Author: Kurt Philip Behm

I am a lifelong author with 21 books published to date—one best seller. Much of my writing is about the deception of time and its many disguises. My Poetry 'An Anthology Of Perception,' is now available in four volumes. In addition I have a 175 page Poem 'After Midnight,' that was published in 2014. My Historical Fiction series, 'The Sword Of Ichiban' is now up to volume 8 which is being published this Spring ... Vol #1- The Sword Of Ichiban Vol #2- Darkening Sun Vol #3- Revenge Along The War Trail Vol #4- Death From The Sky Vol #5- Jumping Into the Darkness Vol #6- The Fall City Mandate. Vol #7- Approaching Storm Vol #8- Brothers In Blood One autobiographical novel, 'The Death Of The Playground' a Best Seller, published in 2007. One travel novel, 'Searching For Crazy Horse,' published in 2005, recapping my forty years of motorcycle touring in the American Rocky Mountain West. I have written one Children's Book, 'Sammy & Bumpers' that was published in 2016. All of my books are available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and better Book Stores world wide. Kurt Philip Behm

Today

I wonder what

you’re doing tonight

Whose poking and prodding

my blue-eyed delight

Are you lonely and scared

of what nature has bidden

Are you angry and tired

of feeling downtrodden

Are you chasing the ghosts

of dreams thought forgotten

While praying for sleep

with the music forgiving

Are you looking inside

for answers forthcoming

Knowing only that you

hear the differences drumming

 

I wonder who

you are forever becoming

That boy in the woods

whose motor’s still running

The one at the shore

whose Sea Doo is flying

That man on the bike

where the mountains are calling

I think you will find

they’re protected inside

Sleeping together

awaiting your cry

And when you reach out

to embrace them again

Your world will be whole

—today to befriend

 

(The New Room: May, 2022)

 

Home

At nineteen

I wanted to live in Colorado

Till that first weekend I spent

in Cheyenne

 

At twenty-five

I wanted to live in Montana

Leaving Yellowstone

as Glacier took my hand

 

At thirty

I wanted to live in Alaska

Within Denali

where the Kodiaks roam

 

But as the years have progressed

I discovered

All I ever wanted to be

—was home

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

Life Unbound

Waiting for life to come to me,

the clock ticked down to one

 

With barely but a second left,

my tendency to run

 

With nothing left but one last tick,

all motion seemed to stop

 

Perspective changed, then rearranged,

a lifetime on the spot

 

My eyes won’t blink, the fear too great,

of staying closed for good

 

As from a distant galaxy,

I finally understood

 

All life had boiled down to this,

eternity defined

 

When everything that ever was,

together crossed my mind

 

I left the past and future mired,

to breed and then deceive

 

And took this present life unbound

—unto my soul reprieved

 

(The New Room: May, 2022)

Our Birthright

A proprietary hold on God,

religion does proclaim

 

Defining what we know inside

our souls will they reclaim

 

The Cross or Torah, Buddhist lore

each ritual decries

 

What can’t be owned or scripted pure

through centuries of lies

 

Divinity a birthright deigned

for those who search to find

 

What God embeds in every soul

—that structure can’t define

 

(The New Room: May, 2022)

Love’s Waterloo

I looked at you a thousand times

before I saw you once

You never did look back at me

my vision sorely trumped

 

Till that one day I saw you clear

in substance and in form

But still I longed for one more look

where I still got it wrong

 

You’re with me now in all I say

and everything I do

Though never more than what this is…

a lovesick waterloo

 

I wish I could have squinted more

or glanced with just one eye

As stars misled a heart deceived

—my fantasy belied

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2022)