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117 · Jul 2022
And They Leave Us Alone...
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2022
Wannabees always seem to know
who the really tough guys are
Their carriage indefinable
though marked by every scar

The pheromones of conquest
carried by the chosen few
Who rumble through the tallest grass
—swallowing what they chew

(Dreamsleep: July, 2022)
117 · Nov 2023
Something For Gregg
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2023
I was somewhere deep in Kansas
on a Triumph 69’
When your song came on the jukebox
and hit me from behind
I was headed for a bad place
and cared for nothing much
When I heard the song ‘Melissa,’
my heart and soul were struck
Entranced, your lyrics captured me
  like nothing had before
When you sang about ‘The Gypsy,’
I headed for the door
But something made me turn around
and grab another dime
Ten more times in that diner’s booth,
still lost within your rhyme
Now back inside the bus station
and sleeping on the bench
I scratch your words into the wood,
last dollar gone and spent
My bike outside against the wall,
the kickstand was long gone
And out of gas, my hopes were dashed…
that unrelenting song
Waking up at ten unsettled,
across the street I pushed
The sign said Triumph-BSA,
the owner Mister Cush
He asked, “What’s with your motor,”
I said “Nothing—out of gas
“But worse I’m out of money,
can I sell the bike for cash?
“Would you please just buy my Triumph,
I know it’s old and worn
“It got me here through seven states,
runs great both cold and warm”
“I’ll pay three hundred on the spot,
on that can we agree?”
We walked back up inside his shop,
three bills he handed me
I thought about a bus ride home,
my thumb looked more in line
Facing East on old route 50,
my heart in deep decline
The first big rig that came along
was bound for York Pa.
The driver said “If you like dogs,
I’ll take you on your way”
In York I caught a fast ride out,
two ‘dodgers’ going North
And got back home with hat in hand,
your song to guide me forth
Two years then passed, I met my wife,
four more and our first child
We named her ‘Sweet Melissa,’
her dad back from the wilds
Now forty years have come and gone,
my beard and hair both gray
I owe you Gregg, and always will,
your song, her name—that day

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

For Gregg Allman
I sent this to Gregg in May, 2017.  It's on his website.
We spent two days together in Richmond Virginia in
a blizzard in 1982.
117 · Mar 2023
To Lady Day
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2023
Bars of misfortune
singing dark memories

Nightmares once stillborn
—beguiling again

(Dreamsleep: March, 2023)
117 · Nov 2016
Asked—Unanswered
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2016
Poetry should never answer,
—more questions than it asks

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)
117 · Feb 2017
Once The Present Has Died
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2017
Can a back door open,
  when the front door shuts

Can truth escape,
  when death interrupts

Can an exit be made,
  main entrance denied

Can tomorrow live on,
—once the present has died

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
117 · Jun 2022
And Coveted Sings...
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2022
Love is the freest
most precious of things

To give without cost
and coveted sings

Love to be spoken
and heard unreserved

To harness the wind
—and fly like a bird

(Dreamsleep: June, 2022)
117 · Sep 2024
Change In The Wishing
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2024
Is thinking sufficient
to turn us around

Cerebral in nature
as problems surround

For thousands of years
our nose to the stone

We’ve battled our nature
and mostly we drone

The answers elude us
the questions forbear

While sins of our fathers
live on in the air

The harder we toil
the greater we fail

All change in the wishing
— our fortunes entail

(Saint Davids Pennsylvania: September, 2024)
117 · Jul 2018
A Knight's Ransom
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2018
Nobility,
  in debt to all virtue
   —on loan to the truth

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)
117 · Feb 20
Breathless
Often
in the space
of words unspoken
— truth most dearly hides

(The New Room: February, 2025)
117 · Jun 2019
Fait Accompli'
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
A gift or obligation,
  the Poet signed his name

A promise wrapped in silence,
  decision masked by pain

One choice among the many,
  within salvation lies

The victors lay unspoiled
  —with truth to live or die

(Dreamsleep: June, 2019)
117 · Jul 2022
Too Late
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2022
It was just another concert
in just another town
Each face a mirror looking back
my words they sang out loud

Another lonely tour date
another strange hotel
The music plays but not for me
—too late to ring the bell

(Dreamsleep: July, 2022)
117 · Apr 2019
That Final Breath
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
What describes a Poet,
  let me count the ways

To once describe a morning,
  emerging through the haze

What describes a season,
  its leaves from green to brown

What describes a heartbeat,
  when your lover can’t be found

What describes a reason,
  with excuses cast away

What describes a child’s laugh,
  joyous on display

What describes a place called home,
  to a soldier sent to war

And what describes that final breath
  —to an old man wanting more

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)
117 · Aug 2022
Closing The Circle
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2022
Unwriting each poem
word by word
My thoughts again
—pristine

(Dreamsleep: August, 2022)
117 · Feb 2018
The New Song
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
The answers deceive
The questions stand
The dancers leave
To track the sand
Round robin conspiracy
Threatens us all
The letters all lower case
The finality TALL
Butting my head
Inside of the line
Where does it end, Father
Maybe this time
The black and the white of it
The tall and the short
The poisons the same
One knife in the pork
New action may draw
What inaction restrains
What once again, once again
Once again drains
So back to the future
Back to the past
Choose not your weapon
You’ve had your last laugh
The wind’s in the vestibule
New breath in the hymn
Your darkness commands
What the light needs to win
The seven unsavory
The eight still to roast
The turkey unstuffed
Leaving room for the ghost
So ride away, ride away
Ride away all
The damage inflicted
This hammer a mall
The blood’s in the alleyway
Life beckons on
Death has been slaughtered
—as begins the new song

(Rosemont Pennsylvania: August, 2014)
117 · Mar 4
Founders Ink
Defense of freedom
takes a courage
rare and dearly won

Through wars endured
with tyrants scourged
and despots on the run

The words in place
by Founders Ink
on parchment
closely held

As children roam
the halls of light
with precepts
— deeply felt

(The New Room: February, 2025)
117 · Nov 2021
Stone Etchings
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2021
In judgment we are sentenced…
its verdict zero-sum

(The New Room: November, 2021)
117 · Jun 2018
The Talisman
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2018
Persuader inside me
  dark sweetness cajoling

A talisman dangles
—the present foretold

(Las Vegas: January, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2024
We need to remember our heritage and the reason we celebrate the 4th of July.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Their story. . .

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants.

Nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated.

But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton , Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General
George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.

The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.

Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!
116 · Feb 2019
Hell Upon Earth
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2019
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)
116 · Aug 2019
Moments Left Unfelt
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2019
I often sit here waiting,
for truant words to come

To chase the thoughts now fleeting,
messages on the run

These days I sit impatient,
as I wonder to myself

Are time and memory draining
—precious moments left unfelt

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)
116 · Feb 2017
Eternity Has Its Say
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2017
“You’re only as strong as your weakest link,”
  the Postman said out loud

“Space creates room to get lost or expand”
  he shouted out so proud

True wisdom appears when it chooses the time,
  it has always been that way

It’s the ear out-of-tune that hears only the wind,
  —when eternity has its say

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
116 · Jul 2018
With Grace Sent
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2018
I often walk a mile
  to go just fifteen steps

I often write ten pages
  for that line that dries and sets

I often talk a blue streak
  hoping for one special word

And often love beyond my heart
  —with grace sent from our Lord

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
116 · May 2019
Albert's Shadow
Kurt Philip Behm May 2019
In his science
  he wrestled

With my verse
  just the same

As his numbers
  refigured

The words
  I renamed

Two roads
  to one place

Distant windows,
  one light

Time still to
  confound

Albert’s shadow
  —so bright

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)
116 · Sep 2019
Every Moment
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2019
What do you use
to measure success

Is it gold
or a memory that shines

Your wealth in a bank note
or choices now free

Every moment
—more precious with time

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2019)
116 · Jun 2023
Thoughts Go Away
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2023
If you write everyday
sometimes you get lucky
As words come together
and thoughts go away

The feelings take over
as silence retraces
What memory has bartered
—your fortune to say

(The New Room: June, 2023)
116 · Nov 2016
The One Unknown
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2016
The only sin uncommitted,
—is the one unknown

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
116 · Mar 2022
The Mark Of Cain
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2022
Death twisted history,
guilts conferee
the liar unmasked
revenge by decree

His legions unfurling,
their flag through the smoke
the volunteers hailing,
preserving the hope

With dark days upon them,
no fear to be found
the women, the children,
in place underground

Around every corner,
behind every door
their liberty sacred,
today—evermore

(Warsaw: March, 2022)
116 · Oct 2024
In Service To ...
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2024
Conscripting my dreams
attacking my doubts

Each wish is a soldier
whose loyalty shouts

Enlisting new feelings
with hope as my guide

A liege to the future
— where time will abide


(Dreamsleep: October, 2024)
116 · Sep 2022
Reclamation
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2022
Fleeing into solitude
his excuses were lost
eyes pointing inward
embracing the cost

Intrepidly deeper
the cave to unmask
as demons and angels
are slayed in his path

Alone and rebirthing
both fury and rage
a hero emerges
rejecting the sage

Released from self-loathing
all ego begone
polarity crumbling
the right and the wrong

From out of the lake
of reflection to rise
a thunder triumphant
o’er truth and its lies

To wander eternal
in godlike refrain
old dogma retendered
—his spirit reclaimed

(Dreamsleep: September, 2022)
116 · May 2021
Darkness Brings
Kurt Philip Behm May 2021
We went through that night
like so many others

Waiting for the rain

And one more chance
to bring it all home

Hope to wash the pain

(Dreamsleep: May, 2021)
116 · Jun 2022
New Patriots
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2022
Anarchy upon us
in less than ten years…
Nothing can stop it
neither hoping nor tears

The Founding Father’s
warning to ring…
“Revolution calling”
Jeffersonian brings

The mop or the handle
our floor will be cleaned
The face of new patriots
living unseen

Blood will be sacrificed
discord to reign
But out of its torrent
—freedom reclaimed

(Independence Hall: June, 2022)
116 · Apr 2019
Crossing Over
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
Memory is a river,
bound for the sea

One waterfall to cross
  —death’s waters to free

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)
116 · Jun 2019
The Mask
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
Do you synthesize your anger,
do you cauterize the burn

Do you anesthetize the wonder,
as your dreams are drugged and scorned

Is your judgment tempered badly,
with emotion fiery hot

Is your vision colored madly,
by your choices—sold and bought

Does your music play reclusive,
do your words fall off the page

Does ego **** your last excuse
—that mask you can’t explain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)
116 · Jan 31
A Valentine Card
Style and grace
I thought I knew
Until I spent
my life with you

The joy you shower
my luck to claim
The love you flower
— my hearts refrain

(Dreamsleep: January, 2025)
116 · Apr 2024
Collateral Damage
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2024
Words left borrowed
heavy on the heart
Actions defaulting
stillborn and dark

Pawning the foundling
orphan on loan
Love unbequested
— dying alone

(Dreamsleep: April, 2024)
116 · Jan 2019
In Tribute
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2019
Poetry is the effect
  never the cause

A living remembrance
  —of a legacy spawned

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2019)
116 · Jun 2019
Don't Blaspheme
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
Don’t talk to me about form,
  when the feeling isn’t there

Don’t talk to me about substance,
  when experience is rare

Don’t talk to me about insight,
  when reflection is ignored

Don’t blaspheme an epiphany
  —in the presence of the Lord
  
(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)
116 · Dec 2019
Beyond The Border
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2019
The borders of space
—where limits go to die

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2019)
116 · Jun 2019
Threatening Kobolds
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
Escaping the prose…
I hid in the verse

My mind to compose,
instead of converse

Defying description,
I sang through the notes

And placed my inscriptions
in lyrical rote

I chose to hear music
over reasons again

To dine with the mystics,
where forever begins

And when forcing my pen
back to stories untold

The Muse starts to darken
—threatening Kobolds

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)
116 · Sep 2019
A Gray Dawn
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2019
The gray dawn slaughters
the promise of Spring,
Winter’s desperate last goodbye

Its poisonous haze mocks
a sky forsaken,
the sun again denied

Its blanket lowers
in a shroud of judgment,
its verdict darkly stained

To deluge its exit
in torrents of thunder
—as light reflects in vain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
116 · Jul 2024
Lost In Abeyance
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2024
Immersed in the quagmire
of finding yourself

The search tunnels deeper
through canyons undwelt

Absorbed in the moments
your fear would disdain

Time lost and abeyant
— in search of a name


(Dreamsleep: June, 2024)
116 · Dec 2021
Plain Brown Wrapper
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2021
If the message complex,
the delivery simple

The meaning the magic,
the words zero-sum

(Dreamsleep: December, 2021)
116 · May 12
An Open Petal
Tall grass above
a sleeping dream
Hiding what
His promise deems

Embedded deep
within the blades
New whispers seed
as life conclaves

The sun to mirror
God’s new day
Each ray He grants
new hope in play

That rises softly
through night’s travail
An open petal
— as Grace prevails

(1st Book Of Prayers: May, 2025)
116 · May 2019
Turned Into Song
Kurt Philip Behm May 2019
How open is your window,
  how tall is your door

How old is your virtue,
  how slippery your floor

How fresh is your perception,
  how broad is your scope

How clear is your reflection,
  how real is your hope

How strong is your commitment,
  how deep is your well

How solid are your friendships,
  how many pray tell

How sweet is your melody,
  how lyrical the dawn

Will your words play a rhapsody
  —once turned into song

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)
116 · Mar 2023
Wounded Omnipotence
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2023
God’s one imperfection
—his love for man

(Dreamsleep: March, 2023)
116 · Jul 2019
Emotional Correctness
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2019
When I want to express anger,
I get madder than hell

When I want to give love,
how deep is my well

On those times that I covet,
how green I become

And when wrestling with hate,
the result zero-sum

When my face blushes red,
I wear it with pride

Excitement and fury,
then never to hide

These things at my core,
at your risk to defame

Like politics censored
—emotional correctness disclaimed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2019)
116 · Aug 2019
Muted Sirens
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2019
To recite it in a Poem,
or sing it loud and strong

Their union an espousal,
one by measure, one by song

Division cast adrift,
muted sirens fold their wings

This moment reinvented
—words and melody one thing

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)
116 · Jun 2019
My Searching Begins
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
The house is now quiet,
the children have gone

My beard they’ve left ruffled,
as memories grow long

With trains and dolls scattered,
where last they played

Their love remains buried,
inside of the maze

The cupola harkens,
a last candle there burns

As the attic sits waiting
for the toys to return

The old house is silent,
but deep from within

Their laughter still hides
—and my searching begins

(Thanksgiving: November, 2016)
116 · Dec 2024
Half Truth
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2024
Necessary
but not
sufficient
Stated
but
unheard
Always wrong
but never
in doubt
Sworn
but forever
— *****

(Dreamsleep: December, 2024)
116 · Jun 2023
Woebegone
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2023
No matter who you vote for
the government gets in
Left or right, day brings night
with colors gray and thin

The better parts of nature
get worse as time goes on
Bilateral infection
whose cure is woebegone

As hubcaps change in order
the wheels forever spin
Tomato or tomatto
that same old song to sing

A baby leaves its mother
new brick to build the wall
Ramparts trapping all inside
—beyond which prescience calls

(The New Room: May, 2023)
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