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Live Encounters Poetry & Writing April 2023
Alchemical Apotheosis, poems by Scott Thomas Outlar.
Alchemical Apotheosis
Life in its messiest manifestations
still born, leaky sieve, a fish churned in the water
A womb whetted for war
kiss on the cheek, of death, upon the crown
of chaos – unto comfort – crows cawing
a chorus of collective fear
Dreams of cancer
express a last rite
with a cane
to hold the body steady
and sweeten the stalks
of fond remembrance
I am a poem held back
for three months
without a single high
to hang a hat or heart or muse upon
now unleashed – tongued
in the cavity of darkness –
a wart in all its glory
Algae splintered
by moss and fungus/
yin and yang/
dualistic wonders
merged and melting
into pure light
before the yawning sun
sucks the center home
with an implosive sigh
Of Small Movements and Quantum Leaps
Time and space
between each note
vibrations that sing
despite winter’s static
I’ve heard a thousand cliches
about how the suffering of this world
is supposed to press you down
through all its days of gravity
and how even the roses
will pluck and peck your eyes out
along with murderous crows
who care only about their treasures
Though that might just be
the buzzing of fog through life’s filter
the splash of a windfall
creates rapid and furious currencies
There are always mountains in the distance
but be rest assured by grace
that whatever ground you’re standing upon
during any given moment of this dance
has been leveled off and balanced
in perfect design for your next step
It’s Even Better in Real Life
A little glimpse of the angelic path
infused with primal animal urges
finds balance in the solar chakra
as waves of kundalini
express themselves through shivers
shaking up and down the spine
Evolution sprinkled
with the dust of imagination
Lucid dreaming all the way
back to source
while some are busy scrambling
like headless chickens lusting after feed
Who said the laws of physics are concrete?
They must’ve never tasted flowers
at level three, sphere seven, quadrant plus
That’s a breaker-breaker bravo
on the ride where rubber
meets melted plasma
and archons sing the praises of a dawning tide
© Scott Thomas Outlar
Scott Thomas Outlar is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. He now lives and writes in Frederick, Maryland. He is the author of seven books. 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 has been a weekly contributor at Dissident Voice for the past eight and a half years. Selections of his poetry have been translated into Afrikaans, Albanian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Cherokee, Dutch, French, Hindi, Italian, Kurdish, Malayalam, Persian, Serbian, and Spanish. More about Outlar’s work can be found at https://17numa.com/