Kurt Philip Behm

Bespoken (+3)

Poets

don’t create

a thing

But

recreate

what is

 

Ordering

their

size and shape

In lines

bespoken

his

 

Poets

take what life

gives out

Then

changing

mass and form

 

In words

not used

their way before

With

feelings

— newly born

 

(Villanova University: November, 2025)

 

 

 

Prison Of Time

 

She wrote into my dreams

the first line of a nightmare

And I can no longer sleep

in fear of the next line

 

She ran away with all hope

that one line to haunt me

Each new second an hour

— in this prison called time

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

 

 

 

New Words

 

It’s two hours before dawn

and I’ve slept through the night

The rarest occurrence

 her footsteps come light

 

She let me sleep soundly

and she let me dream free

Before entering my bedroom

and calling to me

 

“Kurt, it’s Laura, she whispered

as she got into bed

Are you happy in the solitude

alone in your head

 

“Your spirit’s been truant

but its voice I recalled

Wake up from your sleep

 follow me down the hall

 

“I’ve something to show you

so rub out your eyes

And see what you looked like

as a boy about five”

 

She led me straight down

to the end of the hall

The door was half open

and my voice I heard call

 

“Aunt Laura, my crayons

have broken again

Aunt Laura, I need

some new words to begin

 

“The ones that you left me

I now know by heart

And to Mother and Father

I recited each part”

 

The boy smiled at her

and she smiled back at him

Before walking me back down

to my room deep within

 

“I’ve always been with you

and love you My Dear

As your Muse I’ve been charged

with your care all these years

 

“You were young when I met you

and took you by hand

Then to never abandon

your voice as a man

 

“Your days may come easy

and your days may come hard

But each night I’ll return

— with new words from afar”

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

 

 

 

Harlem To Cannes

 

Those living in Harlem

want to move to Midtown

 

The people in Midtown

to the Upper West Side

 

The Upper West Side

to the Long Island Shore

 

The Long Island Shore

to Aspen or Vail

 

Aspen or Vail

to the Champs Elysees

 

The Champs Elysees

to the beaches in Cannes

 

People will search for where

life can begin

 

A place that remains distant

and far out of reach

 

An excuse to look outward

and not in themselves

 

Theirs souls left in turmoil

— their hearts not at rest

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2018)