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Kurt Philip Behm May 2019
Physics over Metaphysics,
  the cart before the horse

The chisel praised, the sculptor blamed
  —the tool the icon sourced

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2020
Cheating death…
the myth we tell
—when life seems all the more

(Villanova University: August, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2019
If you stare into the Devil’s eyes
  with righteous intent

You will always return
  —transformed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2024
Signs that might be seen as omens
send me on my way
the daylight waning for today
and luck still ****** on display
flying close to danger’s coven

The wind blows fortune’s empty cast
as trackless dreams setout
dispelling hope and bringing doubt
without a name to even tout
caught within tomorrows fast

I see each warning clearly now
they speak much like a friend
whose words as tokens try to bend
rushing blindly toward the end
captured voices left to bow

Those signs that led me all point down
the road is changing fast
no clear distinction first from last
my future ****** to be my past
— the devils fiddle calling loud

(Saint David’s Pennsylvania: February, 2024)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2023
Depravity’s eye
is looking back
its eyelid heavy
its pigment black

A twisted image
as yet profane
A sinner’s focus
of sharpened pain

Depravity’s eye
will never blink
With tears of sorrow
the devil’s ink

Forever watching
the future past
Its vision poisoned
—by judgment cast

(The New Room: July, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
You can’t step into the same river twice,
  and have the water be the same

You can’t throw wishes into the wind,
  and recall them time unclaimed

You can’t put a baby back in the womb,
  once the cord of life has been cut

And you can’t change a lie into the truth,
  your intention—the devil’s good luck

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
Treachery,
  thy art is ******

Perfidy
  —no justice found

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2018
Not reliant on your approval,
  I soared to the heavens

Not seeking your acceptance,
  I burned past the brightest star

Not wanting anything from you,
  I gave myself back to the beginning

In need of nothing
  —the devil's scar

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2019
A pat on the back,
smoke up the rear

Shake with both hands
—perdition is near

(Dreamsleep: August, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2020
Off in the distance,
he was whispering my name

What started as a rumor,
audible and plain

My parking meter empty,
the hour glass had run

What life only borrowed,
reclaimed—the devil’s son

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2018
The Devil’s Teapot
—a witches brew

Remembrance poured
  in sorrows true

The Devil’s Teapot
  bone china cracked

New leaks a bane
  in virtue lacks

The Devil’s Teapot
  it fills once more

With pain now forked
  to stir rancor

The Devil’s Teapot
  whose lid seals tight

To curse and scald
  —this endless night

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
Peasant bread to feed the masses,
  millers stone between the classes

Grovel here and grovel there,
  crumbs for beggars—no meat to share

Caught inside the rising dough,
  leavened voices cry out low

Baking deep within the flames,
  bribes that lie—and Lords to blame

With each slice cut, Hell calls a name,
  its coals to brand, ignoble fame

Bread for the masses, meat off the bone,
  revenge on fire—the Devil’s throne

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2018
The power to look beyond himself
—the difference between a man and a king

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2020
Animals think,
and animals react

Animals sleep,
and animals attack

Animals eat,
and animals mate

Animals fly,
and animals wait

Animals feel,
and animals cry

Animals sicken,
and animals die

Animals come,
and animals go

Animals watch,
and animals know

Animals stalk,
and animals deceive

But animals lack faith
—and cannot believe

(Dreamsleep: October, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm May 2019
The universe orders
  the questions and answers

Eternity caught
  —within their difference


(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2019
To no one in particular,
but everyone out loud

What you portend as Poetry,
should never make you proud

The words are so revealing,
of what’s not inside your head

Your heart lies soundly sleeping,
there forever in your bed

The words you do disservice,
as the rhyme you then defame

The couplets maimed and slaughtered,
with free verse then just the same

With your voice not flat or tinny...
maybe you should try to sing

Because verse as you now write it
—is a bee that cannot sting

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2019
We anticipate the future
  —by remembering the past

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2023
Easier to know others
than knowing myself
Sentience numbing
what in a stranger is felt
Easier to reach out
than to look deep inside
This painfully obvious
—cognition’s divide  

(Dreamsleep: September, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2021
Overcoming myself,
I crowned the impossible

The weight finally lifted
—abandoning the throne

(Dreamsleep: July, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2018
The Doggie was white,
  and the Kitty was black,
  as they crouched at opposite ends of the floor

Their eyes never met,
  because the rules were set
  that the dog would chase the cat as before

At night came the darkness,
  and the Kitty stood up
  and headed right straight to the door

But the Doggie just lay there with his head
  on his paws, and thought….
    —today is quite different for sure

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)
‘For Kiley, Hunter, Braden & Parker’
            My Grandchildren
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2018
The Doggie was white,
  and the Kitty was black,
  as they crouched at each end of the floor

Their eyes never met,
  because the rules were set,
  that the dog would chase the cat as before

At night came the darkness,
  and the Kitty stood up
  and headed right straight to the door

But the Doggie just lay there with his head
  on his paws, and thought:
  “Tonight—is quite different for sure”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)
‘For Kiley, Hunter, Braden & Parker’
            My Grandchildren
Kurt Philip Behm May 2019
Locked inside my indecision,
  death opened up the door

And let me look inside my fear,
  which I hated and abhorred

The view not half as frightening,
  as the deception and the lies

And its arms extended toward me,
  standing frozen—eyes on mine

My steps then hesitated,
  and its threshold wasn’t breached

As I watched the door shut slowly,
  todays outcome never reached

But a key was left before me,
  to unlock what’s yet to know

Of a still uncertain future
  —through the doorway I was shown

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2018
Cowardice and bravery
Not either/or
But different levels of…

Valor and shame
A swinging door
Whose facings change when swung

A foil to confound
The poets dream
With glory and disdain

Bravery and cowardice
Not zero-sum
—but often look the same

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2021
The tragedy of accident,
the wonderment of fate
imprisoning destiny
—on whose steps we wait

(Dreamsleep: September, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2020
Humanities coin two sided,
on the front eternal life

On the back annihilation
—on its edge we balance fright

(Dreamsleep: January, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2019
The Democrat party,
  all masters and slaves

G.O.P. left in tatters,
  their promises frayed

Haves lie to the have nots
  bright futures a whim

As the dragon’s fire burns
  —the thick with the thin

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2023
Old age brings
delusion
Youth the vengeful
liar
Caught between
confusion reigns
As time restokes
the fire

Tweedledee
and Tweedledum
The Brothers Grimm
delight
What doesn’t rob
by light of day
Will steal from you
at night

Wisdom rots on
twisted vines
That choke
the palace walls
Where jesters climb
in ill attempts
To heed the
emperor’s call

Senility
humility
Where folly
once was young
The years have come
the tears have stayed
—tomorrow on the run

(The New Room: August, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
Each drawer that I fill,
stores something past

The future spread out
on the bed

As each one closes,
its memories sleep safe

Dreams quilted,
and looking ahead

Layered inside,
and kept neatly stacked

In silence,
their stories unfold

Each drawer front embossed,
with a message they share

“Open Only If Naked Or Cold”

The dresser sits quiet,
its handles untouched

As new history begins
with each write

And construction resumes,
a new dresser is built

To store words that have yet
to take flight

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2023
Abbots of darkness
bishops of pain
Cloistered in dogma
praying for rain

Thunderous chanting
tempest above  
Damning false prophets
blessing a dove

Grace comes a hailstorm
Coventry’s shame
Lost in its downpour
thirst to remain

Warning blasphemers
in skies that portend
Ordained and self-serving
the drought never ends

(The New Room: September, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm May 2019
All of life happens
—between the crest and the trough

(Molokai Hawaii: February, 1989)
‘Tribute To Duke Kahanamoku’
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2020
So much lost…
so little gained

Prairies in judgment,
our destiny framed

So little gained
for what we lost

Spirits now orphaned
—tomorrow the cost

(Browning Montana: Blackfoot Reservation - May, 1995).
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
Like a telescope in focus,
  the words get sharp and clear

And magnify within the thought,
  a feeling oh so dear

Each letter worth a hundred times,
  what yesterday did know

New verse now burning laser bright,
—eternal in its glow

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2016
The earth cracked in Nepal,
  with fire and shame

And thousands lay dead,
  in the mountains and plains

Her crust was ripped open,
  a heart now exposed

And lives were reclaimed,
  from a heaven deposed

The story for mystics,
  a legend say some

As nature demanded,
  for things that we’d done

Her climate infected,
  and sky ringed in black

Our future as payment,
—with no turning back

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2020
Did you baptize the moment,
did you remake the night

Did you give truth a name,
did your secrets escape

Did you forever divide,
leaving zero to burn

Did you dance through the flames
—to the edge of goodbye

(Dreamsleep: April, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2021
Ideas…
cut glass of perception,
Obsidian tomorrows
—etching today

(Dreamsleep: July, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2019
A Poet sits on the edge of tomorrow,
waiting for today

Notebook in hand, new words to command
—what time has yet to say

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2019)
Hiding behind
each veil of deception
a reckoning awaits

Looming above
the sea of destruction
a fugitive of fate

Grasping for breath
on the edge of tomorrow
the future air most thin

Plaguing the weak
adrift in their sorrow
— the DNA of sin

(The New Room: January, 2025)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2019
Seven dark prodigals approached in the night,
saying: “One has escaped and
journeyed into the light”

Seven dark prodigals with shadows now gone,
longed for he who had left them
—for he who was strong

Seven dark prodigals wandered the dark,
no safety in numbers,
in search of their heart

“We must look till he’s found,” I heard two of them
say,
seven sins unforgiven
—the eighth gone astray

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2017
Seven dark prodigals approached in the night,
  saying: “One has escaped and
                  journeyed into the light”

Seven dark prodigals with shadows now gone,
  longed for he who had left them,
  —for he who was strong

Seven dark prodigals wandered the dark,
  no safety in numbers,
  in search of their heart

“We must look till he’s found,” I heard two of them say,
    seven sins unforgiven,
   —the eighth gone astray

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2020
They say to forgive and forget…
in spite of the damage they’ve done

A blessing sublime, someone better than I,
could do both—I though neither one

(Dreamsleep: January, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
Can you be conscious
  without being self conscious,
  philosophers disagree

Being aware of your
  awareness,
  seems logical to me

But logic has its
  failings,
  as we pierce the inner mind

Perception,
  the most elusive ghost
   —and hardest to define

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2020
It’s easy to hide behind words,
with the truth left abandoned and stark

It’s easy to hide behind words,
with your feelings sharp pointed and dark

It’s easy to hide behind words,
when the emperor buys you new clothes

It’s easy to hide behind words
—whose deception dishonors you so

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2021
Mesmerized by his own success,
swimming naked and alone in the dark

Drowning in what he forever professed,
he rose and fell with each critic’s remark

Hypnotized while diving for fame,
he sank while caught in the tide

His pleadings washed up, divested and bare,
exposed—with nowhere to hide

(Crater Lake: October: 2015)
Kurt Philip Behm Nov 2016
The Emperor walks naked,
with eyes all alone

To his subjects he panders,
his pride for a throne

His strut his true signature,
exposure supreme

Your opinion of no matter,
—as he colors you green

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2014)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2016
A father teaches a son
  everything he knows . . .

Sometimes, it
  isn’t enough

Furrows plowing, seedlings
  dying, a daughter screams,

As young Johnny goes off
  to the city

A step-child of his
own desire

Wandering the avenues
  and alleyways

Searching high in the lights
  for his name

But only a shadow
comes down from the neon

Dark and invisible
   as he walks

A soul without
  acceptance

A new emptiness fills
  the hardened cracks,
  —and hallowing cement void

Where the stench of severed roots
and singed beginnings,
  —meet and die

And from 1000 miles
   a father walks in the darkness,
  —ancient and alone

Passing an empty bed
  in a dimly lit country hallway,
  —asking why

(Chicago Illinois: July, 1977)
Embalming
your memory
the funeral
dragged on
Returning
the remnants
that pain
had prolonged

The pallbearers
stationed
each side
of the grave
A grieving
reminder
that time
— had enslaved

(Dreamsleep: February, 2025)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2019
There’s a voice inside that’s killing me,
slowly day by day

Each line I write, each word I speak
—is paid with time reclaimed

(Dreamsleep: October, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2020
I abhor…
bigotry,
dishonesty,
hate and
disloyalty,
bias
and jealousy,
misogyny
and tyranny

But more than anything
I hate weakness in all its forms,
cowardice being the most destructive,
which allows all of the things I abhor…
to exist

(Dreamsleep: April, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2017
Are you now denied all access
Has your ticket long been punched
Is your fear stuck in the alley
Intermezzo—out to lunch

Will you even see the picture
From the far end of the line
Would a curtain serve to raise your hopes
Can a loser ever shine

The doorman calls “It’s Showtime”
As the lights all start to dim
An usher cries “There’s One Seat Left”
You madly rush within

With eyes now strained in darkness
You find that one last chair
And on the stage, hope kisses fear,
—all encores yours to share

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2019
Are you now denied all access
Has your ticket long been punched
Is your fear stuck in the alley
Intermezzo—out to lunch

Will you ever see the picture
From the far end of the line
Would the curtain serve to raise your hopes
Can a loser ever shine

The doorman calls “It’s Showtime”
As the lights all start to dim
An usher shouts “There’s One Seat Left”
You madly rush within

With eyes that fight the darkness
You find that one last chair
And on the stage, hope kisses fear
—all encores yours to share

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
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