Kurt Philip Behm

Not I (+3)

If reality is meant to change,

Buddhists may be right

 

The stops and starts of wasted dreams,

to bury in the night

 

With truth in self-denial,

our awareness springs and grows

 

The burdens of all conscious thought,

released—once letting go

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2020)

 

 

Whole Punched

 

Imperfection keeps me fertile,

like the storm upon the plain

 

Measuring the distance,

of what’s lost and sometimes gained

 

With my thoughts I mark the hours,

left uncounted looking back

 

The choices made and prices paid

—endorsing what I lack

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2020)

 

 

 

 

The Enemy Within

 

If conflict is human,

is violence a game

 

The law of the jungle

by some other name

 

A mortal endeavor,

to choose when we fight

 

With nature in judgment

—the wrong from the right

 

(Wayne Pennsylvania: August, 2020)

 

 

 

By Any Other Name...

 

A watch is forever subservient

to time

 

As each day bows down

to the sun

 

Remeasuring infinity

from end to end

 

Orphaned between

—and left to beguile

 

(Villanova University: August, 2020)