Kurt Philip Behm

Forever Wondering Why (+5)

Run away from the what,

let the how lead the way

Keep the questions before you

and the answers at bay

 

Deem your motion perpetual

with all stops left behind

As those presents unwrapped

open up in your mind

 

May the wind rise to greet you

and your sun never set

On those places now virgin

and a lover unmet

 

May the wisdom of sages

be your rallying cry

As you course through the ages

—forever wondering why

 

(Train-New Haven: March, 2015)

 

 

Grief To Go

 

‘Sermon to the choir….’

the writers group sat motionless

with their heads down

 

‘Sermon to the choir….’

they listened for their instructor

to announce—“your time starts now”

 

‘Sermon to the choir….’

they tried to imagine what they had never seen

while wondering about what they couldn’t know

 

 ‘Sermon to the choir….’

the writers group then raised their heads

and packed their grief to go

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

 

 

 

To Those Recalled

 

Escaping into verse,

the base of the tower rumbled,

the ground beneath was shaken

with new cracks inside its walls

 

Escaping into verse,

all towering deception crumbled,

as the self-anointed jumped and fell

landing prostrate and so small

 

Escaping into verse,

the mime shouted out enabled,

his silent thunder raining down

with a message now to scald

 

Escaping into verse,

a new steeple built and gabled

its bell to ring a lyric toll

   —new life to those recalled

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

 

 

Seraph\'s Delight

 

There’s a voice deep inside me

still trying to get out

 

Ignoring my pleadings,

it screams and it shouts

 

Its call is the loudest

on those darkest of nights

 

When my mind seeks new refuge

from Seraph’s delight

 

I toss and I turn,

but it speaks louder still

 

As its words start to burn

from new vision distilled

 

No barter or denial

will turn back its call

 

The Muse is on fire

—my pen not to stall

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

 

 

The Dog & The Kitty 

 

The Doggie was white,

and the Kitty was black,

as they crouched at opposite ends of the floor

 

Their eyes never met,

because the rules were set

that the dog would chase the cat as before

 

At night came the darkness,

and the Kitty stood up

and headed right straight to the door

 

But the Doggie just lay there with his head

on his paws, and thought….

—today is quite different for sure

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

‘For Kiley, Hunter, Braden & Parker’

          My Grandchildren

 

 

The Deepest Freeze

 

Holding myself emotional hostage,

no ransom note was sent

 

No picture of the victim

no feeling sold or lent

 

Locking my heart away for good

ice forming by degree

 

All pain inflicted on myself

—love in the deepest freeze

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2018)