A bigger bite of life
for a hunger meant to last
Insatiable inherence
starvation my repast

Partaking of tomorrow
in dreams of future feasts
Anticipations banquet
—where ravenous I eat

(Dreamsleep: September, 2023)

Death ever faithful
in spite of the glee
Holding our place
in wanton reprieve

We ever the cuckold
of life’s dark affairs
As quiet it waits
— a loyal au pair

(Dreamsleep: June, 2024)

Fading in the distance,
years trapped inside the past

The future just beyond our reach,
its vacuum deep and vast

Each moment to remind us,
when looking North and South

The horse’s mouth will speak the truth
—when present here and now

(Dreamsleep: December, 2020)

Beyond comparison,
they rise when we fall

Uniquely divergent,
to impale and enthrall

No reference or genre,
descriptions confound

Bowie and Jagger
—alone in the crowd

(Dreamsleep: March, 2020)

I never chose to write like you,
it’s enough to write like me
My feelings live to shape each thought,
your passion foreign known
I need to use those gifts bequeathed,
while searching endlessly
And leave to you your native tongue
—and speak my words alone

(Dreamsleep: March, 2021)

Polymath Siren,
her flower returns

New stirrings to write
new melody to learn

Renaissance memory,
its present announced

Freeing your psyche,
past-future recount

Polymath harlot,
  love pledged again

Petals now varied,
spread from within

Bouquet filled enigma,
here until gone

Leaving always one seedling
—to finish her song

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)

Alone,
without being lonely

In love,
with the air and the sky

In tune,
with those voices now calling

Released
—and forever to fly

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2019)

Trapped in the meter,
a prisoner of rhyme

My spirit indicted,
destroyer of time

A minstrels disciple,
epistle in hand

The sound and the rhythm,
my souls contraband

New couplets my jailer,
their sentences terse

The key to their freedom,
locked deep in the verse

And serving in silence,
chalk marks on the wall

I listen intently,
for one voice to call

Awaiting its pardon,
this conviction will end

My words liberated
—to forever amend

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2017)

Someone
lost in a meandering season

Somebody
crying for all the wrong reasons

Somehow
married to a new in between

Someway
missing what others have seen

Someplace
the meaning stays hidden and waits

Sometimes
my wishes both early and late

Something
infused in the moments I’ve lost

Somewhere
abandoned — the ultimate cost


(Dreamsleep: October, 2024)

Mercurial freedom
Beyond sexuality
Love trumping weakness
—truth beyond lies

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2019)

Together,
Our hearts may start a fire
That in isolation
Waits a spark

Eternal,
Our souls may join as one
As our spirits
—light the dark

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)

Hitchhiking Angel,
twelve stringed harp,
wandering spirit
—Elk City wind

(Tucumcari New Mexico: January, 2019)

With distance in his voice,
he traveled on the wind

Guitar case for a saddle,
to ride each beckoning whim

A folk tale left untethered,
his melody to claim

Each song an affirmation
—his legend to refrain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2020)

If I could trade my pen for flutes,
the ink would disappear
whose harmony no page beholds,
a rhapsody so clear

If I could trade my thoughts for sound,
an orchestra of one
my heart would fly inside my voice,
the searching all but done

If I could trade my words for notes,
and lettered verse for scores
celestial choirs would sing on high
—in tribute to my Lord

(First Book Of Prayers: December, 2021)

My reality secure
   from the attacking winds

Sheltered by experience,
a fortress hard won

      Neither fortune nor danger
can force their way in

All entrance is barred,
a mystery respun

An Eden contained,
in a legend foretold

Where peace and solitude
rekindle the light

Possessed of itself,
past-futures on hold

Its voice omnipresent
—to guide and delight

(Broomall Pennsylvania: August, 2019)

Religion
the bullet
that loads
in your gun

Projecting
its damage
belief
zero-sum

Exclusion
delusion
its sights
center mass

To ****
nonbelievers
the infidel
class

(The New Room: December, 2023)

The enigma of a woman veiled
in what you’ll never know

Despite those things she gives to you,
her secrets bide unshown

Your eyes may taste and hands might touch,
but to herself alone

Her power worn as though a crown
—her mystery, her throne

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

Famous only to himself,
his legacy waits

A servant of the moment
—time left to abate

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2019)

Can you purchase tomorrow,
  with yesterday’s wage

Can you eliminate sorrow,
  still carrying your rage

Can you call out the answer,
  with the question at bay

Can you set a reminder,
  while forgetting your way

Can this moment unchosen,
  be the instant that lasts

Can a heart still unbroken,
  survive memories past

Can the choices you’ve made,
  set the world all ablaze

Can you harness the fire
  —to ignite and amaze

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)

Who do you call
when there’s nothing to share
How do you act
with tomorrow unfair

What do you dream
when your sleep is deprived
Why are the questions
though answered, contrived

When did your wonder
wander away
When did the path
eternally stray

How did the moment
slip over the line
How will you tell me
— your memory gone blind

(North Wales Pennsylvania: January, 2024)

If lost in yourself,
there’s no need to be found

As the self-disenfranchised,
circle around

They question and lecture,
and spew out their grief

To lure you within,
their false broken beliefs

“You really don’t get it, man,”
they sing from their bus

They say “You’re unhip”
and “You need to be us”

The chanting of laughter,
they march to inane

Where a prank on themselves
—waits in drug induced shame

(Villanova, Pennsylvania: December, 2019)

Seconds hunger
days unweaned
compression fracture
broken dreams

Minutes uncounted
hours unnamed
Humptiest Dumpty
in pieces again

Yahweh once spoken
reason besieged
tokens in exile
pagans to grieve

One for the money
two when it’s shown
oracle harlot
—cursed and dethroned

(Dreamsleep: March, 2022)

The house is quiet,
as Knothead’s asleep

Hershey Kisses in place
on the staircase to reap

There’s snow on the roof,
with the chimney unblocked

For Santa to enter,
new soot on his frock

The cookies and milk
on the hearth reappear

With Rudolph’s one favorite,
chocolate chip to endear

The sound of his footsteps
arrive on the roof

As Knothead awakens
to Santa’s reproof

“Get into the sleigh
as I’ve told you before

“TC and Melissa
deserve so much more

“Your mischievous wandering
has caused quite the stir

“Mrs. Claus is upset,
the good Elves much deterred

“And clean up your mess
before we move on

“Those wrappers a danger
to those woe begone”

But as they departed,
the naughty Elf smiled

Two silver reminders
ensconced to beguile

Both hidden in cupboards
for children to find

Christmas 2021
—to forever remind

(Christmas Poem: 12/24/2021)
Backstory:  Knothead is the naughty Elf who has plagued the Behm household for over 40 years at Christmas time.  To catch him, you need to put out Hershey Kisses, so that Santa can follow the trail of wrappers, capture him, and take him back to the North Pole.

Self awareness,
freedom’s chain

Mirrored judgment,
harbored pain

Descarte’s premise,
inside out

To know oneself
—eternal doubt


(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2019)

Bars of misfortune
singing dark memories

Nightmares once stillborn
—beguiling again

(Dreamsleep: March, 2023)

Escaping myself,
  I ran into the wilderness

Escaping myself,
  I ran back through the dawn

Escaping myself,
  my shadow had vanished

Until capturing myself
  —in the words of your song

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2014)

I found my voice
Beyond all choice
A waited friend
Beyond the wind
I found the words
Once cast astray
To line my path
To lead the way

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)

Thoughts inflame as feelings stir,
words simmering yet to boil
Unspoken sparks drift through the night,
a pyre still to fan

As heat restores the human soul,
all prodigals return
With hope to melt the frozen dawn,
and free the Poet's hand

Delphian in its natural form,
the smoke a treacherous friend
Ink rekindles—lies cremate,
the mind, its woods now bare

The verses stack and dry of doubt,
their ignition up to you
As dark they wait for your next breath
—to light the spoken air

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)