Kurt Philip Behm

A Regent\'s Tale (+1)

Those hidden lies

breed louder cries,

deception setting in

 

What’s birthed in darkness

kills in light,

exposing deeper sins

 

The poison fostered

regent’s tale,

its message civic spun

 

For us to swallow

not to chew,

inscripted zero-sum

 

(The New Room: July, 2022)

 

 

Strange Days

 

You can’t burn out

if not on fire

You can’t be hurt

without desire

You can’t be found

if never lost

You’ll never melt

without a frost

Your memory void

without a thought

You’re never freed

if never caught

You’ll never plant

without a seed

You need the words

to have a creed

The past depends

on present spent

The pawn shop thrives

on items lent

The morning lost

without the night

The truth abeyant

—wrong or right

 

(The New Room: July, 2022)