Savage

It’s cool if you want to get all fired up and nasty, all riled, charged, and fit to burst over the atrocities of this world.
 
It is a savage game being human. That’s not new wisdom.
 
But if you’re going to launch all missiles at the drop of a hat, you’d better at least be correct in your analysis of where to target. Which means you damned well ought to be informed about the subject. So unleash the hell of war if it’s righteous. But if you’re a fool fed naught but propaganda, then just shut your mouth and sit in the corner.
 
It’s adult swim now.
 
Your surface level bullshit is sure to get you sunk.


Served Cold
 
Those who live by the sword,
die by the sword.
 
Which could possibly be a lot of fun
while it lasts,
 
but most assuredly really sucks
when you finally get stuck.

I’ve never suffered a fool in my life. I’ve listened to them, laughed with them, laughed at them, and waved them along on their way. Like ships passing in the night. I must always continue toward the light in the distance. It’s not my fault when they wind up crashing on the rocks in the darkness.

Implosive Absolution

Strip away the power from the Beast System. Strip away the power from the IMF, from the World Bank, from the United Nations. And give the power back to the Federal government. Strip away the power from the Federal Government. Strip away the power from the Federal Reserve. And give the power back to the States. Strip away the power from the States. And give the power back to the counties. Strip away the power from the counties. And give the power back to the cities. Strip away the power from the cities. And give the power back to the local communities. Strip away the power from the local communities. And give the power back to the family. Strip away the power from the family. And give the power back to the individual. Strip away the power from the individual. And give the power back to God.


Audio available via SoundCloud

Novelmasters

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I’m not here claiming to have all the answers (just a few when I’m feeling particularly self-righteous). I have, however, searched the cavernous regions of my own psyche fairly deeply during the past several years; I’m pleased with the results, but will never become cocky enough to believe that it’s okay to cease seeking further improvements in every aspect of life. There is no actual state of perfection that exists, only a path that promises to inch ever-closer toward its ineffable nature.

Honestly, I’m just here to have a bit of fun, ignite huge fires (all figurative, of course), and sling words around with the intention that they might land safely by aligning in an interesting order that makes them somewhat entertaining to read. At the end of the day, it’s a primal urge toward Renaissance and Revolution that turns me on. No big deal really.

Anyway, that sort of nonsense wasn’t even the original point of this post. But I simply can’t help myself sometimes. After all, there’s never been a more exciting time to be alive. Please forgive me if I get a bit hyped up now and then.

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I’ll try this again. Deep breath. Focus. OK. When Christopher Gretkus asked me to come on board as a contributing editor at Novelmasters last year, I was more than happy to take him up on the offer, although I did say up front that other responsibilities on my plate might limit the amount of time I’d have to put toward the site. For the most part, this has proven to be true thus far. Thankfully, I have been able to solicit work from a few contemporary poets, and an interview that I conducted with Johnny Longfellow in which he waxes philosophical on a number of topics appeared not too long ago. I’m excited to announce that there are more interviews in the pipeline that will be appearing soon, and I’m going to try my level best to start sending in essays on a regular basis.

The brass tacks of what I’m trying to say here is that Christopher has established one hell of a slick, sleek, finely tuned venue. He’s continually updating and improving the design of Novelmasters, and I hope that you’ll swing by and check out some of the art and literature available to peruse. This page features links to my poetry, essays, and interview at the site.

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Featured Writer: Scott Thomas Outlar

My poem “Continuous Light” was featured at CTU Publishing recently. Thank you to Raja Williams for allowing me to contribute…

Raja's Insight's avatarRaja's Insight

Continuous Light

 

My days do not begin with the sun,

and they do not end with the stars.

My days do not have an alpha,

and they do not have an omega.

My days do not rely on the hours of a clock

or the rotation of the earth.

My days do not require food or water

or oxygen or sleep or prayer or faith.

My days are not spent questioning

the meaning of existence through philosophy.

My days are not days at all

because my life is now but one day,

one moment, one thought, one meditation,

one experience constantly unfolding

as a single, pure, righteous source of light.

My day belongs to you

because my day was born from you.

My day is here, my day is now,

My day is truth, my day is you.

© Scott Thomas Outlar


back-porch-serenity About the Author

View original post 108 more words

With the Wind

Reconstruction
 
It’s not about the fire
or the spectacle
of this system
going up in flames.
 
It is, as it has always been,
about what comes next
from out of the ashes.
 
Don’t be distracted
by shiny objects.
 
The prize
is what gets birthed
in our new image.

One choice is to get hysterical and lose your shit. Another choice is to stay focused and zone-in on the zero-point at the end of this mission. You can guess which path I’m walking. You can bet I spit with the wind.
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My poem “Eye to Eye” appeared recently here at Stanzaic Stylings.


Sweet and Sour

Open Letter to My Enemies
 
You’re so sexy when you’re mad at me.
 
The only thing that could make this scene sweeter
is if you start to cry.

Can I kiss you while you weep?
But wouldn’t you rather
laugh and howl and
rise and roar?

callanwolde-fine-arts-center-logoI had an opportunity to read a selection of my work at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center recently in Atlanta, Georgia. While inside this magnificent venue, the permeation of pure poetry pours through one’s blood. It’s an inviting experience. The audio from my set is up here on SoundCloud.
 
The first poem I read at the event was published this week on the Dissident Voice Sunday Poetry Page. “Spinning Sensations” appears at this link.
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Code of Conduct

If you’re going to fight a war, make sure you win it quickly. Especially if you are in a favorable position of strength. Anything less means you are toying with your victim like a terrorist bully. See: a doomed and decadent empire dropping tens of thousands of bombs across the world every year, but never seriously considering how to bring an end to the chaos.
 
Don’t be a warmonger. Don’t be a chicken shit.
 
War is justified in certain (circumstantial) conditions. There is such a thing as moral superiority.
 
We came here not to punch you in the nose, but to bury you underfoot.
 
We stand here now not to sign new contracts, but to enforce those that have already been broken.
 
Psychological warfare is good as far as it goes…
 
A slap in the face can also serve a purpose.
 
Poignant precision is all we have left. We cannot help but to defeat you, destroy you, ruin you, return you to that fire from whence you came.
 
I say unto thee: Let it burn.
 
Figuratively speaking, of course.
 
On that note, it’s off with their heads as well.


Songs of a Dissident Front

Songs of a Dissident is available here on Amazon.

Reflections on the New Age (Entering Atlantis Version 2.0)

A small (yet ever-increasing) number of people are deeply informed about the complex geopolitical conditions of the modern world. Though never perfect, their ideological leanings are at least based on solid research and logical analysis of the facts. They are blessed with a moral compass through which their agenda in life unfolds. Engaging with them in conversation is somewhat like dancing merrily through paradise hand in hand with enlightened angels. They also tend to smell nice.

Meanwhile, vast swaths of people have completely lost their sense of intuition and instinct. Such as these are like unto cult members who spew every opinion out of their mouth as if they are nothing more than gibbering parrots, having absolutely no clue how to discern between reality and propaganda. These people should be observed with piqued curiosity; however, such research should always be conducted from a safe distance. These drooling automatons are victims of the very institutions which they loyally serve, it is true, but their hysterics can prove to be dangerous when experienced in close quarters.

Don’t be a rube. It is not sexy. It is not cool.

Don’t be a mark. Your nihilistic death urge is no longer trendy and cute.

Don’t be a fool. Being able to engage in blind obedience to the systems that oppress you is not a skill to brag about on your resume. The world is evolving all around us, quickly. Learn to stand up straight and walk tall or you’re going to get trampled underfoot. Learn to surf atop the wave or you’ll wind up drinking the tide.

On a completely unrelated note (though once you’ve experienced the high symphony of synchronicity sweeping through your soul, it’s difficult to claim that all events in life aren’t quantumly connected to some degree), my book Chaos Songs is now available on Amazon through Weasel Press. Please consider picking up a copy here.

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Showcase Spotlight #5: Heath Brougher

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Heath Brougher attended Temple University. He is the poetry editor of Five 2 One Magazine and co-poetry editor of Into the Void Magazine. He has published two chapbooks, A Curmudgeon Is Born (Yellow Chair Press 2016) and Digging for Fire (Stay Weird and Keep Writing Publishing Co. 2016) with another one titled Your Noisy Eyes due out in 2017. His poem “Curriculums” received a Best of the Net Nomination and his work has been translated into Albanian and been published in over 25 countries. He was the judge of Into the Void Magazine’s 2016 Poetry Competition and edited the anthology “Luminous Echoes,” the sales of which will be donated to help with suicide prevention. His work has appeared or is due to be published in Of/with, Chiron Review, BlazeVOX, Main Street Rag, Crack the Spine, Cruel Garters, MiPOesias, The Blue Mountain Review, Third Wednesday, Lehigh Valley Vanguard, Gloom Cupboard, X-Peri, W.I.S.H., Gold Dust, eFiction India, Tipton Poetry Journal, Lakeview, Van Gogh’s Ear, *82 Review, and elsewhere. When not writing, he helps with the charity Paws Soup Kitchen which gives out free dog/cat food to low income families with pets.


Scott Thomas Outlar: First off, Heath, I want to thank you for taking some of your time to participate in this interview. I know you’re a busy man these days with a number of projects being juggled simultaneously. On that note, what are you most excited about right now when it comes to your writing?
 
Heath Brougher: I’d have to say one of the things I’m most excited about is recently being asked to be a part of X-Peri, where I have found some truly mind-blowing experimental work, especially books by members such as Daniel Y. Harris, John Amen, and Irene Koronas. They’ve really taken my idea of what experimental poetry is capable of to a whole new level. Also I’m very excited to have my second chapbook titled Digging for Fire published by Patrick Jordan and his amazing Stay Weird and Keep Writing Publishing Co. On top of that I’m extremely grateful to have been asked by Phillip Elliott to judge the 2016 Into the Void Magazine’s Annual Poetry Contest.
 
Outlar: Congratulations on the release of your new chapbook. Anyone interested can order copies here at Stay Weird and Keep Writing’s website. Is there a theme in the material you put together for this collection of poems? I’ve noticed in a lot of your work that you deal with the idea of searching for truth. What is truth to you, and how in the hell do we find it in a world that is so full of deception and lies? Especially during this Presidential campaign season!
 
heath-brougher-digging-for-fireBrougher: Yes, many of my poems are concerned with the search for Truth. My new chapbook Digging for Fire is about that search but in a much more metaphysical way. In general, though, I believe the search for Truth means taking in all the information you see and hear and letting it swirl around in your head, trying to look at it from every possible vantage point. This way, through your own Epiphanies, you are able to find the “actual Truth.” I believe in the cultivation of the Intellect. I consider Intellect to be a component of knowledge. If more people would begin to actually cultivate their Intellect instead of just blindly believing everything they are told there would be a lot more acceptance of Individuality in this world. Every person would have their own personal ideas about the Truth (which the majority of the time would hopefully synch up with others who have cultivated their Intellect) and be much more tolerant of people who didn’t believe exactly what they did. When people are introduced to someone new the first words out of their mouth are usually, “So what do you do?” As if what a person does for a living defines them. I dream of a day when people ask instead, “So what have you been thinking lately?” I know that may sound silly, but only if you’re a mindless robot. There is, however, one big problem with the whole “searching for Truth” thing and that is that the brain is easily tricked by what it sees. So searching for metaphysical Truths may actually be easier than searching for the Truth before your very eyes. Human beings tend to mirror their environment, whether consciously or subconsciously, and that is why I think it is important for people to disconnect themselves from what I call “the Mainstream Thought” and begin to sincerely view this world through their own eyes. As far as Truth in politics goes, forget it. There’s not one ounce of Truth in what is spouted from the mouths of these disgusting egomaniacal politicians.
 
Outlar: Can you tell us a bit more about the poetry contest you’re currently judging for Into the Void? You’ve also been the poetry editor at Five 2 One Magazine for a while now … what type of material are you looking for when it comes to submissions at that venue?
 
Brougher: Well Five 2 One is obviously my real home but I think Into the Void is similar in many ways. I believe both magazines have the potential to become some of the most well-known and respected journals in the world. As far as editing goes, I think I’ve matured a lot since I first began. When I first started at Five 2 One I was just picking the weirdest, most “out there” poems I came across, though I would always let my Editor In Chief, Nathan Alan Schwartz, know if something caught my eye that I thought he may really like to make sure that EVERYONE was (and is) given a fair chance. I’ve now learned to pick the unique and bizarre poems that have some pith to them instead of just a bunch of nonsensical ramblings. I’ve even begun picking “Normies,” as we call them, if they strike me the right way. I read blind for Five 2 One and am reading blind for Into the Void’s Contest as well and would have it no other way. It’s something I think all publications should do but that’s a whole different tangent I could go on. As far as the Into the Void contest goes, I’m keeping my own chart of poems which I rate on a scale of 1-10 and take notes on what I liked/didn’t like about each one so when the contest is over I’ll know which poems to come back to and really scrutinize. It’s really important to me because these people paid to enter this contest so I want to make sure their poems are given the right amount of time so as not to possibly miss a diamond in the rough. I do this as well for Five 2 One but don’t keep my own chart of submissions since I can just tell my Editor in Chief what I thought about the poems in each submission.
 
Outlar: I’m sure you’ll receive some excellent submissions in the contest. I’m looking forward to seeing the results you decide on later this year. [Editor’s note: during the time this interview was being conducted, the contest winners were announced, and the results can be found here]
 
Alright, let me take a step back here for a moment and ask about how you got your start in writing. Is it something you’ve always been drawn to, or was there a specific set of circumstances that sparked the flow of creativity? What made you decide to start publishing poetry?
 
Brougher: Well I’ve been writing my entire life. I’m talking as far back as 2nd grade. About 10 years ago I found this old notebook that had a few extremely short misspelled and pointless stories I wrote when I was in 2nd grade along with some drawings, so I decided to slap the title “Lifebook” on the front and I’ve been writing in it once or twice a year ever since. It’s just something I’m doing for myself so when I’m 90 years old (OK maybe 80 with a lot of luck) I can look back at my “Lifebook” and reminisce about certain phases of my life. So I’ve been writing my whole life and the reason is: I just have to. I guess sometimes my mind gets backed up with thoughts and I need to spill it out onto paper in order to feel content again. It’s very cathartic. I decided to start submitting a little over 2 years ago, at the age of 34. The main reason was because I felt I was getting older and for the first time in my life I couldn’t see any kind of future ahead of me. It was just blankness, nothingness. So I decided to give my “life’s work” a shot at submissions to the whole lit world. It took four months before I received my first acceptance letter from BlazeVOX (although I actually had two poems published in Uut Poetry and Indigo Rising without my knowledge before then, but it is BlazeVOX that will always hold a special place in my heart). I was so used to rejection letters that I literally almost deleted it without even reading it. That’s how close I was to giving up. I’m extremely grateful to Geoffrey Gatza for coming in at just the right moment because I was in a very dark place at the time as far as what I was going to do with my life and that acceptance letter may have saved me from checking out of this life early. I always felt like there was some value to my writings but that first acceptance letter confirmed it.
 
Outlar: That’s a familiar refrain from a lot of writers and artists, I think. The compulsion for humans to create seems to be an inherent ingredient found in the soul. Or a natural component in the process of evolution. Well, it’s good that you received that acceptance letter from BlazeVOX because it’s enabled me and a number of other people to enjoy your work the past couple of years. When you stare out toward the future, where do you see this whole poetry thing going? How high can the wave rise?
 
Brougher: The wave can rise as far as people with Integrity are willing to take it. It’s time for the cronyism of certain journals to go away for good. I read blind. I think every publication should read blind. I think that any publication that does not read blind should not be considered a real publication. The point of putting together a journal is to publish the best work submitted, right? One problem though. Not right… at least at this moment in time. I cannot stand certain journals that just endlessly regurgitate the same old boring poets writing the same old boring poems just because they are part of Academia or friends with the editors. The playing field needs to be leveled. As far as my own writing I’d hope that as many eyes as possible get to see it and it helps them in some way open a part of their mind that was once shut. I believe in an oncoming Renaissance in the literary world.
 
Outlar: Well, you know that I’m all in on the idea of Renaissance so I can definitely dig it. Ye gods, I just realized that I’ve asked about your new chapbook, but I haven’t yet mentioned your first chapbook from earlier in the year, A Curmudgeon Is Born. This was one of my favorite collections of 2016, and so I was hoping you could talk a bit about how you structured the book and what having it published meant to you.
 
a-curmudgeon-is-bornBrougher: Yes. That one will always be my “baby.” I thank Sarah Frances Moran for choosing it for publication. The book is about disconnecting from the “Mainstream Thought” as I call it. There are so many mysteries to our lives and our origins and most people end up with these things never crossing their minds as they just fall right into the safety basket their given culture has placed there for them. They are born into a world of previously arranged “Manmade Realities” and immediately their minds are attacked as they quickly turn into mindless members of that given society. What they see as reality is what they’ve been told their whole lives is reality while they haven’t given it a second thought. I wanted to try to shake at least a few people out of that “daily grind” mindset and get them to “cultivate their Intellect” by having the poems in this chapbook, both stylistically and thematically, spiral outward instead. I wanted it to screech against the endless loops that encompass most people’s lives. It’s a form of slow motion evolution if you follow the beaten path of endless cycles but if you sync up to a spiral mentality then there is room for endless growth. The line in the book that I always go back to is “circular paths are false for the Truth lives within the Spiral.” That line itself kind of encompasses the book.
 
Outlar: Of course, anytime I hear about “spiraling out” my neurons immediately start firing off in rhythm to Tool’s album, Lateralus. What type of influence, if any, does sacred geometry and music have on your work? What artists, writers, and musicians (past and present) influence you?
 
Brougher: The musicians that had the most influence on me growing up were the Seattle “grunge” bands of the early 90’s which I firmly believe saved my life. I remember Nirvana’s album Nevermind came out when I was just beginning 6th grade and was oblivious to the ensuing 6 years of torture I would have to endure from these wannabe rich elitist conformist yuppie swine that would haunt me to the point of contemplating suicide. I remember I was equally blown away by the lyrics to Nevermind as I was to the music. I had never heard strange lyrics like that. I was used to songs like Motley Crue’s “Girls Girls Girls” and all of that other pithless glam-metal nonsense about partying and other meaningless things which permeated the airwaves at the time. Nirvana, and the whole grunge movement, thankfully put all that garbage to sleep. For once there was some depth in rock music again and it couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I know that songs by Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Tool, Screaming Trees, Stone Temple Pilots, and many other bands got me through some very hard times. For once it was like the lead singers were the “outcasts” like me and I took solace in their lyrics. I remember I used to HATE it when I saw some conformist asshole walking down the hall in an Alice in Chains T-shirt. He couldn’t relate one bit to a song like “Rotten Apple” or “I Stay Away.” I remember being on the bus to head home from school and thinking “just 15 more minutes and then I can listen to some good music with lyrics that can help heal some of the pain I’d been put through on that particular day.” Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Screaming Trees were the bands that gave me solace. Then there was Tool, a band I didn’t start to REALLY get into until 1995 at the age of 15. This band provided me with something else I was in desperate need of: strength.
 
Outlar: Alright, Heath, I want to thank you again for granting your valuable time to field my questions over the past month or so. As I send these final thoughts your way, the earth has just begun another spin around the sun. So, with 2017 now fully upon us, what do you feel this new year has in store? I’ll turn the floor over to you now. Please also feel free to express any thoughts on your mind that my questions failed to raise.
 
Brougher: First of all, thank you for the interview. As far as 2017, a lot of people are scared by this new monster of a president we’re going to have, so I figured I’d just end the interview with a quote from a band I never in a million years thought I’d like and say “don’t let Hope become a memory.”


Digital Veins (originally published in Otoliths)

Caliginous monstrosity clogation

of cognition                            unhumbled robotic caligony

fills the air                              beats upon the eardrums

its metallic taste of wobbling noise

 

we endorphinlessly morph by the day

as we further depend on these mechanical monsters

to run amuck in our lives                    and willingly allow it              so much so

these robotic beasts are infiltrating and controlling

as they slowly tempt us with their bright screams of screens

of contagious connectivity                             evolution spun metallic

soon to spring                                                 and spoil the soil [soul]

as Mankind sticks its                          perfectly uncut human perceptions

heads and hands directly into the mouths of these monstrous computer

screens swimming with waning viscera in a pixilated pool

of pathetic predetermined angles of standpoints.

 

Misperception (originally published in Eunoia Review)

That oak tree

is not really an oak tree.

 

That oak tree

is only an oak tree

because you call it an oak tree.

 

Maybe you should stop lying to yourself.

 

String of Thought

The thread of thoughts  thinkings

the threat of thoughts  thinkings,                                            leaking

hate into the head

                        brinking

into sayings

 

the slither of said  sayings

the slaughter of said  sayings,                                    sinking

 

into the viscera or invading by osmosis the brain.

 

ears hear arsonist songs sung by anarchist loaves

of Nothingnessism.                             F(r)u(i)tility.

 

Boxing for Airtime (originally published in The Curly Mind)

So strutteral and rambunctational.

Meanwhile your swagger is so thickend outwhirled

that otherwise people have been snapshot-talking about

you behind your earlobes. I never did understandify why

you carry so much about the weight of what other flesheden automatonians

thought about your emenatious animationness inny[buttonbelly]way.

Just ferment about them and leave your lifeing to your self.

Youar’ much bedder off this way. I don’t care

about the idiocity they associalate with you.

 

Nuclear Baby (originally published in SLAB)

My mother breathed contaminated air

while I was floating in the amniotic swimming pool of her belly.

My mother was pregnant with me during the Three Mile Island crisis.

She living only a forty minute drive from the power plant,

nuclear air swept into her lungs and spread to my tiny alien body.

Her umbilical cord, a soft hypodermic needle injecting radiated air,

atomic nutrients, straight into my buttonless belly.

I was born into a world of nuclear waste. Nuclear skies and

clouds pouring acid rain. Nuclear particles whisking along the toxic breeze.

I came nascent and pink into this world gasping for my first breath

among the atomic poison that blew cold and mutagenic

along the air-paths of my hometown.
 

(2016 Recap) Stepping Stones (2017 March)

In 2016, I grew soft and cautious. I entered, willingly, into a cage of my own design. To rest. To observe. To breathe. To prepare.
 
In 2017, I will make an escape so that the true nature of my consciousness may expand beyond the timid limitations which have been placed upon it recently. How does an animal behave after being released back into the wild? With actions geared toward satiating hunger. I salivate, wantonly, for the future. My teeth ache for a fresh feast.
 
But enough of all that nonsense for now, right? This is a time for Dionysian revelry and celebration. The new year has come with kisses of karma. Pucker up, buttercup. It gets as good as we want from here. Manifest destiny with vision that sees past illusions.
 
contemporary-poets-2016-poet-of-the-yearIt was a great honor to be named the 2016 Poet of the Year by Michael Lee Johnson for his Contemporary Poets group. A number of my friends are included among the 10,000 members of the group, and the inspiration I regularly receive from their work helps keep me on-point, so I consider it all to be a synchronized reciprocal process. But I’m also wont to look at life like that most of the time, in general, as it were, anyway. It sort of makes me who I am.
 
I received three Pushcart Prize nominations in 2016, each of which was more humbling than the last. Even though I’ve had fairly decent success getting published in various indie markets over the past couple of years, it’s still an incredibly nice feeling to know that editors truly respect my work. CTU Publishing nominated “Detoxification” from my book, Happy Hour Hallelujah. Transcendent Zero Press nominated “Sacrificial Pawns” from my chapbook, Songs of a Dissident. And Spirit Fire Review nominated a standalone poem titled, “Expansive Salvation.”
 
Weasel Press was amazing to me this past spring when they took on my book, Chaos Songs. A week prior to the book’s scheduled release by another publisher, they closed up shop. I had to scramble. I sent the manuscript to Weasel Press. They accepted it, and then published it soon after in September.
 
A month before that, in August, CTU Publishing released Happy Hour Hallelujah. Raja Williams is an awesome person to work with. The entire process was peaceful, calm, and smooth from beginning to end. I’d love to return the favor and start selling a higher volume of copies. Anyone interested in helping the cause can find out more information at this author’s page that was set up by the publisher. It features commentary about my work from contemporary writers whom I respect greatly.
 
Songs of a Dissident from Transcendent Zero Press was released just before 2016 kicked off, but it did receive six reviews during the course of the year that were published in: Asian Signature; Ragazine; Tuck Magazine; Section 8 Magazine; Indiana Voice Journal; and Adam Levon Brown’s site. All the links can be found on the Reviews page here at 17Numa.
 
There are also pages that feature links to the interviews I gave, and to performances throughout the year where I read poetry, including a number of videos posted on The Southern Collective Experience’s YouTube channel. I am stoked about all the good things 2017 holds in store when good people get together and create fine art. The SCE’s radio program, Dante’s Old South (NPR/WUTC), continues to grow more fun with each episode. We take our work seriously. Hopefully this fact shines through in the final product.
 
On that note, I’m also looking forward to continuing my work as a contributing editor at The Blue Mountain Review. My contribution is just a drop in the ocean, but I take pride in being part of a publication that promises to put out high quality issues every quarter. The winter edition is set to be released soon.
 
There are a number of poets I’m excited about featuring and interviewing at Walking Is Still Honest Press in the coming months. I have a slew of Showcase Spotlights lined up to publish here at 17Numa. I’m going to take a more active role as an editor at The Peregrine Muse this year. It’s my intention to publish essays, reviews, and interviews more regularly in my capacity as a contributing editor at Novelmasters. I’ll continue to write my weekly piece at Dissident Voice. And my next book, A Black Wave Cometh, is in the final stages of editing. So, full plate, and that’s just the surface level. 2017 is going to be off the charts. Deep breath. Dive in.
 
Wait! One final note on 2016. I’d like to thank all the editors associated with these 17 venues for accepting and/or publishing my work in December:
 
Dissident Voice; Whispers; Lucifer Magazine; Caesura Journal; Duane’s PoeTree; Leaves of Ink; Eunoia Review; Anti-Heroin Chic; CTU Publishing; Visual Verse; Mad Swirl; The Poet’s Haven; Piker Press; ELSiEiSY; Horror, Sleaze & Trash; Poetry Pacific; and GloMag.
 
I do have great love in my heart. I only want to watch it grow. Thank you for being beside me on this journey. I wish everyone health and happiness in 2017! Selah