Signing Off

~ 17numa ~ 4 Comments
I’ve come to the conclusion
that the front porch
only offers
a couple hundred poems
worth of inspiration
before it’s time to move on
to a different location
for a fresh dose
of creative explosion
through every synapses
 
I wouldn’t complain
except for the fact
that I happen to be
sitting in such a spot
right now with this pen
bleeding out on the page
so I guess I’ll have to squeeze
one more ounce of ink
before the well runs dry
 
One more line to go
One more word to vomit
One more last goodbye
One more death to suffer
One more war to rage
One more kiss of cancer
One more salute to the sun
One more puff on the cigarette
One more laugh at the absurdity of it all
One more deep breath of fresh air
One more chance to say I love you
One more step toward somewhere new…
It’s all fairly damn simple as far as I’m concerned.
 
Love that which is Good with a violent passion, and hate that which is Evil with an equal fervor.
 
To my family and friends:
I am loyalty incarnate.
 
To my enemies:
You will rue the day God placed you upon my path.
 
That is not a threat. I’m not playing Mr. Tough Guy. I can tell who’s who and what’s what…that’s why almost all of us get along oh so well. We’re on the level, baby. Thank God, Almighty…there’s a Happy Hour Hallelujah on the rise…
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar
 
P.S.
 
I said it was simple, but then I went heavy. It happens. Here’s something low key and straight forward: I love to connect with new people, so feel free to hit me up on Facebook and Twitter. hello, hello, hello, hello…and, oh, I also started a page here yesterday.

New Year’s Eve 2015

~ 17numa ~ 2 Comments
One day left
to bolster stats
in what has been
so far
the high point
of my
publishing efforts
 
One day now
to capture truth
from webs of silk
laced skin
the deep sigh
of her
Hollywood daydreams
 
One midnight kiss
goodbye
 
One dance that lasts
forever
…
or at least
one more
spin
around the sun

Stoked to have had work released in four publications so far this week. My Sunday piece at Dissident Voice; a poem at Horror Sleaze Trash written last December which is shot through with absolute belligerence; a poem at Little Eagle’s RE / VERSE which previously appeared at DV, Wilderness House Literary Review, and The Peregrine Muse; and a poem at Mad Swirl which can be found, along with the others, by checking out the links below…

The Tab – Mad Swirl

Elusive – Little Eagle’s RE / VERSE

Last Dance – Horror Sleaze Trash

A Cross of Brokenness and Suffering – Dissident Voice

Sometimes we make things much more difficult than they need to be when really it is all so simple.
 
Eat, drink, and be merry, sure…but also work until exhaustion.
 
I can see the future now…dancing the night away…drifting off to dream…and waking to catch the vision…
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

Movable Object

~ 17numa ~ Leave a comment
Courage is being able to face the truth
even while knowing it will destroy you
 
Strength is being able to take the next step
and create anew

Six of my poems appeared this past week in four publications. Links to the work can be found here:

From Whence It Came – Mused: BellaOnline Literary Review

Inheriting the Earth – Mused: BellaOnline Literary Review

Open for Business – Mused: BellaOnline Literary Review

Salve – Leaves of Ink

The Camel’s Back – Straight Forward Poetry

Big League Entrance (Huuuuuge) – Dissident Voice

In no way, manner, shape, size, or form am I taking a dive or phoning in this post here at 17Numa. I’m just conserving energy for the year-end extravaganza coming up soon.
 
I will say this:
“Songs of a Dissident” is available now on Amazon.
 
Also:
A vision which is acted upon appears 20/20 in hindsight from the catbird seat. Or so we’ll see…hopefully…probably…fuck the formalities…let’s just make it happen…
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

Truth – Scott Thomas Outlar

~ 17numa ~ Leave a comment

Many thanks to Raja Williams for featuring my poem “Truth” at Creative Talents Unleashed recently…

Raja's Insight's avatarRaja's Insight

Truth is an underbelly
that not many people
ever want to look at.
It sounds good in the abstract –
people always seem to clamor for it,
to demand that they be given it
from those on high.
But when the rubber meets the road,
that is to say,
when the shit hits the fan,
there just aren’t a whole lot
of people brave enough, willing enough, or
intelligent enough, to face it, to
deal with it in all its Awesomeness.
The truth hurts, and that’s the truth.
Most people would rather have
the little white lie
that helps them fall asleep at night,
telling them everything is alright,
rather than acknowledge the truth
of the matter, which is that
everything is not alright.
War is the truth.
Famine is the truth.
Poverty is the truth.
Death is the truth.
But people want to live forever,
so they hide from…

View original post 225 more words

Christmas 2015

~ 17numa ~ Leave a comment
I don’t know if I’m cut out
to be a poet any longer
because I don’t know
if I have the heart to care
 
A basic apathy
can ruin empathy
and then I’ll write
just about anything
to get a rise
or burn a hole
to the pyre’s core
 
I’ll do
just about
any damned thing
to catch the light
from the sun
when it starts to scream
at the height
of its Solstice
For the record, the first stanza is written in jest, but the second and third are fairly accurate.
 
Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. I wish the best for everyone that is putting effort toward doing good things in this world. For everyone else, I still wish them well, but not in an overly successful manner that might cause them to interfere with what the good people are doing. That’s about as diplomatic as I can be when it comes to war.
 
Cheers to a lit 2016 that keeps adding fuel to the fire…
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

Blue Light Special

~ 17numa ~ 2 Comments
Oxygen slashed
by six percent
 
it’s the deal
of the week
 
Lung collapsed
to increase pressure
 
failing body
shutting down
 
Momentum snuffed
at the gate
 
gun fires
legs give out
 
Carry the torch
to the grave
 
burning worms
in the fade away
Sometimes I sit down on the front porch in the middle of the night and remember fondly how consciousness is simply pure energy…and there is more to life’s experience than any ragtag bag of bones can decipher. The game, nonetheless, remains fun to play…
 
Recorded version of “Blue Light Special” via SoundCloud
 
I’ve had work come out in the past couple of days at The Peregrine Muse, The Kitchen Poet, and The Poet Community. Links to these pieces along with others that have been published in December are listed on the Poems page here at 17Numa.
 
My chapbook “Songs of a Dissident” was released at the beginning of this month by Transcendent Zero Press and is available now on Amazon. It’s a brutal damn thing, I confess…full of fire and toxic chaos…but also ecstasy toward evolution. Thank you to everyone who has picked up a copy so far, and cheers to anyone who decides to order one now.
 
Here’s to a strong (healthy/happy) finish in 2015 for all those who are reading this, creating momentum toward the manifestation of whatever resolutions you’re willing to work toward in the New Year…
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

Pulpit

~ 17numa ~ Leave a comment
There are some people who preach love
but the message is hollow
because they do not first love themselves
 
There are others who preach love
and it is genuine
but they are naïve
and so it does not spread
 
I guess the point is:
If you want to change the world
shut up with all the preaching
and just start living it
Thank you to E.s. Wynn at Leaves of Ink for publishing my poem “Succumb” a few days ago.
 
Thank you to Raja Williams at Creative Talents Unleashed for accepting a poem recently to be featured at her site this coming Saturday.
 
I want to mention again how appreciative I am to Angie Tibbs at Dissident Voice for all her continued support, and for conducting this recent interview with me about “Songs of a Dissident” (which is now available on Amazon).
 
Thank you to everyone who stops by 17Numa to check things out…as I’m writing this post the number of page views needed to reach the 10,000 mark is less than 30. I began this site in the final week of January…so that’s a pretty cool round number to hit within the first year. I promise to keep moving forward, working to improve, and doing my level best to remain balanced in the middle of the road…
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

Waste Not, Want Not

~ 17numa ~ 3 Comments
Every step is a death march
to the black grave
where the worms wait
to kiss my tongue
in romantic interludes
 
Every gesture is a wasted effort
for the righteous flesh
which has no soul
sold out on Sunday
when the choir commences weeping
 
Every prayer is a spitfire
from the toxic lips
spiked with venom’s piss
to quench a state of apathy
while the angels do a dance of decimation
Yes, I do grow tired. Sometimes weary. No, it doesn’t matter. I’m never going to stop.
 
My journey in publishing poetry began last year at Dissident Voice when Angie Tibbs accepted “Three Part Harmony” to appear on the social justice newsletter’s poetry page. I’ve been publishing a piece there each week ever since that time. To go along with the recent release of my new chapbook “Songs of a Dissident” Angie was kind enough to ask me a few questions in an interview that is out now. Anyone interested in reading more about the chapbook and how the project came about can do so here:
 
Scott Thomas Outlar: A Dissident and his Songs
 
Hell, this week’s poem at DV “The Coming Cull (Engineered Chaos)” will be out in a matter of hours at this point. I’m in one hell of a foul mood right now. Honestly, it very rarely happens at this point in my life so I thought I’d try to capture a bit of the angst with the poem and post you’re currently treading through. Things have actually been going really well lately. I just refuse to hide from negative emotions, so here they are vomited forth. Lovely, eh? The bottom line is this: I’m never going to be satisfied. That’s what keeps me going. The existential tug toward that which can never truly be obtained. So it goes…
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

Tapping the Main Nerve

~ 17numa ~ 3 Comments
People have been writing prophecies
about the end of the world
since time immemorial
because, let’s face it,
fear sells…
whether scribbled on the wall of a cave,
endorsed officially by King James,
or ranted on street corners by madmen,
ideas about Armageddon
mirror the inevitability of individual death
that each mortal soul must face.
 
Oh shit,
I just saw
the sky crack open
and chaos
start to drain
down to earth
in apocalyptic waves…
break out your pocketbooks
and make checks
payable to:
Scott Thomas Outlar…
all major credit cards
are also accepted –
I was honored recently by Dee Thompson when she asked if I would give an interview at her site The Word Ocean. My answers concerning life and writing, along with four new poems, can be read here: The Word Ocean Interview
 
My new chapbook “Songs of a Dissident” is now available on Amazon via this link. You can read the last post here at 17Numa if you’d like to experience all the bells and whistles of the full sales pitch. For now I’d just like to say that I’d love for anyone who digs my work and can afford to do so to pick up a copy. Much love to everyone who has already ordered the book, and to everyone who has shared the link on Facebook and Twitter. Getting the word out means a hell of a lot. You just never know when and where the “right” set of eyes might fall upon one’s work…so the more you help me spread the word, the better chance there is of this book being successful.
 
I’ve had some new poems come out in the past week at Dissident Voice; SpinRock Reader Lit Forum; Winamop; and Visual Verse. Links can be found if you click on the Poems tab up at the top of the site…but to be perfectly honest I’d much rather you click on the Amazon link to “Songs of a Dissident” here in this post. Ha! Hey, I’m not here to bullshit you…I try to keep it real.
 
Thanks for swinging by everyone. Hope y’all are having a nice holiday season thus far.
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar

Songs of a Dissident

~ 17numa ~ 2 Comments
Trump Hand
 
How many bombs
dropped
from all of the war
props
poisonous and poised to hiss
with a snake’s tongue
venom on the fang drips
needlepoint precision
Shock and Awe proclamation
A river of fire
in a ring around the city
Mercury enters the blood
a kill shot to the mind
Alzheimer’s and a loss of fight
The hawks and vultures cry
“Mission Accomplished”
as they send the Eagle in
to pick up the bloody pieces
 
How many lives
lost
from all of the lies
cast
carelessly and callously
with spiteful intentions
malicious persuasion
A thousand points
of propaganda
from the lips of cowards
hiding behind a doomed and decadent Empire
dilapidated and disintegrating
toppling like a house of cards
when a hand of five aces
is laid down on the table
by the collective force
of a Renaissance Revolution
 
How many souls
will rise
on the day that the truth
takes flight
lofty and laced with visions
of a lit up nebula being born
in the blink of a moment
at the brink of a New Age
sipping freely from the full well
raining Love from the constellation
with a song from the spheres
about the cycles of time
The wheels, they spin
The gears, they turn
The dust drifts away
as the Phoenix flows out from the ash
 
– “Trump Hand” originally appeared in Dissident Voice, and later in Poems-For-All #1294 and Degenerates: Voices for Peace; it is the opening salvo in my new chapbook “Songs of a Dissident” –
It has been an exciting ride in the past year or so since I started sending out my poetry, with many high peak moments along the way (600 poems published in 150 print and/or online venues; “A Black Wave Cometh” published digitally through Dink Press; a Best of the Net nomination from Kind of A Hurricane Press; connecting with hundreds of fellow writers and artists while becoming immersed in the indie poetry scene), but this most recent announcement definitely takes the cake…
 
My latest chapbook “Songs of a Dissident” has now officially been released through Transcendent Zero Press. I’d like to say thank you to Dustin Pickering for all the help and input he’s had on the project since we first started communicating and planning things out back in February. Thank you to Christos Karapanos for providing the absolutely stunning cover. Thank you, also, to my friend Heath Brougher for helping get this project in motion. Thank you to my family for being patient and kind. Thank you to everyone I’ve met this past year who has made the journey an unforgettable experience. I couldn’t imagine things having gone any better. The best part of it all is that the work (and the fun) has only just begun…
 
The new book can be ordered directly through me, or by following these links to Amazon and CreateSpace. I hope you’ll help support my future efforts by picking up a copy (or two…it is the holiday season, after all).
 
Selah,
Scott Thomas Outlar
 
P.S.
 
If you’d like to connect, please contact me on FaceBook and/or Twitter.