Kurt Philip Behm

The Fathoms Deep (+3)

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)

 

 

That Voice

 

Is the fire escape of love

still open

does it go both up and down

will it rescue you from the flames

of possession

promising only exit

never refuge from the heat

Is the iron railing molten

as you step out on the landing

is the air too hot to breathe

as you take that one look back

is the smoke

a cloud that follows

your feet melting into sorrow

is that voice you’re hearing through the blaze

—the love you’re running to or from

 

(Dreamsleep: March, 2020)

 

 

 

 

Time Dethroned

 

Does memory store from front to back,

or more like side to side

 

Do childhood dreams seem closer now,

than yesterdays goodbye

 

Does memory scorn all month and year,

a dimension of its own

 

Remembering best what matters most

—defying time enthroned

 

(Dreamsleep: March, 2020)

 

 

Syntactxx

 

Letter to letter once estranged,

they mate in open air

 

Copulants of a thought unloved,

 vowels conceived in pairs

 

An alphabetic orgy,

the first word falls in place

 

Darkness changing into light

—all silence to replace

 

(Dreamsleep: March, 2020)