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Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2024
When battling
time
the moment
retreats

Oxygen
fades
with light
dimming fast

Wishes
vacant
breath
dark and shallow

Words
once
treasured
— adrift and begone

(Dreamsleep: June, 2024)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
Lost in the rambling,
  found in the writing

The words in the whisky,
  depravity’s eye
  
The story of one,
  a gift from the other

Released from tomorrow
—last ghost now set free

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2018
A Poet with nothing
  left to say

On bended knees
  gets down to pray

Belief on hold,
  his memory churns

Sleep comes hard
  dreams toss and turn

A new starvation
  fatal thirst

This deprivation
  unrehearsed

Last ounce of blood,
  the page is stained

No letters form,
  no thoughts remain

A Poet left
  without his voice

Dark road to travel
  single choice

The sun has set
  and not to rise

His final word
—a last goodbye

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2019
Who can measure the
speed of fear

Who can filter the strain
of lies

Who can weigh a lost ounce
of love

Who can package
—a last goodbye

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2018
The older I get
the less people to call
is it by choice
my spirit’s downfall?

The older I get
the less then to care
a life once so pointed
now little to share

The older I get
to never defend
the ones that stood by me
the ones I called friends

The older I get
meat gone from the stew
the faces just names
of those I once knew

The older I get
doors lock from within
a constant reminder
that blaming can sting

The older I get
the less people to call
no sand in the hourglass
   —last grain set to fall

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2014)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2017
All time an illusion, this moment your gift,
  now is forever—soul never adrift

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2017
You is what you is,
  and you ain’t what you ain’t

The last Mojo Child
—of the love and the hate

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2018
Blistering thunder
Cracking asunder
Craters form
High ground being torn
Its ledges are sharp
Concealed in the dark
The rain blows in gales
—ancient prophecy hails

Blistering thunder
Fate pulls you under
Vows you made
Point straight to your grave
Death’s legions await
You fall through its gate
Your last moment burned
—no more chances to learn

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2018
There’s a zone beyond safety
  where the timid can’t go

Beyond reasoned decision
  intuition to flow

Past valor and triumph
  past glory and fame

There’s a zone beyond safety
—last moth to the flame

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm May 2024
The manhood
of a nation
marching in the breeze
Chasing what
the dead have wrought
taunting its reprieve

Caught within the voices
of forgotten
yesterdays
The winds of war
but nine days off
— as mothers kneel to pray

(Dreamsleep: May, 2024)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2023
Paint in your heart
the colors symphonic
Images dancing
each note brushed with fire
Clapping and cheering
rhythmatic ovations
The prisms last opus
—concerto’s desire

(Septa R5: December, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2020
Immersed in dark matter,
it fights to survive

A target blood red,
and covered in lies

It cries out for justice,
it cries out in pain

Till an arrow strikes deeply,
truth firmly ingrained

Its point bringing light,
its shaft driving home

A message of hope,
into falsehood atoned

And freed in the moment,
a last orphan screams

Renamed in the vengeance
—rebirthed in this dream

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
Immersed in dark matter,
it fights not to hide

A target blood red,
and covered in lies

It cries out for justice,
it cries out in pain

Until an arrow strikes deeply,
truth firmly ingrained

Its point bringing light,
its shaft driving home

A message of hope,
into falsehood atoned

And deep in your memory,
a last orphan screams

Renamed in the vengeance
—rebirthed in this dream

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2016
In the middle—the center,
  a bullseye did hide

Its heart bleeding red,
  to target the lies

It cried out for justice,
  it cried out in pain

Until an arrow struck deeply,
  truth firmly ingrained

Its point forced its power,
its shaft driving home

A message of hope,
into falsehood atoned
  
And deep in your memory,
  a last orphan screams

Renamed in the vengeance,
—rebirthed in this dream

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2020
Life’s an anthology…
death written once

The chapter elusive
—last page on the run

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2018
In the end
  we’re all mortal

In the end
  we all die

The end
  but a portal

Through which
  —we must fly

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2019
When should you get ready
to die…

When you’re old,
  and the signs are in letters so big?

When should you get ready
to die…

When you’re young,
with it’s messages trapped in the wind?

When should you get ready
to die…

When it’s winter,
and the cold bellows loudly with fear?

When should you get ready
to die…

When it’s summer,
love teasing, its distraction so near?

When should you get ready
to die…

When your life has been bartered,
the present dismissed?

When should you get ready
to die…

When your soul has been mortgaged
—last payment remiss?

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2017
Do you seek protection
  from being alive

A turtle in its shell,
  a bee in its hive

Do you lust for new armor
  to cover your heart

To shield truth inflicted,
—life’s last poison dart

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2019
Do you seek protection
from being alive

A turtle in its shell,
a bee in its hive

Do you lust for new armor,
to cover your heart

To shield truth inflicted
—that last poison dart

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2023
The envelope
unopened
addressed
to himself
Inside
unspoken
old hopes
and dreams
Lost
and rerouted
the stamp was
foreign
Its port of entry
still
—unforeseen

(Dreamsleep: November, 2024)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2018
Marking time in present tense
  old memories left to rust

The past a distant reverie
  its truth beyond my trust

Looking straight into the sun
  my eyes reopen wide

A last reflection staring back
  —remembrance so divine

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2023
Headed toward oblivion
my voice adrift below
Each chapter that I wrote carefree
buried in the flow
  
Standing on a rocky ledge
whose cliff calls out my name
My last and final step awaits
—goodbye my last refrain

(Dreamsleep: July, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2023
Pounding each key
like a Fender Rhodes
the computer bent and wailed
Bits and bytes
of encrypted language
messages derailed

Memory freezes
last chance rebooted
restart zero-sum
The riff uncapped
its printout fading
—typeface on the run

(The New Room: 8/6/2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2021
Poetry fails
when forced to explain

A dead-end street
with little to gain

Stripped of meaning,
one proffer to name

Magic and wonder
dead,
self-proclaimed

(St. David’s Pennsylvania: March, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2023
Smell
the most
precious
and last sense
to go

Its
lingering
fragrance
vanishing
slow

A
single
carnation
a bright
yellow rose

Through
deafness
and darkness
till death  
—wafting so

(The New Room: December, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
Can you rise above yourself
  to live and speak the truth

Can your parts reform and shun
  a past you now uproot

Can you become that special someone
  while others look askance

Can the lie you’ve lived before today
—get one last second chance

(Las Vegas Nevada: January, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2023
Stalking a dream
trailing a memory
A scent came in focus
  wafting desire

Seized by the moment
alluding a time warp
Tracking its shadow
ambush on fire

Covered in greasepaint
fear is approaching
Hearing its footsteps
the jungle embarked

Crosshair detention
target redemption
Locked and reloaded
—one shot in the dark

(Dreamsleep: September, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2016
Is a Poem one,
  or a thousand words

The bee sting fatal,
—last shot unheard

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2021
The fuse was lit
on the ending of my trauma

Awaiting combustion
—joy in the wind

(Dreamsleep: April, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2018
Hunting the distant banks
Of one lost remembrance
A reckoning came upon me  
Excuses left askance
My tracks grew large
As midnight’s table turned
The prey had changed to predator
Of a memory left unlearned

        The dark repeating whispers
           my soul afraid to tell

        Until its breath upon my back
          —last step my fear to quell

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2020
Traipsing off to the cave
with my feelings and thoughts

A Hermit I’ll be,
my last battle now fought

Alone with my memories,
together indwelt

Eternity reckoned
—transcending myself

(Dreamsleep: October, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm May 2021
When the final act of courage
is gone
—all you have left is hope

(30th Street Station: May, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2018
Watching myself
Wanting you
Standing alone
—the end in view

Watching myself
Reach out through the pain
Lost shadow of night
—last tear in your rain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2021
The secret unlocked,
to stay or to leave

Each mystery unsolved
—a memory bereaved

(Dreamsleep: July, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
I never chose to live among you,
and choose to die alone

My thoughts in writing here beside me
—last verse my ticket home

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2016
I never chose to live among you,
  and choose to die alone

My thoughts in writing here beside me,
—last verse my ticket home

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2018
A richness of words
  my legacy foretells

New questions to reason
  old mysteries dispelled

No breaths taken lightly
  or lines left undone

No memory forsaken
  last verse—zero sum

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2022
Draining all there was to say,
he hemorrhaged one more poem
Last vial of his history,
whose burden now atoned

With final drops to say adieu,
the past and future dead
His last tomorrow here today
—and time no longer bled

(Dreamsleep: April. April 2022)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2020
Is truth that important,
or ignorance bliss

Your place on the Ferris Wheel,
roundly dismissed

What first must go up,
by law to come down

Gravity’s joke,
if not Heaven bound

The yes from the no,
the right from the wrong

The good from the bad,
the weak from the strong

A circular stage
on which we perform

Whose show must go on,
to laud or to scorn

But why do we wonder
and worry about

A dogmatic treatise,
that one we can shout

The flow is unending,
catching all in its path

A current that’s ridden
by yacht and by raft

The proof’s in the pudding,
the cook still unnamed

Whose recipe seasoned,
to praise or to blame

One thing to be certain,
these words are not true

But then they’re not false,
something old—something new

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2020
A day longer than forever,
a heartbeat past goodbye

A prayer to wake the darkest sleep
—and hope to answer why

(Dreamsleep: February, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2024
You can only hope
that death provides
what’s sorely lacking
what life denies

You can only hope
that death will bring
the end of Winter
— unending Spring

(The New Room: December, 2024)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2017
Can you pray without a doctrine,
  can you sing above the choir

Can you cast off earthly burdens,
  can you burn without the fire

Can you give, no longer taking,
  can you welcome strangers in

Can you love beyond all feeling,
—your last words to then forgive

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2020
Can you pray without a doctrine,
sing above the choir

Can you cast off earthly burdens,
burn without the fire

Can you give, no longer taking,
as you welcome strangers in

Can you love beyond all feeling
—your last words to then forgive

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2022
Writing the final chapter…
the bells in the tower ring for me
Once for each phrase unwritten
twice for each grievance atoned

—as—

“Schoolchildren rise
pulling back the covers on the flowering meadow
Singing my words
blessing the fields as they run

“Memory half gone
released into the cradle of times rebirth
Taking what I gave
and leaving what I could not forgive

“The reasons, the seasons
melding together, flashing lost images
Redeeming their promise
christening new moments forever endowed

“Yesterday and tomorrow
I am free of their deception
My last words to stay hidden
—in the laughter of a child”

(The New Room: June, 2022)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2018
My constant companions…
  words reel and recast

Like a lady in waiting,
  they clear every path

Extending forever,
  to store what I feel

My thoughts they intrude,
  my meanings revealed

My past they’ve forgiven,
  my future ignored

They rest in my prayers,
  hopes and wishes restored

I know at the end,
  but one thing will remain

A last word to take with me
  —to begin once again

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2021
Cleft palate ill-fated
splitting inside us,
a hidden betrayal
—memory’s scar

(Dreamsleep: April, 2021) O
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2017
Late September holds onto the summer,
  like that promise you made,
  —you can never forget

Late September holds onto the summer,
  as shadows fall distant
   —and memory regrets

(Train: Amherst Massachusetts- September, 2013)
Kurt Philip Behm May 2019
Fifty years a poet
More than that a man
My spirit held in ransom
Laura’s captive once again

Fifty years a poet
And all those years a boy
The written word a treasured gift
  —my soul’s most precious toy

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2022
Lusting after everything,
my words in search of what that brings
I ride through time upon the wind
—to chase the ****** queen

(Dreamsleep: April, 2022)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2023
What is the age
of reality itself
Older than
a metaphor
Unreferenced
on a shelf

What is the distance
unmeasured from within
Spoken of
but never seen
A poets
dying whim

What is time uncounted
as numbers lose their clout
The hourglass
returned to sand
An abacus
in doubt

What is love ungifted
but feelings’ last excuse
To roam unlinked
between the chains
And blame it
—on the Muse

(Dreamsleep: December, 2023)
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