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Bio: Scott Thomas Outlar is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. He now lives and writes in Frederick, Maryland. His work has been nominated multiple times for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. He guest-edited the Hope Anthology of Poetry from CultureCult Press as well as the 2019-2023 Western Voices editions of Setu Mag. He is the author of seven books, including Songs of a Dissident (2015), Abstract Visions of Light (2018), Of Sand and Sugar (2019), and Evermore (2021 – written with co-author Mihaela Melnic). Selections of his poetry have been translated and published in 14 languages. He has been a weekly contributor at Dissident Voice for the past eight and a half years. More about Outlar’s work can be found at 17Numa.com.
Sidereal Nectar
Yellow neon fluorescence escaping behind the cover of pines full moon bows a graceful retreat replaced by live wires and humming generators I will write a poem on tea leaves about ripened figs and the prince of parables crown the skyline at five a.m. while Venus dances to her own blinking pulse electricity spells half of the story a magnet clenched between teeth to attract the pull cross-tide and chemical trails hung from the wings of gods and ghosts breathe deeply of the moment while it lasts then beg for mercy that another arrives
Three Wishes
I want to reach the state
where angels dance across my neurons
from tiptoe-crossed ethereal realms
while humming my spirit in the direction
of higher consciousness
with spells that guide me close enough
to smell the throne of God
I want to close my eyes
and instantaneously shift perception
to the precision point of total awareness
where what once was believed to be normal reality
begins to seem as if it was just a childlike illusion
as the true data pulses and throbs
in colors, shapes, signs, and visions
from dimensions that cannot be counted on fingers
I want to expand the inward horizon
with lucid dreams of precognition
that foretell what is still set to manifest
through glimpses that melt away my conditioning
and open the doorways to enlightenment
Gleaning from Glands
The inner world aligned
with earth at large
(cosmos in all
its flavor/
alkaline salts
mineralized
in a not so haphazard way)
Endocrine
pineal
pituitary
(not auxiliary
plugged in directly/
electric hum
hallelujah
of frequencies resplendent)
Diligence through discomfort
effort maintained when joints are cracking
(creaking
cobwebs
make sweet sounds
just for the sake
of sacred rhythm)
There’s nothing quite like
that first blast
(bull’s-eye
straight through
a heart carved
in the trunk of a tree/
it’s all truer
than
I could ever describe
but that never
stopped me
from trying)
Of Carrot Greens and Wars Declared
You bet it’s bitter
all the better
to cleanse the gnawing fog
Chew hard on ginger
with molars snapping
on neck and chakra root
I called the thunder
atop their doomed crown
not waiting for man’s design
Come hard in autumn
with all your lions
and shred this masquerade
Janus/Brand
My teeth feel like rubber
as they sand each other down
All my thoughts
pretty little daggers
and yours, poisonous vipers
The fog hangs a heavy cover
before light dares to breathe
Wear your blankets and burdens well
and speak to me
not about the void
I have seen its ugly face of terror
too many times till now
that’s why I tried to warn you
Fevers of the Mind 