If we can’t tell stories
about our past
—the future stays untold
If judged by standards
out of time
—the fault beyond control
Our history always
both good and bad
—correction on the rise
What happened, happened,
as time rolls on
—and yesterday reminds
(Independence Square Philadelphia: March, 2021)
Copyright 2021 Kurt Philip Behm
The tyranny of the majority,
democracy oversold
The power of the people to cut and paste,
fat cats in control
‘Oh Ye Of Little Faith’ we are,
like rats inside a maze
Our government serving to best itself,
entitlement ablaze
The curtain rises for one last act,
this play now eons old
As despots steal the final scene
—where freedom’s bought and sold
(St. David’s Pennsylvania: March, 2021)
From here to eternity,
breakfast to lunch
The distance bespoke,
new hole card to punch
As yards change to meters,
fruition in sight
All travel inherent
—day changing to night
(Dreamsleep: March, 2021)
The story of a Poet,
more tragic than his words
What then in fact his deeds conscript
—his writing leaves infirm
(Dreamsleep: March, 2021)
To never make a lot of friends,
though enemies were scarce
And keeping both arm’s length away,
my words alone repaired
Splitting the difference tween comrade and foe,
the measurement obscured
One to the other, together as one
—my loneliness endured
(Berkshires: January, 2015)
Bravery and recklessness
riding together
Death as the arbiter
—glory abused
(Crow Agency Montana: July, 2009)
Your form is strong,
but your content is weak
Desire flowing,
experience meek
Trying to fake it
with meter and rhyme
Words never ripen
—green apples in time
(Dream Sleep: March, 2021)
Fear exposes the underside
of courage
The weakest point of strength
—a darker shade of truth
(Dreamsleep: March, 2021)
I stole from myself,
never paying me back,
rich in the spoils of war
Identity gone,
the body count total
—larcenous guilt to endure
(The New Room: March, 2021)
When time overcomes memory,
and vision retracts
The past sits in judgment,
its verdict exact
With yesterday’s reason,
tomorrow to blame
All hope left in ashes
—truth mourning the flame
(Dreamsleep: March, 2021)
