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111 · Feb 2017
Deliver Me
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2017
Wishing it had been different,
  I used my last borrowed breath

And made a vow to repent for
  each denial

Praying for absolution,
  my final hope into the wind

Saying:

“**** me if you have to,
  but first deliver me from this lie”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
110 · May 2024
Sound Bites: May 28, 2024
Kurt Philip Behm May 2024
Dead Calm

Without friction
there is no motion
Without motion
— creation stops

(Dreamsleep: May, 2024)


Abeyance

My pen is searching
for its guitar case
a place to sleep
when the writing’s done

To rest in the dark  
between flowing moments
of what might be coming
— and old verses sung

(Dreamsleep: May, 2024)


Nowhere To Hide

The haunting of our memories
never to escape
No continent wide nor ocean deep
— will shield us from their ****

(Dreamsleep: May, 2024)


Falling Into Silence

For years
I’ve had an old man’s body
Today
an old man’s mind

The past
a memory ever haunting
Tomorrow looming
— in decline

(Listening To Paul Simon: May, 2024)


Shadow Dancing

Making everyday life poetic
doggedness abounds
Separating wheat from chaff
— harder than it sounds

(Dreamsleep: May, 2024)


Again New Orleans

Waking up from a dream
inside another dream
inside another dream
inside another …

(Listening to Wynton Marsalis: May, 2024)
110 · Sep 2022
Breaking Through
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2022
If Sartre was right
and
“Hell Is—Other People”
then
Isolation holds the key
that
opens perception’s door

(Dreamsleep: September, 2022)
110 · Aug 2019
Beyond
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2019
Within the depths of all I fear,
a voice holds me at bay

And clears a path, my soul to roam,
to stumble on its way

The darkness lures, a light unshone,
new words to keep me strong

As legend steals what fact denies
—beyond all right or wrong

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2019)
110 · Jul 2017
Night Guardian
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2017
A steward of memory
  —the caretaker of dreams

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)
110 · Jan 2019
April Bleeding
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2019
March
  brought me closer
  to the spoken word

March
  created thunder
  never before heard

March
  left forever its stamp
  and imprint

March
  so predacious
  April bleeding
     —in red ink

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
110 · Jun 2024
Lost Between
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2024
The backside
of tomorrow
The frontside
of today
Every look
retelling
Of what the past
betrays

Caught within
the doldrums
All time fades
in the mist
Until that day
that ends itself
And nothing more
— exists

(Dreamsleep: June, 2024)
110 · Nov 2024
Escape Clause
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2024
Writing
is but
an escape
for the soul

Freeing
our passions
making
— us whole

(Dreamsleep: November, 2024)
110 · Apr 2021
Bench Made
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2021
My verse is like
a bespoke set of clothes,
fit the thing that counts

Each article worn,
new memories born,
to tighten or let out

My head to my toes,
its covering goes,
whose message spoken clear

To tailor new moments,
each stitch a new thread
—bench made to endear

(The New Room: April, 2021)
110 · Jun 2021
Annuntiatio
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2021
I stumbled through each morning,
it was all about today
Dissolute and scorning,
of all that passed away
Wandering and faint of heart,
old promises unsworn
Living once then living twice
—the moment was reborn

(Dreamsleep: June, 2021)
110 · Sep 2018
Unbaptized Words
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2018
Certificate unsigned
  pen firmly in hand

The bliss not for barter
  its insight free-stands

Faith and acceptance
  may go where they please

To my grave and beyond
  the verse teaches and frees

No savior I ask for
  forgiveness I shun

Redemption unspoiled
  new ink on the run

Till one day uncovered
  hidden deep on the shelf

A message unchristened
   buried dark and unfelt

Where the voice I was gifted
  and the music I heard

In themselves live forever
  —free unbaptized words

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
110 · Feb 12
Ode To Bobby D'
The minute I say
what it means to me
It will never mean
something different to you

Words are like highways
they begin and they end
You can get on and get off
where you choose

If I tell you the mile marker
I travel the most
You may miss one
I still haven’t seen

If I break it apart
and then spell it all out
There’s no mileage left
— to wander and dream

(Dreamsleep: February, 2025)
110 · Mar 4
The Scarlet Cleaver
The butcher
in a trance
this death
then many more
The cleaver
paused in motion
destruction
to the fore

The blood
is pooling downward
in images
besmeared
Its stain
a violent crimson
tattooing life
— with fear

(Dreamsleep: March, 2025)
110 · Sep 2022
Eternity's Child
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2022
Born without reference
freedom prevails

The moment supreme
comparison failed

Living without reference
judgment defiled

Existing intrinsic
—eternity’s child

(Ronald McDonald House: August, 2022)
110 · Jun 2019
One Well
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
There are Poets
for the stage

And Poets
for the page

The difference
often subtle

In your eye,
and in your ear

There are Poets
for the stage

And Poets
for the page

One well for them
to draw from

Two voices
—speaking clear


(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2017)
'Thank You, Neal Hall'
110 · Apr 2017
Left To Spew
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2017
A heartbeat beyond perception,
  the verse becomes alive

Its arrow fixed, its prey in sight,
—new truth to hunt old lies

As light grows scarce, it draws its bow,
  with aim both clear and true

To strike deceptions middle eye,
—the devil left to spew

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
110 · Feb 2020
Opening Night
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2020
Auditioning for life,
a one-act play

Rehearsing my part,
to leave or to stay

The audience waiting,
the stage has been set

Opening night,
my birth or my death

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2020)
110 · Apr 2019
All We Can Say
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
If the memories in the present
  are of the past

And the aspirations of the present
  to the future are cast

Then memories aspire
  for only today

The only time extant
   —and all we can say

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)
110 · Dec 2021
The Forest & The Trees
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2021
Don’t let the poetry
weaken the poem

The structure a servant
—for what’s to be known

(The New Room: December, 2021)
110 · Feb 2018
La Verdad
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
Unlike the curse
  placed on most ideologues

The Truth
—never contradicts itself

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
110 · Dec 2018
Tomorrow Ill Promised
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2018
Bubblewrapped children
  disparate hope

Spirits in limbo
  shortest of ropes

Control and protection
  their meaning belies

Tomorrow ill promised
—eternity cries

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2018)
110 · Jul 2023
Twin Sisters
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2023
Damning two lies
with only one truth
Deception remixes
like gin and vermouth

Jumping from one
as the other got hot
Port in the storm
where perdition is fraught    

Grace in short order
with blessings denied
Thomas redoubting
all faith circumscribed  

Prevarication
twin sister of pain
The Word caught between them
—trapped to remain

(The New Room: July, 2023)
110 · Mar 2021
Tracking Upwind
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2021
A hunter
not skinner  
with quarry
so vast
Whose path
through the forest
is first
—never last

(Garrett Hill Pennsylvania: January, 2021)
109 · Jun 2018
Capstone Reversed
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2018
Where intellect ends,
  the spirit begins

Capstone reversing
—direction within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2018)
109 · Jun 2019
Reach Out With Your Spirit
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
You call it a particle
He calls it a wave
They call it energy
—I call it light

You’re locked in physics
He’s locked in quantum
They’re trapped in theory
—blocking all sight

Let go the dissection
Let go the mechanics
Let go the empirics
—your eyes then to see

Reach out for the music
Reach out for what’s timeless
Reach out with your spirit
—set yourself free

(Villanova University Monastery: June, 2019)
109 · Feb 1
Dark Symbiosis
You look at me
and all feeling is absent
without understanding
or care

Calling me brother
remaining a stranger
defined by the
distance we share

Caught in the fury
of loves abandon
You wander inclement
storm raging inside

A ghost in the mirror
a twin of reflection
Two eyes that stare coldly
— across the divide

(Dreamsleep: February, 2025)
109 · Apr 2024
Psalm 104
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2024
To stand in
Your shadow
its welcoming rim
Surrounding
my calling
to lead me within
Your aura
completes me
and lights up my way
To follow
undaunted
—Your love on display

(1st Book Of Prayers: April, 2024)
109 · Oct 2021
In Debt To Rene
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2021
Denying the soul…
all words are in vain
a verbal inherence
—spirit proclaims

(Dreamsleep: October, 2021)
109 · Mar 2021
All, Or Nothing At All
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2021
I don’t limit who reads my verse,
only who I answer

Each word thick-skinned and armor-clad
all questions zero-sum

(To Nelson Riddle & Frank Sinatra: March, 2021)
109 · Feb 2018
One To Care
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
Unschooled, undisciplined,
  my spirit forged on

Past theory and dogma,
  past anthem and song

A serendipitous storm,
  thoughts, feelings, unshared

All masking together,
—with just one to care

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
109 · Sep 2019
Last Bell
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2019
Senses untamed,
spaces to reign

Bodies that die,
spirits to fly

Length or by width,
time is a myth

Dimension aground,
essence refound

Eyes looking forward,
eyes looking back

Eyes looking inward,
soul reattached

All that was spoken,
providence sings

Grand sublimation
—last bell to ring

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
109 · Feb 2018
Transubstantiation
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
When one man is cut
  —every man starts to bleed

When one man is healed
  —all men become as one

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2014)
109 · Jul 2021
General Delivery
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2021
The road taken,
a path unwalked,
direction unto fate

A choice is made,
the debt unpaid
—redemption coming late

(Dreamsleep: July, 2021)
109 · Sep 2019
Courting Truth
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2019
Do you intimidate yourself…
If you do
You need to go back to work
Mining the fear
Destroying your ego
Intrepidation courting truth

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2019)
109 · Apr 2019
Heaven's Wings
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
Power…
  the father of choice

Emotion…
  the mother of love

Freedom…
  lost child of betrothal

Returning
  —on wings from above

(Richmond Virginia: April, 2019)
109 · Apr 2023
Deep Set
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2023
Experience is fleeting
—memories are forever

(Dreamsleep: April, 2023)
109 · Nov 2018
The Moment Sustained
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2018
Each verbal success
  leads to higher new ground

Where the words beck and call
  with a heavenly sound

The trail to my future
   fades into my past

As the gift they inspire
  —my present to last

(Grantham New Hampshire: March, 2015)
109 · Jun 2017
Maybe
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2017
Maybe I’ll remember,
maybe you will too

Maybe once it mattered,
  maybe more to whom

Maybe this will lessen,
  maybe it will salve

Maybe there’s forgiveness,
  maybe—maybe not

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)
109 · Sep 2020
Stage Left
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2020
Auditioning for myself
the lights went down
the sound amped up
my head turned round

Auditioning for myself
the handbill flew
into the seats
the chosen few

Auditioning for myself
last line unread
the words reborn
inside my head

Auditioning for myself
I begged my leave
the stage door open
—a last reprieve

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2020)
109 · Jul 2017
Hear Then Speak
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2017
Hear,
Before speaking the words
Unwritten

Speak,
After writing the words
Unheard

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)
109 · Sep 2022
Morning Left Waiting
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2022
I lost my shadow
in the hills of pain
and wandered in darkness
chasing in vain

I lost my shadow
the sun took flight
morning left waiting
adrift in the night

I lost my shadow
wolves distant howl
tracking my torment
whose grief I prowl

I lost my shadow
and then my name
connection severed
—myself to blame

(The New Room: September, 2022)
109 · Apr 2023
Difference In Similarity
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2023
Hearing the word
speaking the word

Often quite different
—often the same

(Dreamsleep: March, 2023)
109 · Mar 21
Thundering Cloud
Listen for the rumble
hear it roar
Retribution’s coming
from distant fjords

Your lack of judgment
and crass disdain
Will mark the sentence
its will proclaims

Feel the vibration
wake the hopeless
From their sleep
impassioned dreams

From the forest
to the ocean
Nature’s rage
— its verdict screams

(Dreamsleep: March, 2025)
109 · Jul 2021
Remembering...
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2021
Breathing in
the smell of your memory

My eyes gently close
—the fantasy real

(Dreamsleep: June, 2021)
109 · Sep 2019
The Reckoning
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2019
The vision intrudes,
stealing ink from my pen

A thief in the night,
leaving words that portend

A warning’s been given,
its mantle thrown down

But truth will write over
—what darkness avows

(Villanova Pennsylvania:  April, 2017)
109 · Apr 2017
No Candy This Year
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2017
The eggs had been colored,
  all scattered about

The baskets were hidden,
  the children now shout…

“Was he here mom, was he here?”
  they yell from upstairs

“Come down and find out,”
   she says—nary a care

Their little feet rush down,
   taking two steps at once

Wide eyes dart all over,
   playing their hunch

Living and dining rooms
  they tear with a fever

No corner is safe,
  from the incursion of either

“I found it, I found it,"
   the bigger one said

The smaller one saddened,
  their heart filled with dread

“The Bunny forgot,
  there's no candy this year”

From across the big room,
   the first start of a tear

“The Bunny never forgets,”
   their mother cried out

"You have to look harder,
   both inside and out”

And as the front door was opened,
  the little one chimed...

“Mom, he didn’t forget,
—it was here all the time”


(To My Grandchildren: Easter 2017)
109 · Jan 2023
Circling The Square
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2023
Can nothing extend
beyond something…

Can never be
possibly where…

Can dreamers awaken
the insomniacs sleep…

Can no place
ever be there…

(Dreamsleep: January, 2023)
109 · Aug 2022
Frozen In Time
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2022
Poetic angst,
Jimmy Dean

Poetic angst,
Brando screams

“Stella, Stella,”
the spirits call

“Live Fast, Die Young”
—the fates befall

(Dreamsleep: August, 2022)
109 · Mar 19
Countdown To Armageddon
Gunpowder
was to ‘Little Boy’
as a whisper
to a shout

Forever changed
the world remains
enslaved
— unto its rout

(The New Room: February, 2025)
109 · Oct 2016
No, No—Yes
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2016
No Conflict ------------------ No Contest
                          Nirvana

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2016)
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