Three Poems

by Scott Thomas Outlar

On to the Next

Sometimes

when you come

to the last page

of a notebook

it is more difficult

to write thirty-three lines

than it was

to write the previous sixty-nine pages.

Why is this, you wonder?

Probably because

the next notebook

is already set out beside you

waiting for its turn,

so you know

that even when you finish

this last poem

there will be more

blue-lined, white pages

calling for ink.

Sometimes it feels

like they might as well

be calling for blood.

Other times it is easy,

and the last line

of one notebook

runs right into

the first line of the next.

But once it is over

and you’ve laced all the lines

with thoughts from your

streaming consciousness,

you feel good for a brief moment.

And then it is on to the next…

Riding It Out

Keep riding the wave

as long

and as high

as it’ll take you

Keep pushing the envelope

as deep

and as far

as you can

until it rips

and all the little letters

spill out upon the page

one after the other

in whatever order

will work best

to get the message

from one side of the sea

to the other

before the tide

comes crashing

into shore

scattering it all

across the sands of time

Walking in the Dark

Sometimes life can seem to be

a play

with nothing but bad actors

and a hack writer

that can’t seem to get the lines straight.

Sometimes the world can seem to be

a stage

with a stockpile

of broken spotlights

that cast shadows over every scene.

SCOTT THOMAS OUTLAR survived both the fire and the flood - now he dances in celebration while waiting on the next round of chaos to commence.  Otherwise, he lives a relatively simple life in the suburbs outside Atlanta, spending his time reading, researching, taking meditative walks, gazing at stars, laughing at life's existential quandaries, flowing and fluxing with the Tao River, and writing prose-fusion poetry dedicated to the Phoenix Generation.  His work has appeared in various venues via magazines, journals and websites, including recently in Dissident Voice where he contributes regularly, Dead Snakes, Halcyon Magazine, Black Mirror Magazine, The Camel Saloon, and The Chaffey Review.  Scott can be reached at 17Numa@gmail.com.