history frozen
—the future unframed

(Dreamsleep: January, 2022)
142 · Apr 2019
Eight Questions
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
Will there ever come a time
  when a moment doesn’t matter

Will there ever come a date
  when the days won’t connect

Will there ever come a phrase
   its words devoid of meaning

Will there ever come a song
  whose melody won’t play

Have you let what you celebrate
  turn into celebrity

Have your messages been transformed
  into a billboard or sign

Have you become a lonely caricature
  of a free and lasting symbol

Have your words become mere chatter
   —in a pandering for fame

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
142 · Jun 2019
Beyond Your Grasp
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
One of life's challenges
is to find your own speed

Where travel is constant,
destination in sight

Too fast,
and yesterday abandons your future

Too slow,
and memory stretches beyond your grasp

(Airplane to Richmond 10/14/2016)
142 · Jan 2019
If You Ask...
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2019
If you ask the right questions
  expect silence to answer

When begging for the truth
  —your poverty shows

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2019)
142 · Jul 2018
Now Heaven Shone
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2018
At eighteen,
  I thought that I could write my way to heaven
  I’d waltz right in, announce my name, and sit
  down on its throne

At twenty-five,
  I sat in jail to rot in isolation
  my freedom gone, my will deformed,
  but worst of all alone

At thirty-five,
  I thought that I could write my way to riches
  the screenplay bombed, all doors were closed,
  and wounds there freshly mined

At forty-eight,
  I met a man who told me I was lost
“By Looking Out The Words Won’t Come,
  Your Truth You’ll Never Find…”

By fifty-five,
  my path was set—all trails converged as one
  the entrance closed, the exit marked,
  a road of denser stone

By sixty-eight,
  all verse within, the lines reset to music
  the darkness gone, my words set free
    —all light now heaven shone

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)
142 · Jul 2019
First Bite
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2019
Literary vignette,
snippet of truth

A little bit pregnant
—baby’s first tooth

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
142 · Jun 23
Orphan Of Love
The psychic tattoo
of paternity
darker than
fate’s blackest ink

The guilted knife
of maternity
cutting you
near to the brink

A prodigy alone
in the shadows
offspring of
scorn and disdain

Begging for love
and acceptance
from parents
— called heartache and pain

(Dreamsleep: June, 2025)
142 · Mar 2022
Song Of The Swans
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2022
The world has forever
outgrown itself,
its pants no longer fit

The cuffs too short,
the waist too tight,
its inseam worn and ripped

The fabric that
it used to grow,
lay barren in the field

The magic that
it used to show,
a sleight of hand reveal

The world has forever
outgrown itself,
its future running out

The earth exposed,
the sky on fire
—all life but hand to mouth

(Dreamsleep: March, 2022)
142 · Sep 2022
Arthurian Birthright
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2022
Time waxes poetic
on a distant battlefield

The warrior a sage
—whose blood we all share

(Dreamsleep: September. 2022)
142 · Jul 2022
Praesagium
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2022
Clouds hovered
the sky wept
grief as thunder rolled

Ripping the sky
lightning warned
—prophecy foretold

(Dreamsleep: July, 2022)
141 · Jan 3
An Angel Appears
Battling each
paradigm
I wandered alone
Straight into
the maelstrom
of thundering tomes

My nose
pointed North
spitting into the wind
Decision once made
a line crossed
from within

Reciting
a dogma
both precious and torn
The words fill my spirit
once lost
and forlorn

Chasing a promise
that’s eluded
so long
An Angel appears
to whose will
— I belong

(The New Room: January, 2025)
Next page