Phyllis I. Behrens

Arlington, Texas

Phyllis has been a wordsmith since very young. She drafted her first rhyme while a kindergartner and her second when 9. She actively began pursing the writers craft at age 13. Phyllis was first published in school volumes while a high schooler and undergraduate. In 1981 she self published a full manuscript, "the green book," for private circulation. She has since had about a dozen poems from other works-in-progress (WIPs) published, mostly as a result of entrants to various poetry contests. Phyllis thinks wordsmithing is a great hobby to have because it requires no equipment and can be conducted virtually anyplace.

Beginnings: 1960-1980: Silence

that empty building silence
roaring
through those lonely rooms
you fret to share
burns like a whiskey fire
when it hits.

Beginnings: 1960-1980: Kept in Touch

kept in touch by some bulky watchpiece
you and I spend our time
listening to some mental tick-tock
waiting out some a.m. alarm
to awaken us to some sudden moment
which will find us
held together by some bulky watchpiece
wasting our time.

Beginnings: 1960-1980: Applause

feel
i
feel
a poem
coming on
dancing on
down pages
of words
letter
by caroling letter
until it twirls into
your arms and bursts
between your eyes into
a hymn of recognition.
for your heartbeat
is the tempo
throbbing softly
from word to word
and your furrowed brow,
the cadenza
marking stanza from stanza;
and you cannot be the audience
for you are the orchestra
and you are the chorus
and you are the dancer
and i am writing your applause.