Three Poems by Scott Thomas Outlar

 

Masquerade

 

 

How many viruses sour your verses

secret vowels, corrupted vials

 

spent coding

firewall

breached

 

This is not the God you promised

nor the war I begged

 

but all in all

 

Lordamercy

 

it’s still a beautiful

age

to be alive

 

Of Frequencies Resplendent

 

 

two hands are electric

don’t forget the fragments

 

clutch every side glance

like a spear to the chest

 

and welcome the sting

of autumn’s enchantment

 

you caught the storm

with the skin of your teeth

 

teasing out another step

in the dance’s rising tempo

 

one voice is magnetic

while accompaniment adds an echo

 

Apples & Owls at Midnight (Space Wave Version)

 

 

There’s only one moon for you / sugar /

         but I

         & we

      want our share

            of the cheddar

 

deep / space /

pocket blues

 

I’ll sing a symphony for you

             if the accompanying pieces

     are           set           up           around           me

 

Surround           the           next           orbit

                            with silence

                            & leave me

     looking stupid

 

w/a wounded ego

where the air is thin

 

I’ll tear the whole fucking sky down

                                       for you

                            my darling baby

 

      they sure don’t build walls

              like they used to

 

you’ve run through

            every shot of tang

    & the orange’s lament

                          groans sour in echo

 

Scott Thomas Outlar lives and writes in the suburbs outside of Atlanta, Georgia. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. He guest-edited the 2019 and 2020 Western Voices editions of Setu Mag. Selections of his poetry have been translated into Afrikaans, Albanian, Bengali, Dutch, French, Italian, Kurdish, Malayalam, Persian, Serbian, and Spanish. His sixth book, Of Sand and Sugar, was released in 2019. His podcast, Songs of Selah, airs weekly on 17Numa Radio and features interviews with contemporary poets, artists, musicians, and health advocates. More about Outlar's work can be found at 17Numa.com.     

 

             Selah,

Scott Thomas Outlar