Hey, Mister Mason
what’s that you’re building?
Do you think that it’s sturdy
and not destined to fall?

Finger to your lips
shh, it’s a secret
Once out in the open
the truth will be revealed

Black and white pieces
hold your positions
Checker the floorboard
as we settle all scores

Oaths that were taken
were given in shadow
Now run to your corners
the Light has come on

Hey, there, King-Maker
your puppets are tattered
Hey, Wizard of Darkness
your reign is dismissed

Dawn of the New Day
ain’t what you thought, eh?
The Phoenix is rising
as we leave you below

This poem originally appeared late last August at Dissident Voice where I’ve now been contributing a weekly Sunday poem for the past year. You can follow this link to browse my archive there.

It was also posted recently at the site Social Justice Poetry. This link will take you to that particular archive.

This link is to a recorded version of “Broke His Crown” that I sang last night on audioBoom.

There was a time when I used to live alone and thus had plenty of solitude and space to practice singing without disturbing anyone else. Between 2003 (when I was given a small voice recorder as a Birthday gift) and 2013 (when the recorder went on the fritz), I recorded literally thousands of tracks of poetry readings and a cappella song lyrics. After selling my home along with 90% of everything I’ve ever owned a couple of years ago and moving into a house with other people, those days of solitude are gone for the time being. My voice is definitely a bit out of practice, but it’s been fun using these recording platforms I’ve come across lately to try and whip it back into shape.

Thank you to Michael Organ at Tuck Magazine for publishing two of my poems yesterday. “Satiating Urges” and “Sleep in the Bed That You Made” can be read here.

Also, thank you to Denise C. Powell at The Voices Project for publishing my poem “Assaulted from Above” yesterday.

All comments, critiques, concerns, and suggestions relating to this blog or my work in general are certainly most welcome. Feel free to send a message my way.

I’d love to connect with everyone on Facebook and Twitter.

Selah,

Scott Thomas Outlar