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

Salvation Divine

This poem I read

 at the end of my life…

 

As I bid you adieu

 from the joy and the strife

 

A verse filled with hope,

 and with love from within

 

To carry inside you,

 my song on the wind

  

I’ll try not to preach,

 as others have done

 

But rather beseech you,

 your songs yet unsung

 

To love with the strength

 that’s God given inside

 

And to love even more,

 in an unending rhyme

 

These words are my gift,

 I bequeath you today

 

In the hope you’ll remember

 what I last had to say

 

For I loved you all deeply,

 your kindness I sought

 

And remember now sweetly,

 those blessings you brought

 

So I leave you this morning,

 and bid you farewell

 

I leave you together,

 pledged hearts here to dwell

 

All strength in your sharing,

 my love to remind

 

Your redemption awaits

 —its salvation divine

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

My Back To The Past

Sharing blood, but nothing more,

   family slipped away

 

Into a memory locked in steel,

  old thoughts safely at bay

 

All contact denied, memory entombed,

  though close their bodies stay

 

Life journeys on, my back to the past

   —until my dying day

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

Great Grandfather John

I love you but I don’t know you,

  I miss you, though you’ve never been here

 

I long for what the years have stolen…

   a vacant memory so dear

 

I feel you across the hallowed spectrum,

  of death and then beyond

 

Where our spirits write the words together…

   different verses—the same song

 

(Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

Emptiness Reveals

Loneliness arrives for breakfast,

  anxiety for lunch

 

Rejection for my dinner meal,

  desperation left for brunch

 

Passion came and passion went,

  the nighttime thief did steal

 

And darkness all that’s left to bear

  —the emptiness reveals

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2019)

 

 

 

 

Sleep Well My Love—Goodbye

At the far end of the casket,

 his girlfriend hugged his wife

 

And told her she was sorry,

 that she had tried to steal her life

 

Their tears then ran in unison,

 for a man who loved them both

 

The years they shared now testament,

 to a choice he left unspoke

 

They never met before this day,

 and would never meet again

 

But each knew well the other,

 and they almost felt like friends

 

The mistress left, the children wept,

 and the grandchildren played outside

 

As his wife looked down, saying: “Your hell has passed,

 sleep well my love—goodbye”

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

How Much Joy

Having everything you need,

  how much richer could you get

 

Feeling everything God given,

  how much luckier even yet

 

Knowing everything presented,

  how much smarter might you be

 

Your life shared with then another

  —how much joy could you foresee

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

       From ‘The Book Of Prayers’