Author: 17numa

Two Poems…November Recap

~ 17numa ~ Leave a comment
In the Morning and through the Night
 
At the end of the day
when head hits pillow,
and in the morning
when eyes see mirror,
it is you
who decides
how big the dream will be
and how clearly to view the vision.
 
 
You Get What You Pay for
 
Money can’t buy you happiness…
but if you are already happy
money can be a toy
with which to have lots of fun
 
Money is not the root of all evil…
fear is
 
You can’t pay to enter paradise…
but once inside
it doesn’t hurt to have
a few dollar bills
The month of November has come to a close…and now, with the emergence of December, 2015 has but one last breath until another yearly cycle bites the dust and disperses into embers and ash…but no need to worry because the Phoenix is always waiting in the wings.
 
Come the Winter Solstice. Come Songs of a Dissident…
 
Words of wisdom (from the mouth of a fool): Take nothing for granted. Cherish every moment you have with family and friends. Love that which is good with a violent passion, and hate that which is evil with an equal fervor. Also, don’t be an asshole….and show a little style.
 
November was fairly righteous on the writing front, and I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the editors and publishers associated with these 39 venues for accepting and/or publishing my work last month:
 
Words Surfacing; Dissident Voice; Dead Snakes; Verse-Virtual; Fauna Quarterly; Visual Verse; Medusa’s Kitchen; Tuck Magazine; Eunoia Review; Indiana Voice Journal; Lunar Lit Poetry Page; Three Line Thursday; Writing Raw; Random Poem Tree; Come and Take It; The Poet Community; Futures Trading; Clockwise Cat; SpinRock Reader Lit Forum; Piker Press; The Thumb Print Magazine; Slim Volume: This Body I Live in; Void Magazine; Least Bittern Books; Duane’s PoeTree; Slink Chunk Press; Poetic Diversity; First Literary Review-East; Whispers; The Word Ocean; Eskimo Pie; Horror, Sleaze & Trash; Unbroken Journal; Vagabonds: Anthology of the Mad Ones; Winamop; Inwood Indiana; Straight Forward Poetry; Five2One Magazine; and MUSED – the OnlineBella Literary Review.
 
Thank you to all those who follow and read my work here at 17Numa, as well as on FB and Twitter. It’s greatly appreciated, I assure you. Cheers as we head into the stretch run of 2015. Hell, let’s make it count by finishing strong…
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

One Night Pass

~ 17numa ~ Leave a comment
She bled crimson lust
with dragon breath
when the fire came
to wash my soul
to hell and back
with a one night pass
to fever dream city
as Satan moaned
at every touch of flesh
and hiss from fangs
that poured ecstatic venom
 
She laughed long and hard
with eyes lit up
as the sky wept down
in bullet point rain
straight to the vein
with mercury overload
singeing the chaos
of a symphony choir
in love with the siren
that remains a liar
but still gets the meal in the end
 
Recorded version via SoundCloud
My poem “Manifestations of Heat” appeared recently in the latest issue of Clockwise Cat. This is a piece I wrote back during a period in late 2009 when I was attending open mics for the first time. The chemical cocktail dosage flowing through the veins was at a fever pitch. I don’t play those games these days, but that doesn’t mean I have any regrets. Hell, it was madness, but it was glorious. I understand that a lot of people use drugs as a way of escaping the world or dealing with depression (in fact, in my early twenties I used them in just such a way), but, for the most part, whenever I’ve dabbled (or gone all in) with various substances it has always been in an effort to reach altered states of consciousness and bring about new rhythms of creative expression. Again, there are zero regrets. We all make our choices. I stand behind mine. This particular poem was one of around thirty stream of consciousness pieces that poured forth during a session that took place in the early morning hours over a few day period that Winter. I called it “Gurus in the Streets.” The title came about after having deep conversations with homeless poets outside bars in Atlanta. I’ve always had an affinity toward the homeless, and have probably over romanticized the lifestyle in my own mind at certain phases when it was actually something I thought would be enjoyable. Alas, it wasn’t to be for me in this life (so far). Karma tells me that I probably slept under a few bridges in a past one though. Anyway, this issue of Clockwise Cat is full of great writers, from the featured poet Sarah Frances Moran, to my good friend Heath Brougher, to fellow members of the Southern Collective Experience Holly Holt and Felino A. Soriano, to seasoned veteran Alan Britt, to the editor herself Alison Ross…it’s chock full of killer content. Read it. Devour it. Love it. Digest it. Then write some verse of your own from the inspiration that you won’t be able to hold at bay.
 
I also have three poems out in this month’s issue of Writing Raw. Many thanks to editor Weeb Heinrich for allowing me to contribute at his site once again. Anyone interested in checking them out can do so at this link: Time’s Up; Under the Sign; and Backseat Driver.
 
I’ve been focusing my attention more heavily this past week on submitting chapbooks. I feel that 2015 has been fairly successful in getting my words out into different publications, having had over 500 poems appear in around 130 various venues, so a subtle shift in energy and intention is necessary at this point to start putting more effort toward the process of getting chapbooks and full length compilations published. With that in mind, I’ve been staying up and burning the candle at both ends for the past couple of weeks (that could actually be said for the entirety of the past year, but who’s counting?) while whittling down the 1,000 pages of final draft poems from 2015 into several different collections. I already had seven chapbooks ready to go, and now I’m in the process of compiling four more along with (what I feel to be) the best of my material into a full length. These things are, of course, quite subjective. But it’s my name on the work at the end of the day, so I’ll live with the choices that are made.
 
I’m serious about starting to shop some of these books around, so if there are any editors and/or publishers who enjoy my work and might happen to be reading this, if you’re interested in possibly working together, please contact me. Or, if you dig my work but logistics are such that a collaboration isn’t possible at this point in time, if you have any suggestions on where I might send out manuscripts, please let me know that as well. Friends and fellow poets that are reading this who might have suggestions…hit me up, let me know. I’m in full sale’s pitch mode right now. I’m seeking advice if you have it. I’m reaching out my hand. Reach back. I love you. Thank you.
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar
 
P.S.
 
Dustin Pickering at Transcendent Zero Press recently sent me the cover design for “Songs of A Dissident” which is scheduled for an early 2016 release. To say I’m excited about what he’s done with it would be an understatement. I’m not just whistling Dixie when I run my mouth about the Phoenix all the damn time.
 
“…let it burn…”

The Perfect Dose

~ 17numa ~ Leave a comment
Face down on the rug
with a head full of pills…
hard to believe
one could feel so high
while lying so close to the floor.
 
First glimpses into the vastness
of synchronicity’s scope
on that August night in 2003
while listening to “The Nurse Who Loved Me”
off A Perfect Circle’s “Thirteenth Step”
for the first time
and hearing the lyrics,
“Say hello to the rug’s topography,”
while already actually doing such a thing.
 
Talk about having one’s mind blown…
and the song itself
was also about pills,
while the theme of the album was addiction.
 
Like, whoa, man, whoa, far out…
it all makes perfect sense
in little doses
here and there.
 
Years later I gave that favorite rug
to my best friend
as a gift during another Summer season
slammed full of synchronicities,
which also happened to include
more pills
than most people could ever live to tell about.
 
 
The synchronicities have been coming in heavy waves the past few days, which I always take as a good sign. Some comments from a friend on Facebook yesterday concerning the A Perfect Circle music video that I’d posted on Sunday led to my writing this poem out on the front porch during my afternoon session (chunk of a chocolate espresso bar, first cigarette of the day, ink, and notebook). I also had some amazing dreams the night before where I was flying all over the damn place…another omen I always view as being “highly” fortuitous. The kundalini energy is surging strong, it would seem. Whenever such is the case, I simply open up and let the energy take me where it will. Some of the things I’ve seen and experienced during different phases of my life are beyond explainable…so I won’t even try. For instance, The Message I Just Received from another FB friend that happens to deal with synchronicity right while I was typing that last sentence. Let’s just put it this way…Everything in Life Is Really Big…
Thank you to Caleb Puckett at Futures Trading for publishing my poem “The Camel’s Back” in the recently released issue 3.3.
 
Thank you, also, to Sand Pilarski of Piker Press for publishing my poem “Sitting Pretty” yesterday.
 
I’m always down to connect with new people, so please feel free to hit me up on Twitter and Facebook. Things are starting to get fairly interesting, to say the least. Thanks for stopping by 17Numa. Y’all come back now, ya hear?
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

Ash to Ash

~ 17numa ~ Leave a comment
Now it’s here…
now it’s gone
 
Now you have it…
now you don’t
 
What seems so simple
is so hard to grasp
 
that what has been given
shall be taken away
 
A life
A love
A breath
 
A hope
A dream
A touch
 
Be true, be gentle, be merry…
for tomorrow we die
 
Be here, be now, be present…
for the winds doth blow
 
 
– This poem originally appeared last month at the Dissident Voice Sunday Poetry Page where I’ve been a weekly contributor for over a year now. You can read more of my poetry from DV, including the piece from this week, at this archive.
Cheers to Ben John Smith at Horror Sleaze & Trash for accepting my poem “Last Dance” recently which will be appearing at his awesome site sometime in the not too distant future. I’ve had work published there a couple times in the past…and the material definitely fit the name of the site on both occasions. You can follow the link above to the site’s homepage where you’ll find some strong poetry by the great Amber Decker which came out a couple of days ago.
 
Thank you to R.L. Black for accepting two poems of mine for future issues of Unbroken Journal, one of which will be included in the upcoming January/February issue, and the other which will appear later in the March/April edition.
 
Thank you, also, to Weasel Patterson and Emily Ramser at Weasel Press for accepting two poems recently. “Canceled Check” will be included in the next print issue of Vagabonds: Anthology of the Mad Ones, and “Lit Sky” will be appearing at the website. I’m always especially stoked to be published in anything put out through Weasel Press…good people there who publish really solid journals and anthologies.
 
There have been a few other acceptances as well as six published poems that have appeared in different venues so far this week. I’ll try and get another post up soon to give proper acknowledgements to all the editors. But, for now, I’ll mention one more in this particular post. My poem “Rush Hour” which originally appeared earlier this year in Indiana Voice Journal was published in issue 7 of Come and Take It Zine by Stout City. Many thanks to the editor Tim Oi for including my work amongst the likes of PW Covington, Kushal Poddar, Catfish McDaris, and many other cool poets.
 
As always, the biggest thank you goes out to those who read and support my work here at 17Numa. Feel free to drop by anytime and say hello. If you really dig my stuff you can always follow the blog to stay up to date that way. You can also get in contact with me on Facebook and Twitter. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

Beyond Comprehension

~ 17numa ~ 1 Comment
Love is a spasmodic explosion
Love is a tidal wave of passion
Love is a womb bursting open
Love is a scream across the void
Love is an aching in the bones
Love is a fire deep in the marrow
Love is an agony without satiation
Love is the electric pulse of skin friction
Love is the tip of the tongue tasting center
Love is hot flesh pressed tightly against hot flesh
Love is a stain found between bedsheets
Love is a wild dance in the midnight hour
Love is the first sip of wine in a new day
Love is the seed shooting out its first sprout
Love is the dirt into which roots burrow
Love is the evolutionary fervor of mutating genes
Love is the unstoppable swarm of progressive adaptation
Love is a widow weeping in despair
Love is the sorrow of existential desolation
Love is the pain of seeking perfection
Love is trying again when rejection strikes
Love is the thunderclap of gods in the sky
Love is the rumbling storm of righteousness
Love is a fat wad of cash filling up pockets
Love is a space of shelter in the midst of chaos
Love is the entropy that wails and gnashes
Love is a tooth being cut on hardships
Love is getting back up after failure
Love is the new dawn rising above far horizon
Love is a truth that cannot be rationalized
Love is a force beyond all comprehension
Love is justified violence against atrocity
Love is blood, sweat, sex, cum, and tears
Love is war, baby…
Come and get some –
My weekly piece at Dissident Voice went up recently on the Sunday Poetry Page. Many thanks, as always, to the awesome editor, Angie Tibbs. It’s been raining now for twelve straight days, which is, to say the least, an out of the ordinary occurrence. “Tricks of the Trade” was written on the front porch some days ago during one such stage of the downpour.
 
I received an honorable mention in the prompt contest at Three Line Thursday this past week. Many thanks to the Year Two: Week Six judges for thinking kindly of my work.
 
Cheers to JD DeHart for using my short, simple, uncharacteristically sweet poem “Sunshine Song” at Lunar Lit Poetry Page a few days ago.
 
Thank you to everyone who swings by 17Numa to see what the recent happenings are. Please always feel free to hit me up on Facebook and Twitter.
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

God, Love, Truth and Light

~ 17numa ~ 2 Comments

Many thanks to Ian Chung at the great Eunoia Review for the recent publication of my poem “God, Love, Truth and Light”…

perfectsublimemasters's avatarEunoia Review

If you want God
I can show you to the forest
but that’s a tree you’ll have to find yourself

If you want Love
I can point at the moon all day
but it is the night that you’ll be needing

If you want Truth
I can teach you all about addictions
but that’s a drug you just can’t shake

If you want Light
I can flash these shining sirens
but, sadly, most choose to fall back asleep

Scott Thomas Outlar spends the hours flowing and fluxing with the ever-changing currents of the Tao River while laughing at and/or weeping over life’s existential nature. His words have appeared recently in venues such as Dissident Voice, Mad Swirl, The Fat Damsel, Yellow Chair Review, and RASPUTIN. Links to his published work can be found at https://17numa.wordpress.com.

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Issue One: Scott Thomas Outlar

~ 17numa ~ Leave a comment

Happy to have had my poem “Raw Electric Waves” appear recently in the debut issue of Fauna Quarterly…

faunaquarterly's avatarFauna Quarterly

Raw Electric Waves

chocolate espresso bar

in the midnight hour

a little sip of coffee

a little puff of smoke

I can see crystal cities

beyond the haze

I can feel electric light

coursing through the veins of night

Inside:

Wi-Fi waves smog the room

bathing in the collective vibe

Candle burning end to end

all paths lead to inner peace…

eventually

Outside:

Owls send early morning signals

through songs of audible consciousness

A swamp of synchronicity fills the air

a perfect crest in which to nest…

eternally

Scott Thomas Outlar hosts the site 17Numa.wordpress.com where links to his published poetry and fiction can be found. His chapbook “Songs of A Dissident” will be released in January of 2016 through Transcendent Zero Press, and his words have appeared recently in venues such as Section 8 Magazine, Dissident Voice, Yellow Chair Review, Tuck Magazine, and Literary Orphans.

6-6-15

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The Goddess and Dostoyevsky

~ 17numa ~ Leave a comment
Mercy me,
your beauty is too much
to bear…
I have to slip away,
but cannot help
to turn back
and steal just one last glance
to satisfy an urge
I know will never be fulfilled.
 
Some sugar
is too sweet
for this soured soul
that has escaped underground
in search of soiled answers
of questions far too existential
to ever reveal
the true nature of their core,
no matter how far
one burrows
beneath the earth.
 
A recorded version of “The Goddess and Dostoyevsky” via SoundCloud
Happy to have had six poems published yesterday at Medusa’s Kitchen alongside photography taken by Katy Brown. Cheers to Kathy Kieth for allowing me to contribute at her site once again. The theme of the selection I sent her was loosely based around meditations on death…basically because when I was going through this year’s file of material recently that is just sort of what fell into place as I put the submission together. What can I say? I’m just an existential, morose type of dude at times. I’m a deep and brooding cupcake with dark icing smeared on top. So it goes. Anyone that would like to read my featured work can do so here:
 
System Shift originally appeared at Dead Snakes
Pillar of Salt originally appeared at The Screech Owl
Bloody Genes originally appeared at Record-webzine
No Free Passes originally appeared at Poems and Poetry
Creeping Wantonness was previously unpublished
Still Birth originally appeared at Dead Snakes
 
Please feel free to hit me up on Facebook and Twitter…I’m always down to connect with new people.
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

An Ode to the Word

~ 17numa ~ Leave a comment
Poetry –
I breathe you in,
filling my lungs
with the longings of life
expressed through sharp, crisp meaning
from the deepest recesses
of those who do not fear
pouring out their hearts
so that men such as I
can reach the realization
that all of us
bleed the same from our wounded veins…
or, even if they do have fear,
these poets still brave the act
of penning the words
that set their experiences free,
and in so doing
help me to also escape.
 
Poetry –
You have no chains, no binds,
no boundaries,
no restrictions
that cannot be overcome,
and I love you for
the courage of raw emotion
that brings tears to my eyes,
smiles to my face,
and high electric fervor
pumping through the neurons
that become excited in my mind.
 
Poetry –
Yes! I use the word love
openly
while singing this ode in your honor,
for you have provided unto me
insights and understandings
about the conditions of this life
that otherwise seem
existential and unanswerable.
 
Poetry –
You arouse the lust of my loins
in ways that transcend
simple sexual cravings…
indeed, you offer an opening
along the path
toward enlightenment,
transubstantiation, nirvana,
bliss, and holy ascension…
you teach the way
of the Tao,
of balance, of harmony,
of rhythm, of accord,
of connectedness
with the pure natural flow.
 
Poetry –
You are the gentle waters
of absolution
and apotheosis;
you are the crystallized vision
that brings the scattered pieces
into a unified wholeness;
you are the epitome
of Oneness, of The Word,
of Genesis reverberations,
of the Source point
from which
all beautiful possibilities
emerge in righteous splendor.
What an honor to have two of my poems included in the inaugural issue of Words Surfacing which debuted this week. A remarkable project that is the brainchild of the great poet, Kushal Poddar. The compilation that he has put together in this first edition simply blew me away when I read it. I’d been eagerly awaiting the release ever since he accepted my work some weeks back, and such patient anticipation proved to pay off with rich reward.
 
Words by such powerhouse poets as Donna Snyder, Julie Kim Shavin, Sana Mohammed, James Diaz, Wale Owoade, Ajise Vincent, Barbara Maat, Andrew Bellon, Nalini Priyadarshni, and many, many others adorn the pages and make for what has been, in my humble opinion, the best journal to be released in the past couple of months.
 
The poem here at 17Numa today “An Ode to the Word” is one that I wrote the morning after Words Surfacing was released as I sat on the front porch with my mind still abuzz with enthusiasm and inspiration. It was written as a testimony to the power that poetry has had in my life over the past year…a power that only continues to grow as it is strengthened through the magic pens of my contemporaries. I feel blessed to be in such fine company.
 
Please, I encourage everyone to read the new issue here:
 
Words Surfacing Issue 1
I would also like to say thank you to Claudia Downs of Fauna Quarterly for including my poem “Raw Electric Waves” in what was another debut issue that came out this week. I have a great deal of respect for the time and energy that editors and publishers must put into these projects. It is always wonderful whenever new literary venues go live, and I hope that Claudia’s venture is met with great success. Be sure to also read the poems written by my good friend Heath Brougher who it was that pointed me in the direction of Fauna Quarterly last month.
 
Thank you to everyone who stops by 17Numa to keep up with what is going on with my writing. It means more than I can say. The site had over 250 views yesterday, which was the highest total yet, and that took the total views past the 8,000 mark since launching earlier this year. One of the most popular resources at the site is the Links Page which features a list I’ve put together of over 150 literary magazines, journals, blogs, and zines for anyone who might be seeking publications where their work can be submitted. The page can be reached via the Links tab at the top of the site.
 
I’m always eager to meet new people, so if you’d like to connect, please feel free to contact me on Facebook and/or Twitter.
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

Circuit Board Ignition Theory…October Recap

~ 17numa ~ 2 Comments
Itchy neurons
begging for a scratch
 
Synapses flaring
seeking primal pressure gauge
 
Flashpoint electric charge
stored up, ready to blow
 
Ignition switch
double tapped
 
Multiply the release thrust
for amplified explosion
 
Pushing past the death throes
of entropy’s collapsed wave
 
Vibrations on high alert
seeking out the resonance theory
 
Sucking on the socket
energetic pulse floods the system
 
Kundalini spinal circuit
kissing the serpent frequency
 
Neon violet translucence
lit up by synchronicity’s sign
 
Kilowatt power surge
reverberating through bone marrow
 
Revelation fever cometh
sweating out the fervent passion
 
Adrenaline tide
sweeps to the shoreline
 
Welcome to the golden garden
where the eyes of Apocalypse open
October Recap:
 
There were a couple of events this month that didn’t quite go as planned, but, hell, such is the case in life sometimes…so I do my best to not get too bent out of shape about it. From a certain point of view I look at negatives as being positives…unforeseen circumstances which arise force me to adapt, to become stronger, and to evolve. Sink or swim, baby. That’s the bottom line. Drowning is not an option. Amen.
 
As far as the writing is concerned, I feel as if I put forward a fairly strong effort this month. I have a highly addictive personality and my expectations are always ridiculously off the charts, so being satisfied or happy with what I accomplish is usually just not going to happen. That being said, I’m thankful to all the editors at these 32 venues who accepted and/or published my work in October:
 
Dissident Voice; Yellow Chair Review; Verse-Virtual; Calliope Magazine; Visual Verse; Three Line Thursday; The Creativity Webzine; Rusted Rose Poetry Forum; Novelmasters; Literary Orphans; SpinRock Reader Lit; Lunar Lit Poetry Page; Poems and Poetry; The Gambler Mag; Tangerine Heart Poetry Zine; Mad Swirl; Piker Press; Dead Snakes; Peeking Cat Poetry Magazine; Rocket Boy Poetry Page; Digging through the Fat; The Commonline Journal; Profiles in Poetry; Vine Figure Poetry Page; Slink Chunk Press; Indiana Voice Journal; Stepping Stones Magazine; Fauna Quarterly; Void Press; Medusa’s Kitchen; WritingRaw; and Sentinel Literary Quarterly.
 
All these journals, magazines, lit blogs, and zines are listed on the Links Page here at 17Numa, along with well over a hundred other venues, as a resource for anyone who might be looking for new publications to read and/or submit their writing.
 
Links to all my publications can be found on the Poems Page. I hit the 500 mark a few days ago on poems that have been published so far in 2015, appearing in somewhere around 130 different venues. When I stop to think about how much of an output that is…never mind, I just won’t think about it. Forward march. The next poem is the most important. The next word is the next important. The next letter is the most important. All these seeds I sow will be reaped in future seasons…I trust that as being the stone cold truth…and it is. Amen.
 
I also put up another 22 new poems on various blog posts at 17Numa during October. I do this because I love it. I do this because I’m driven. I do this because there can be no other way. Whatever that means. It is what it is.
 
Something I’m especially stoked about is having secured the perfect cover image for my forthcoming chapbook “Songs of A Dissident” which is scheduled to be released early in the new year through Transcendent Zero Press. It’s been a pleasure working with the editor at TZP, Dustin Pickering, through the process of getting this book ready, and I’m thankful for the input he’s provided. I hope anyone who digs my work will seriously consider picking up a copy when it comes out.
 
Most importantly, thank you to everyone who reads my words. Thank you for liking, commenting, and sharing posts I put up on Facebook. Thank you to those who support me on Twitter. Thank you to those who keep up with what I do here at 17Numa. Thank you to the other writers and artists who continually inspire me with their work. Thank you to those who make being part of the indie lit scene fun. I hope you’ll continue to support me as this journey continues…the fact of the matter is, it has only just begun.
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar