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

To My Grandmother (1900-1999)

I store you inside me

  under a blanket of pearls

 

They lie strung together

 as my history unfurls

 

Each one to unstring

 when I need it the most

 

Your wisdom translucent

 your memory my host

 

You loved me before

 I ever knew who I was

 

My freedom you shepherd

 reaching down from above

 

Though years have grown distant

 they forever remind

 

Of your goodness and blessings

 —Oh Catherine of mine

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Divided And Split

Do you have to do something

  you loathe or then hate

 

To finance the thing

  that you love

 

Do you plod to a tune

  out of step and off key

 

To dance freely with what

  comes from above

 

Do the moments you steal

  and those stolen from you

 

Stand opposed or conjoined

  at the hip

 

Are those times rare and precious

  to freely aspire

 

Worth a life lived divided

   —and split

 

(Train from White River Junction: March, 2016)

Last Word To Begin

My constant companions…

 words reel and recast

 

Like a lady in waiting,

 they clear every path

 

Extending forever,

 to store what I feel

 

My thoughts they intrude,

 my meanings revealed

 

My past they’ve forgiven,

 my future ignored

 

They rest in my prayers,

 hopes and wishes restored

 

I know at the end,

 but one thing will remain

 

A last word to take with me

  —to begin once again

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)

Not Free To Go

Too old to be your Brother,

 too young to be your Dad

 

These private moments that we share

 our limbo iron clad

 

You wrap your eyes around me,

 I’m spellbound in your gaze

 

The years between us melt away

 and drift off in the haze

 

Too old to be your lover

 yet young with thoughts aglow

 

Your breath like silk, your touch on fire

  —my heart not free to go

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)