Neither Here Nor There

 

Caught

in transition

Straddling

the line

Neither

here nor there

Truant

to define

 

Change

to mark my entry

Change

to bid my leave

Almost here

almost there

Living

— in between

 

*****

 

In The Rafters

 

Alone

he resides

in his fortress

Embittered

and humbled

by life

 

With four

darkened walls

to surround him

A kingdom

of sorrow

and blight

 

Self-pity

betroths

and becomes him

Engaged

to his torment

and pain

 

And hope

but a fleeting

lost notion

That hides

in the rafters

— unclaimed

 

*****

 

 

The Myth

 

Destroying tomorrow

in search of today

The myth in abeyance

— where present I pray

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2026)

 

 

False Words

 

With more than

one side to a story

Someone

is obviously lying

 

False words to defend

what at best is pretend

Truth as the victim

— there is no denying

 

*****

 

Three Words

 

The smile of a baby

the sound of goodbye

a moment endearing

a deepening sigh

 

Those things that we treasure

and some that we don’t

wrapped often together

in souring notes

 

There’s pain in the leaving

but joy that’s implied

upon your returning

three words in reply

 

A door shuts behind you

where love calls your name

and all through the wasteland

 — there kindle’s your flame

 

*****

 

Flowing Under

 

Rejecting the past

I found a way forward

My exit route open

all roads pointing East

 

Yesterday frozen

today flowing under

The cold and the barren

— whose waters run deep

 

*****

 

Lost & Missing

 

Knowing enough

to feel I’m right

But not enough

to know I’m wrong

Caught in the distance

of misdirection

Lost and missing

— a world gone wrong

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2026)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

United Natives of America 7th generation uprisings.
March 24, 2018

A Lakota Mothers Prayer
(From: Searching For Crazy Horse)
________________________
‘Wana Hin Gle’ the Lakota call me,
‘Wana Hin Gle’ my given name
‘He Who Happens Now,’ the drum beat has found me,
reaching into this moment beyond glory and fame
As ‘Wana Hin Gle,’ my spirit has wandered,
as ‘Wana Hin Gle,’ my ancestors call
The questions dissolve, as The Great Mystery beckons,
the campfire eternal, the chanting enthralls
“Wana Hin Gle,” my Mother calls proudly,
“your horse is now ready, your shield fixed with bone
Off into the prairie you must ride in the twilight,
the People will dance until their son returns home
Wana Hin Gle, you must now happen quickly,
the buffalo are all captive, starvation allowed
Your eyes look upon the great Wakan Tanka,
whose absence has shamed us, who once were so proud
As the great Tasunka Witko who traveled before you,
you must wait for your horse to come out of the lake
Great Mother River and Great Mountain Father,
to your will they entrust what The People forsake
Your vision must suffer, the babies still cry,
the cold through the tent flaps, all future in blight
You must leave us now, but leave us in darkness,
for when you return, a new vision will burn bright
You will ride to the top of the ‘Pass Of The Bears,’
ask the Grizzly, our brother, if the demon still preys
If it does, you must kill it, for this time and always,
it has hovered above us keeping spirits away
The White Horse will take you from the lake to the mountain,
and the stallion will sprout wings with its hooves fiery hot
You will trample this demon and burn him before you,
the smoke will then signal of what he is not
Wana Hin Gle, my son; the time is for going,
your vision awaits, past-futures on hold
The Medicine Woman is locked deep inside you,
your People die waiting—the young and the old”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
Copyright © Kurt Philip Behm | Year Posted 2018

Hope Redeemed

 

Moving

from one side

of my pain

to the other

 

Relief

is denied

new anguish

uncovered

 

To live

in the present

and torture

my dreams

 

The end

now is welcomed

where hope

— may redeem

 

*****

 

Harmony Pure

 

The music

of verse

when left

unrehearsed

Cries out

from within

One voice

 to begin

 

It starts

with an echo

left buried

inside

That looks

for an exit

no longer

to hide

 

To reshape

the words

with a

harmony pure

Exalting

the heavens

in melody’s

— lure

 

*****

Death Reminds

 

Self-anointed

dreamer

Timothy Treadwell

crossed the line

That reason

draws before us

to ignore it

death reminds

That time

is in its favor

with every step

we take

To trespass

nature’s balance

is to tempt

— the jaws of fate

 

*****

 

Writing More

 

I write in the wild

away from the crowd

The flight of an eagle

intrepid and proud

 

I cover my footsteps

so others stay back

Alive in each moment

the future attacked

To open the cosmos

and close the back door

Venturing inward

— the pathway secured

 

*****

 

Om

 

Beyond this place

a dragon

Outside your reach

it spoils

Where Satan hides

his demons

And memory

recoils

 

There’s one remote

oasis

Within this world

of pain

That drowns

the serpent’s fire

Its mantra

— in refrain

 

*****

 

Rest In Peace

 

I guess I won

I outlived them all

My critics and pundits

 buried et all

 

Their ire and praises

sleep in the ground

Their target still breathing

— words to expound

 

*****

 

The Moment Reborn

 

Everybody

has to be somewhere

Everyone

lives self-proclaimed

Every endowment

a moment reborn

Every time

— every day

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2026)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving 69

wrapped in khaki

alone & cold

waiting on the platform

for the train

to carry him

so far again

he cursed

the coming ball of light

in vain

the airhorn blew

& again he knew

he’d be Fort Lincoln bound

the hollow chill

& a weakening will

upon his tongue the taste

of a bitter goodbye

he thought

what men will do

to prove to you

they’re not afraid to die

but the bullet’s pain

is not the same

as the dull & empty wound

of goodbye

the piercing squeal

of steel on steel

he was Fort Lincoln bound

the train pulled away

his soul like Winter gray

as he thought of all the love

that cried for more

rumbling railroad town

he watched the fleeting town

his mind had come this way before

‘O airhorn blow

to let them know

I am Fort Lincoln bound’

but in silent prayer

he whispered there

‘God turn this train around!’

Exposition Of Meaning

Shoes

     and socks;

Black

     leather belt;

Discarded

     ivory underwear

Man:

     standing real.

Mine’s I

I know so many

in love

with

I.

most of my friends

are in love

with

I.

not a social thought

in their mind

just

I.

Just

I

me mine

myself

Christians

loving

I.

Jews

loving

I.

The I’s

have it

covering

their eyes.

The Oracle

Don’t go down to Ja-rooslim!

     I heard de Oracle say

Don’t go down to Ja-rooslim!

Dey’s evil dere today!

No don’t go down

To de serpent’s town

Or dey gonna take you away!

Don’t go down to Dallas!

     I heard de Oracle declare

Don’t go down to Dallas

Dey’s hatred in de air!

No don’t go down

To dat debbul’s town

Or dey gonna take you away!

Don’t go down to Memphis

     I heard de Oracle warn

Don’t go down to Memphis

Dey’s a death mist on de morn!

No don’t go down

To dat hatin town

Or dey gonna take you away!

Stay away from Calla-fornya!

     I heard de Oracle scream

Stay away from Calla-fornya

Dey bound to smash your dream!

No don’t go down

To dat dead man’s town

Or dey gonna take you away!

But dey turned deaf ears

     To de Oracle’s fear

So dey came

     And took dem away.

Wet Tender

Love is the fire

that we can never

keep burning

or

can never get started

in time

to save us all

from freezing to death

E.J. Hudak: ca. 1969

Claims Still Unrhymed

 

Buried alive

the secrets we keep

Covered over

in memories deep

Waiting for miners

with claims still unrhymed

To assay what’s hidden

— there waiting to find

 

*****

 

The Beauty Of Nuance

 

When man controls

technology

decorum availed

But when

technology controls man

the classless prevail

When machines

do the thinking

with hard drives as boss

The beauty

of nuance

— and subtleness lost

 

*****

 

Schematics

 

Writing a

novel

Is like building

a house

You start with

a blueprint

That guides you

throughout

 

You raise it

with framing

Then wire

the lines

And coat it

with pigment

To forever

— define

 

(The New Room: June, 2026)

 

 

 

Putting your arm

around the hump

of my sorrow

Embracing the loss

as you reach

through my pain

Saying again

that no words

can bring comfort

Leaving the past

and its language

— profane

 

*****

 

Caught In The Maelstrom

 

Answering

the questions

Questioning

the answers

Caught in the

maelstrom

A prisoner

of time

 

Looking

before me

Looking

behind me

Each minute

recounted

A moment

— unrhymed

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2026)

 

Frozen Dreams

 

Poverty

with a view

Wilderness

in the stew

Icebergs set

aflow

Desolation

row

 

Every day

a choice

Searching for

that voice

The one

to set me free

And melt

— this frozen dream

 

*****

 

This Day Forward

 

Giving up

on tomorrow

Rechristening

today

The blessings

before me

As presence

they lay

 

Regret is for

losers

Of which

I’ve been one

But from

this day forward

Today

zero – sum

 

*****

 

Door #3

 

We don’t write

to uncover

what’s right or what’s wrong

 

We write

to discover

— ourselves

 

*****

 

Bottom Line

 

Writer’s write

 as dilettante’s talk

Writer’s write

and poseurs they squawk

Writer’s write

with dandies in tow

Writer’s write

— so others may know

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2026)