Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
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)
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 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)
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)
In the shadow
of perfection
time stops
— as eternity takes form

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)
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)
With children
a house becomes alive
Without them
an empty shell
With children
new moments of joy arrive
Without them
an unringing bell

With children
laughter stays in the air
Without them
but memories dwell
With children
the years to age unimpaired
Without them
— all magic is quelled

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)
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 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)
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 Feb 2018
Dying in anticipation,
  the morning never came

Rising out of sublimation
—the end begins again

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2024
We hope and we dream
for a world free of pain
but the rock of serenity
stays beyond our reach
A hug or a knife
a kiss or a gun  
bipolar reminders
confliction runs deep
Every minute and hour
the chase carries on
no safety in hiding
from that which we’re born
Till fate becomes blinded
and hits a dead end
eternity waiting
—the ending forewarned

(Dreamsleep: December, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
If you’re losing you’re winning,
  the path leads one way

The steps to the kingdom,
  a carpet of pain

If your will is unbroken,
  your commitment in stone

The ending assured
—as you sit on the throne

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Feb 2018
Do you avoid the give and take,
  are you afraid to cut the cake

With hope now gone, one wish is left,
  the present strong—all else bereft

Are you afraid of yes and no,
  to middle ground do you still go

The mountaintop calls out your name,
  excuses haunt your stock and trade

With time undone and glass half poured,
  your cup still empties, false reward

The end in sight, horizon plain,
  one last choice calls—your soul to gain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2020
Delivering what we said we wanted,
wrapped in dirt and mud
The politician slashed and burned,
and each time drawing blood

He tapped into our memory,
with fear and recompense
Reminding what the past was like,
with promises incensed

He sang old songs, romanced the strong,
the weak then cast away
The jungle’s laws put back in place
—our hopes and wishes played

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2020)
He died
in a whisper
alone
in its presence

The call of death
weaker
than what he’d
been told

Wading into its
shallows
each step
took him deeper

Reluctance
and acceptance
both swimming
in turn

Each voice
every motion
he passed
toward the bottom

The pressure of
choosing
now
drifting away

In denial
and waiting
the past
floating above him

But the end
of its
shouting
— had finally begun

(Dreamsleep: May, 2025)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2021
Beyond permission
and the endowment tree
The wind blows constant,
it calls to me

Freedom is born
past entitlements whim
The ends of infinity
—knotting within

(Dreamsleep: January, 2021)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2019
Screams to their naked advancement,
fire—the truth to resound

Cannon to their darkest intention,
death—to all enemies found

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2018
Get caught in the dialectic
  before the day is late

Don’t wait for an invitation
  as they slowly shut the gate

The wolf now dressed in spun wool
  has broken from his cage

He hungers more for what we’ve lost
  an ignorance of rage

A traitor lurks in front of us
  to vanquish and to quell

But time that stops for no one man
  the assassin pledged to hell

The moment to act upon us
  the odds both long and wide

A battle still worth fighting
    for those before who thought and died

So if truth’s your greatest weapon
  wield it willingly and free

The enemy is upon us
  —and must leave on bended knee

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm May 2019
If there’s anything more dangerous
  than a terrorist
   —it’s a corrupt politician

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2023
There’s nothing sylvan
about the Ivy League
Subversive in nature
all take and no give
In period camouflage
they feign to belong
Their hatchlings abhorrent
together they throng

Our country’s traditions
they chop on the block
What many have died for
their travesty mocks
And living entitled
they **** and they draw
Rewriting our history
—their lies become law

(The New Room: October, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Jan 2018
Grandchildren
—life’s fountain of youth

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2020
If you live long enough...
those things you missed
will again return

No longer wrapped
in layers of disguise

But flying on spirit wings
the Archangels have endowed

Bequeathed
to the morning’s sunrise
—your exiting dawn

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2020)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2017
Do you eat your own cooking,
  do you live what you write

Do you enjoy your own company,
  do you dream well at night

When you look in the mirror,
  do you like what you see

Through the eyes of a child,
—is your heart then set free

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Aug 2019
Do you eat your own cooking,
do you live what you write

Do you enjoy your own company,
do you dream well at night

When you look in the mirror,
do you like what you see

Through the eyes of a child
—is your heart then set free

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)
Kurt Philip Behm Dec 2016
I happen to be cast a
  different way

Molten like igneous
  stone

I live on the boundary,
  where others won’t play

At the edge of the scary
  unknown

The chess board on fire,
  as the Russian sage smiles

With the questions the same,
  only more

All answers now servant,
  as I step off the ledge

The fall better this time,
—than before

(Grantham New Hampshire: March, 2015)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2024
“Truth
a distraction”
the media pouts
Constricting
those voices
trying to shout
Dumber
than dumb
brain dead by degree
Digging new graves
for the few
— still left free

(Dreamsleep: April, 2024)
Kurt Philip Behm Jun 2018
We’ve redefined God
Into someone
Who fits
His image
Our vision
His vision
Inconvenient
Alongside things
That won’t let go
His message untimely
With bills to pay
And concrete goddesses
To which we pray
  “a tail never tried to wag
   a bigger dog”
As we chant inside the
False rapture
Of our own
Becoming
Hiding from the very
Light
That promises
—to show us the way

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2018
A prisoner of the truth
  sole inmate of denial

Serving time falsely promised
  —paroled in cold exile

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2014)
Kurt Philip Behm Jul 2024
We were in love
but never at peace
Starving together
— choking the feast

(Dreamsleep: July, 2024)
Kurt Philip Behm May 2023
Makeup never hides the truth
the camera sees it all
Sharply focused through the pain
each mask a futile pall

As clowns embrace the actor’s fears
in painted frozen smiles
The farce goes on in word and song
—a masquerades denial

(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2024
Cathedral Mosque
or Synagogue
their masquerade
the same
Preaching what
they don’t believe
the Good Lord
to profane

Christians Jews
and Muslims share
their hate for
other faiths
Self-righteous ire
scriptures burn
as blood flows
through the gate

Colleges and
social networks
homes where they
blaspheme
Younger hearts
and narrow minds
starving
to believe

The clock ticks down
as options die
in zero sum
degrees
The vilest thing
to haunt the earth
breeds death
— with each decree

(Dreamsleep: April, 2024)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2020
Prose on one side, verse the other
—distance in between

The bridge has burnt, the Muse now two,
each seeing only green

The breaths that flow are then contained,
no synergy allowed

The fathoms deep between their words
—whose river both endows

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)
Next page