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Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2017
Questioning forward,
  answering back

Ideas move inward,
  time has gone slack

This moment eternal,
  reference hacked  

The couplets on fire,
—reason attacked

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2020
Questioning forward,
answering back

Ideas move inward,
time has gone slack

This moment eternal,
reference hacked

The couplets on fire
—reason attacked

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2019
You have money in the bank,
  but you’ll never be rich

With the power to buy and sell
  though yourself disowned

Those things today and then tomorrow,
  their weight crushes in upon you

A legacy doomed as rock by rock
  —your future coursed in stone

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2024
Wrapping the words
in silence
tying them with a bow
Gifting them to
my other self
waiting still to know
Leaving them
at the doorstep
of one I’d chased so long
A thank you note
has just arrived
— those words turned into song

(Ronald McDonald House: April, 2024)
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)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2022
Rodeo Poet,
bronc riding Sage
Arena unbridled
—dallies unfrayed

(Las Vegas: December, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2019
I’m not part of
  any movement

Or adhere to
  any Regent

I don’t follow
  any rules

That aren’t in most part
  my own

I don’t
  attempt to teach

Or begin
  to preach

A stronger
  thread

Than
  what you’ve sewn

I don’t typecast
  iconoclast

Or look for
  acceptance

Under the cover
  of my thoughts

In the darkness
  of my room

I don’t criticize
  bastardize

Or tear apart your
  weaving

Asking only the same
  from you

As you sit upon
  your loom

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2019
We searched through the desert
for a welcoming sign

But the truth was a grave marker
—our fate so inclined

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm May 2024
Knowing I won’t answer
you’re welcome to ask
Questions like a distant
echoing wind
Blown into nothingness
— chasing the past

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: Fall, 2010)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2017
Beyond my consciousness,
  in stark relief

A place beyond reason,
  all spirits unleash

Beyond my awareness,
  I inherit the wind

Each breath I blow inward,
  new endings begin

Religion, a concept,
  that God can’t abide

Dogma a pretense,
  where idolaters hide

In my dreams there’s a voice,
  that comes unannounced

Its structure on fire,
  new words unpronounced

Time but a weapon,
  to use on the weak

Its measuring stick,
  to never complete

One question—one answer,
  for all that transpires

In primacy wrapped,
  no logic hard wired

The years I’d spent looking,
  those moments I’d waste

When deep from inside,
  with subliminal grace

The great Crazy Horse calls,
  chanting words once unknown

“Your vision has freed you
—its voice now your own”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2016
Created perfect...
  in your raising were you tainted

From self-interest and corruption your
  waters darkened

In the distance you were lost, unable
  to find your way back

From depths, where your spirit lies cold
  and unforgiven

But the initiation of your ancestors calls out
  from what you first knew

Holding in their hands the perfection of your
  birth,
  —forever chanting your name

(Pine Ridge South Dakota: ‘Crazy Horse Reminds’ May, 2011)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2019
A people once censored
  their limbs on the rack

All knowledge and freedom
  under constant attack

But cream always rises,
  and cows do come home

The truth never captive,
  enchained—or then owned

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2020
Folding words into
a feeling
The permanence was
addictive
The creases
redefining
And the transcendence
sublime

(Nashville Tennessee: 'The Bluebird' October 1991)​
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2018
After Midnight
The narcissists fall
After Midnight
A new lyric calls

After Midnight
Last bugle to blow
After Midnight
There’s more left to know

After Midnight
The lizards collect
After Midnight
Old tales to reflect

After Midnight
The ticking will stop
After Midnight
The bottom will top

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
Lost palates are cleft

After Midnight
New story to front
After Midnight
Two stars 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
That voice in the back
After Midnight
There’s no turning back

After Midnight
A sacred oath sworn
After Midnight
All memory forlorn

After Midnight
The wheels bend and churn
After Midnight
Lost vision returns

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
  —creation redeemed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2021
In the beginning God cried…
He cried for His fallen Angel
and He cried for His Son
His tears forming the great rivers and oceans
His sighs the vast deserts
His pain the tall mountains
His light from the darkness
His love the first garden upon which we sinned
—in the beginning God cried

(Ronald McDonald House: December, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2021
Knowing today is the best day of your life
—a terrible thing to know

(To Philip Seymour Hoffman: April, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2023
If your heart is open
and true

Your grief is as deep
as your love

(Dreamsleep: January, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2024
Wary of right causes
needing less courage
than the wrong ones
Fate shunning reason
when true glory
comes to light

Humans get killed
but humanity
sorely lingers
The measure of intention
what is written
— and retained

(To Lord Alfred: June, 2024)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2019
Prosthetic language can never fix
  a Poems broken joints

Only inspiration can set
  the break for sure

Crutches and canes to prop up verse
  severely disappoint

Perception falling on its face
  —a crippled lost poseur

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2017
Labels,
  crutch for the unenlightened

Support system,
  for the crippled mind

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
We are often
  the most critical

Of what we are the
  most guilty of

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2015)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2021
If we could touch time
or taste a new dream
Awareness exploding,
beyond the extreme
To see every fragrance
or hear every wile
Our senses emboldened
—as memory smiles

(St. David’s Pennsylvania: March, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2018
High caliber verse
  the cartridge hand loaded

A new target centered
  all focus then squared

Its barrel’s been filled
  with red molten fury

Whose trigger awaits
  —a desperate will

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2024
To a hammer
everything
looks like a nail

To a writer
everything
looks like a tale

To a hunter
everything
looks like a ****

To a prophet
everything
— unto his will

(The New Room: September, 2024)
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)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2024
Death
the ultimate
release
Freedom’s
Déjà vu  

Questions
answers
join as one
Prescience
— shining through

(Dreamsleep: September, 2024)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2022
Expect good things
the moment breathes
Your fear abandoned
the darkness leaves

When least expected
the current calls
Tomorrow waiting
—beyond the falls

(Dreamsleep: December, 2022)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2024
Through the eye of the needle
Not to the left or the right
Dodging both on the comets tail

I streak into the light
My last wish out in front
As words melt in a fiery contrail

And with only one question
To weaken my heart
With only one thing to know

The seasons entwine
All beanstalks are felled
With the exit signs all aglow

I crash through the doubt
Releasing new hope
My affirmation now to reign

And look ever farther
Beyond my scope
As my senses become untrained

I feel the loose pieces
Start to come off
A new lightness here abounds

The last burden has lifted
Burning bright in my wake
Crossing over—turned around

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2018
Through the eye of the needle
Not to the left or the right
Dodging both on the comets tail

I streak into the light
My last wish out in front
As words melt in a fiery contrail

And with only one question
To weaken my heart
With only one thing to know

The seasons entwine
All beanstalks are felled
With the exit signs all aglow

I crash through the doubt
Releasing new hope
My affirmation now to reign

And look ever further
Beyond my scope
As my senses become untrained

I feel the loose pieces
Start to come off
A new lightness now abounds

The last burden has lifted
Burning bright in my wake
Crossing over—turned around

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016 )
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2019
Through the eye of the needle
Not to the left or the right
Dodging both on the comets tail

I streak into the light
My last wish out in front
As words melt in a fiery contrail

And with only one question
To weaken my heart
With only one thing to know

The seasons entwine
All beanstalks are felled
With the exit signs all aglow

I crash through the doubt
Releasing new hope
My affirmation now to reign

And look ever further
Beyond my scope
As my senses become untrained

I feel the loose pieces
Start to come off
A new lightness now abounds

The last burden has lifted
Burning bright in my wake
Crossing over—turned around

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2016
Through the eye of the needle,
Not to the left or the right
Dodging both on the comets tail

I streak into the light
My last wish out in front
As words melt in a fiery contrail

And with only one question
To weaken my heart
With only one thing to know

The seasons entwine
All beanstalks are felled
With the exit signs all aglow

I crash through the doubt
Releasing new hope
My affirmation now to reign

And look ever further
Beyond my scope
As my senses become untrained

I feel the loose pieces
Start to come off
A new lightness now abounds

The last burden has lifted
Burning bright in my wake
Crossing over—turned around

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
Through the eye of the needle
Not to the left or the right
Dodging both on the comets tail

I streak into the light
My last wish out in front
As words melt in a fiery contrail

And with only one question
To weaken my heart
With only one thing to know

The seasons entwine
All beanstalks are felled
With the exit signs all aglow

I crash through the doubt
Releasing new hope
My affirmation now to reign

And look ever further
Beyond my scope
As my senses become untrained

I feel the loose pieces
Start to come off
A new lightness now abounds

The last burden has lifted
Burning bright in my wake
Crossing over—turned around

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2022
America’s decline…
war chanted whines
A nation in half
quicksand in our path

Altruism dead
alone in our beds
No one left to blame
—married to our shame

(Dreamsleep: September, 2022)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2023
Tasting like music
each word marches on
Out of the vacuum
flavored in song
The future parades
on both sides of the bridge
The band denied entry
so close to the edge

The toll taker muted
arms point to the sky
Pedestrians hover
and wait to get by
Guide wires of silence
restrung play adieu
When the drum major signals
—it’s safe to come through

(Dreamsleep: December, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2020
How can you teach Poetry,
or breathe for someone else

Sharing what your soul has freed,
deep within yourself

Can you cross a bridge for others,
its toll not yours to pay

Squeezing blood from wounds long healed
—transfusion’s masquerade

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2021
Granting myself latitude,
I stretched every word
In substance and context
—the truth to be heard

(Dreamsleep: October, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2022
A builder of bridges
or defender of borders
An olive branch crossing
or bunkered constraint
The history of man
seems to favor the latter
The future of man
—the first option contains

(The New Room: October, 2022)
Kurt Philip Behm May 2017
Writing verse,
  my distractions are few

Prose unwritten,
  the Muse importunes

Writing in meter,
  writing in rhyme

Her blessings upon me,
  fortune divine

Spiritual kinship,
  rind bearing fruit  

The flowers to spray,
  the soil to root

Prayers spoken ageless,
  footnotes in time

Words crossing over,
—gift so sublime

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2023
Life is a panacea
—on the other side of fear

(Dreamsleep: July, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2021
Winning and learning
or
losing and dying
a choice made
exclusive
—the moment undone

(The New Room: November, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2021
Cloning the emperor,
assuming the throne
knighted impostor,
unregally grown

With hell for a kingdom,
his scepter ignites
flames burning memory,
a mirror’s delight

The queen held for ransom,
a prince in his bed
jester on fire,
all subjects rebled

A rival approaches,
the bishop a swan
his guillotine royal
—beheaded in song

(Beaupre: November, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2017
The Muse in the tower,
  whose debt you enthrone

Those jewels that you borrow,
—her crown still on loan

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2021
Philosophy is not
an act of discovery,
but
an act of creation
the difference sublime

Poetic verse is not
conscripted but inspired,
whose
direction cries inward
—its essence Divine

(The New Room: February, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
How old were you
   when you were born

Were your pasts or futures
  deemed forlorn

How young will you be
  when you die

As truth cries inward
  —all time a lie

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)
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)
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2022
Evolution changes
the mind of man

All insight martyred
for wider scans

The magic filtered
as books proclaim

What facts uncover
and time disdains

Evolution fosters
a weakened soul

Each process stifled
the gist untold

Forever whittled
in narrow canes

Tomorrow empty
—the past defamed

(Dreamsleep: August, 2022)
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2018
The older I get,
  the shorter the lines become

The older I get,
  more welcome is each morning’s sun

The older I get,
  those words rented are now mine to keep

The older I get,
  dreams follow me out of my sleep

The older I get,
  less rules to impose on the game

The older I get,
  hopes and wishes of youth to reclaim

The older I get,
  new laughter recalls what I missed

The older I get,
  all goodbyes now embrace and dismiss

The older I get,
  what I searched for, my searching became

The older I get
   what’s forgotten—remembered again

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2020
A river is but a witness,
to what lay along its banks

Carrying forth transcendent dreams,
flowing stillness, giving thanks

A river travels onward,
while buried in its wake

The current freeing motion’s form
—offering escape

(Dreamsleep: March, 2020)
Blisters of
disillusion
fester
and boil

Vision
rubbed raw
in the darkness
embroiled

False
expectations
lie scattered
and burned

Ignoring
our history
with lessons
— unlearned

(Dreamsleep: February, 2025)
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2017
The harder I fight,
  the stronger they wield

The sharper their knives
  the thicker my shield

The louder their shouts
  the deeper my scream

Reality theirs
—all time but a dream

The moment they chose,
  my spirit was gone

Their words uninvited
  dead verse to a song

That plays a reunion
  a reckoning of sorts

Whose lyrics birth silent
—as curses abort

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2017)
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