Poetry

By

Scott Thomas Outlar

A River without End

Dad would often say,

“It’s water under the bridge,”

whenever I’d relay

my latest mistake.

He never focused

on the blunders,

but instead kept building me up

to hopefully do better

in the future.

He would say

that if you’re heading

in the wrong direction

you can always

redirect your course.

“That’s the great thing

about the letters ‘re’.”

It’s been over two years now

since the last time we spoke

before he passed away.

I’d give anything

to ‘re’establish communication,

but it just isn’t in the cards,

and I’m afraid such a hand

will never be

water under the bridge.

The Good Old Days

We always rode

the late night trains

or walked

by moonlight

to the next hit

in the distance

Star dust fever

was an addiction

Salivating tongues

licked the universal flux

and synchronicity

was as common

as the sun

rising each morning

We huddled close

to the junkies

or kissed the streets

and the golden feet

of homeless gurus

singing silent stories

long forgotten

by civilization

Central heating

was our savior

and we slept like babies

medicated with a pacifier of gin

Scott Thomas Outlar

Scott Thomas Outlar hosts the site 17Numa.wordpress.com where links to his published poetry, fiction, essays, and interviews can be found. His chapbook “Songs of a Dissident” was released in 2015 through Transcendent Zero Press and is available on Amazon. Scott’s full-length collection “Happy Hour Hallelujah” is forthcoming through CTU Publishing in 2016.