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

Ahead, Nothing More

Money and wealth

 used to accompany class

 

Now more often than not,

 it tends toward the crass

 

There used to be style

 that went along with good luck

 

Now nouveau riche dogma

 just passes the buck

 

The internet minions

 and rappers galore

 

Litter our vision

 as they buy out our stores

 

This newest gold standard

 obsesses with bling

 

Their knowledge in tatters

 they read not a thing

 

All intention is focused

 on numbers that climb

 

Like lasers, they pierce

 the mercurial dime

 

But time marches onward

 for rich and for poor

 

Looking back, a past wasted

  —ahead nothing more

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)

Fantasy Escapes

No clock can lay claim

 to the moment untimed

 

Though hands finely set

 still a mystery divine

 

Each tick plays a cadence

 to what is now past

 

But what of the future

 its measure uncast

 

We plot and record it

 hours, minutes, they chime

 

As all fantasy escapes

  —this delusion of time

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)

Their Peace Like A Blanket

To my home, the words take me

 each calling by name

 

Tearing walls from around me

 passion free, unrestrained

 

Their visions at midnight

 have lulled me to sleep

 

Their message when troubled

 my nightmare to greet

 

Through the long and the short

 it’s the words once again

 

Like the tide on the shore,

 they return as a friend

 

And lately I’m hearing

 an echoed refrain

 

From verses long distant

 offloading my pain

 

These words that I hear

 more whisper than shout

 

And what I once questioned,

 I no longer doubt

 

Through my voice they’re respoken

 to shield me from harm

 

Their peace like a blanket

  —under which I am warm

 

 (Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)

 

 

The Double Edge

Cowardice and bravery

Not either/or

But different levels of…

 

Valor and shame

A swinging door

Whose facings change when swung

 

A foil to confound

The poets dream

With glory and disdain

 

Bravery and cowardice

Not zero-sum

 —but often look the same

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2016)

No Blank Degree

Go to school,

 and load your gun

 

The man is coming

 the cradle shunned

 

Do your homework,

 obey the rules

 

The exam’s been written

 that dunce a fool

 

Go to school,
and stack the deck

 

Each grade a face card

 full house respect

 

Dot your I’s,

 and cross your T’s

 

Your promise written

 —no blank degree

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)

Leaving This World

I’ve looked and watched

 you turn away

 

Seeing things

 you’ve long denied

 

I grabbed the lion

 by his mane

 

Staring through

 the devil’s eye

 

I bought

 a one-way ticket

 

While never

 looking back

 

I’ve sailed and searched

 the roughest seas

 

My rigging

  often slack

 

I gave away

 all that I had

 

And asked for

 nothing more

 

I played the game

 and damned the rules

 

Rejecting

 any score

 

I stole my fate back

 from the wind

 

Which blew

 from side to side

 

And asking once

 my only wish…

 

  —to leave this world alive

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)