{"id":2780,"date":"2016-04-11T16:24:35","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T16:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fullofcrow.com\/poetry\/?page_id=2780"},"modified":"2016-04-12T01:48:43","modified_gmt":"2016-04-12T01:48:43","slug":"scott-thomas-outlar-april-2016","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fullofcrow.com\/poetry\/archives\/scott-thomas-outlar-april-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Thomas Outlar, April 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>The Swarm<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Blackbirds envelop the green grass<\/p>\n<p>across the street<\/p>\n<p>early in the morning,<\/p>\n<p>moving together in a cluster of fluttering wings.<\/p>\n<p>I shift my position in bed<\/p>\n<p>to gain a better view,<\/p>\n<p>now squatting and looking out the window<\/p>\n<p>as the dark wave gains a new tide<\/p>\n<p>and comes shrieking and soaring as one blanket mass<\/p>\n<p>straight toward me.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For a brief moment I fear<\/p>\n<p>the yawning grave is finally calling me<\/p>\n<p>back to the dust, dirt and ash<\/p>\n<p>from whence I once came,<\/p>\n<p>but then, in unison, the wave breaks,<\/p>\n<p>the aggressive wings grow calm, and<\/p>\n<p>the swarm settles down<\/p>\n<p>as it lands now in my front yard.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I exhale and smile.<\/p>\n<p>The beauty of chaos shifts<\/p>\n<p>as order is reclaimed in my respite \u2013<\/p>\n<p>the reaper has granted my reprieve;<\/p>\n<p>and though I know he will surely<\/p>\n<p>one day come hunting for me,<\/p>\n<p>whether it be with a merle of blackbirds,<\/p>\n<p>a murder of crows,<\/p>\n<p>a wake of vultures,<\/p>\n<p>or one-on-one, all alone, with his scythe in hand,<\/p>\n<p>at least for now I can lay back<\/p>\n<p>safely and soundly in my warm bed,<\/p>\n<p>knowing that while I dream about the future,<\/p>\n<p>it will be the worms, outside in the cold,<\/p>\n<p>that serve as today\u2019s sacrifice to the cycle.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Making It up as We Go<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sitting on the front porch in December,<\/p>\n<p>one week away from Christmas,<\/p>\n<p>and finally the weather has become crisp<\/p>\n<p>as chilled air swirls against my face.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sipping on stale coffee<\/p>\n<p>and smoking the day\u2019s first cigarette,<\/p>\n<p>seeking a slight buzz<\/p>\n<p>that might pull forth a few decent poems.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Singing birds chirp in the trees,<\/p>\n<p>giving me the next line to write<\/p>\n<p>as I lose myself to their rhythms<\/p>\n<p>and transcribe the voice of nature.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In all honesty,<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve not a clue what they\u2019re saying,<\/p>\n<p>but I\u2019m a poet<\/p>\n<p>which means I\u2019m good at lying\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Scott Thomas Outlar hosts the site 17Numa.wordpress.com where links to his published poetry, fiction, essays, and interviews can be found. His chapbook &#8220;Songs of a Dissident&#8221; was released in 2015 through Transcendent Zero Press and is available on Amazon. His full-length collection &#8220;Happy Hour Hallelujah&#8221; is forthcoming in 2016 through CTU Publishing.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Swarm \u00a0 \u00a0Blackbirds envelop the green grass across the street early in the morning, moving together in a cluster of fluttering wings. I shift my position in bed to gain a better view, now squatting and looking out the window as the dark wave gains a new tide and comes shrieking and soaring as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":934,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2780","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Scott Thomas Outlar, April 2016 - Full Of Crow: Poetry (Archives)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fullofcrow.com\/poetry\/archives\/scott-thomas-outlar-april-2016\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scott Thomas Outlar, April 2016 - Full Of Crow: Poetry (Archives)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Swarm \u00a0 \u00a0Blackbirds envelop the green grass across the street early in the morning, moving together in a cluster of fluttering wings. 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