Two Poems by Scott Thomas Outlar

Feigning Ignorance

Everyone likes to talk

about learning important lessons

from life’s hardships

 

but what we usually

keep a secret

are all the memories

that must stay hidden

 

because their weight

remains too much to bear

 

We try to live in ignorance

as a way to save our innocence

from the pain that never fades

 

©Scott Thomas Outlar

 

 

 

Cemetery Shakedown Hustle

We all take

our kicks to the ribs

like fists to the teeth

 

it’s nothing to get

too broken up about

 

unless you need to chatter

with the skeletons

 

that shatter

when their graves shake

 

loosen up smug lips

so the lies taste a bit sweeter

 

a little bit of poison

laced in lemon candy

helps the medicine burn deeper

 

all this writing on the walls

looks like scribbles marked by demons

 

haunt your eyes and bless your soul

it’s the promise of a tortured season

 

We all treat

our empty pocket blues

like aces up the sleeve

 

© Scott Thomas Outlar