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

A Choice

To those who seek acquaintance,

 I can’t and won’t befriend

 

No time that isn’t mortgaged,

 no hearts will I defend

 

Each day begins and ends

 with gifted words upon the page

 

My blood lay rediscovered,

 new memories to age

 

My spirit lost within the Muse,

 my shadow running free

 

Her fond acceptance zero-sum,

 her voice my destiny

 

To those who say they know me,

 my verse they must have read

 

That person lost before the scribe,

 much better left for dead

 

And in the moment present,

 where all things take their place

 

I give myself back to a choice

 —no friendship can replace

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)

Calling Inward

Are your wishes scribed in combat,

  are your hopes relined with pain

 

Is your motion found still wanting,

  as you climb the stairs again

 

Are your words now of this moment,

  is your verse free and sincere

 

Are your feelings calling inward

  —from a heart that’s yearning dear

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

Last Domino

To change one word and rock the world,

   a verse now dancing free

 

Its weight unmeasured, breadth untold,

  whose key unlocks the dream

 

The bottle open, the genie gone,

  last domino to fall

 

One word pulled out, or inserted in

  —new meaning to enthrall

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

 

Never Destitute

In the darkest final hours,

  I began to write

 

And my words once spoken new

  from scattered ashes light the sky

 

To begin and end each day

  caught up in beauty’s distant wake

 

All loneliness filled by pages lined

  with happiness and joy

 

My fate betrothed, once mistress

  scorned

   —a lover more than wife

 

Whose vision so much sharper,

  her dissection cuts through bone

 

To slay the muted dragon’s fire

  in present tense delight

 

Beyond all past and future clouds

  above the darkening storm

 

To mate each breath and gifted word

  that heaven sends unwed

 

Never destitute in blessings shown

  —or in things I wish I’d said

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

My Spirit Set Free

Poetry allows me to combine what I think with what I feel.  It lets me drive toward a point while being pointless at the same time.  The beauty of the metaphor masking the philosophical content, pulling the reader in without questioning why.  Both sides of my brain becoming fully engaged—my spirit set free.

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)