Kurt Philip Behm

Reaching For Xanadu

Skeletons rule the attic,

 rooks have left the board

emptiness I can’t explain,

darkness untoward

 

Lapses in my memory,

lyrics left unsung

chasing all those things I’m not,

orphan on the run

 

Monday turns to Thursday,

Tuesday, Wednesday lost

time on fire, burning fast,

sanity the cost

 

One last chance for freedom,

pathway to the cliff

to jump into my deepest fear

—or sink in this abyss

 

(The New Room: February, 2022)