Kurt Philip Behm

To Save Today (+4)

To steal injustice

from the eyes of a child

 

And place it beyond their sight

 

Is to save today,

when tomorrow is gone

 

The future—blinded by fright

 

 

The Truth Commands

 

Yes, I’m a Poet,

but I refuse to be conscripted

 

I refuse to be a victim,

my words made out of stone

 

I refuse to bleed my heart out,

on a page of blank simpatico

 

I refuse to give you weakness,

knowing strength you have disowned

 

Yes, I’m a Poet,

but my sword is sharp and pointed

 

My shield is scarred and colored

with the blood of firebrands

 

My breath won’t plead while shouting,

every name a future conquest

 

My pen in hand, a weapon sure

 —its ink the truth commands

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)

 \'Children’s Hospital Of Philadelphia: November, 2016\'

 

 

The Only Thing

 

In the end…

  the only thing left

—is what gets remembered

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)

 

 

Jailer To This Dream

 

A prisoner of my poetry…

a captive of this chair

 

The air I breathe connects me fast,

this corner now my lair

 

I take my meals here sitting,

my sleep in naps between

 

The written and the spoken word

—both jailer to this dream

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)

 

 

 

Beyond Your Grasp

 

One of life\'s challenges

is to find your own speed

 

Where travel is constant,

 destination in sight

 

Too fast,

 and yesterday abandons your future

 

Too slow,

 and memory stretches beyond your grasp

 

(Airplane to Richmond 10/14/2016)