As the narrative unravels
As the trust in establishment media
continues to plummet
As the governmental health agencies
disgrace themselves
with doublespeak, obfuscation, and blatant disinformation
If they had any honor
it might sting their pride
As the fog of war
begins to break
As the smoke of fear
clears away
We do well to remember
that cornered rats
are left with only one option
and their rotten teeth
carry more disease
than any plague we’ve faced
As the clenched fist
offers its final squeeze
As the naked system
is recognized with shame
Scott Thomas Outlar
Bio:
Scott Thomas Outlar lives and writes in the suburbs outside of Atlanta, Georgia. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. He guest-edited the Hope Anthology of Poetry from CultureCult Press as well as the 2019, 2020, and 2021 Western Voices editions of Setu Mag. He has been a weekly contributor at Dissident Voice for the past seven years. Selections of his poetry have been translated into Afrikaans, Albanian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Dutch, French, Hindi, Italian, Kurdish, Malayalam, Persian, Serbian, and Spanish. His seventh book, Evermore, was written along with coauthor Mihaela Melnic and released in 2021. More about Outlar’s work can be found at 17Numa.com.