The Guild of Outsider Writers

Give us poetry that pushes the envelope, that makes people think, that has edge and heart--and is about important societal issues. Sorry, this ain't the page for poetry about you, your sex life, or how much you drank last night. This page is for poetry about 9/11, Katrina, Iraq, Global Warming, Religious Extremism, Corporate Control. You know the issues--hell, these days even our pets are not safe!

Left wing, right wing, chicken wing...it doesn’t matter. What does matter is passion, anger, and wanting to change this world for the better!

What are we looking for? New: it should be previously unpublished on paper by someone else (websites and self-publishing, send it in). Length?: does size really matter--isn’t it what you do with it? Content: must be about a major public issue (no naval gazing, we don’t care about you or your little dog either!). Submit: by email, with the text of your poems in the body of the email. NO MORE THAN THREE POEMS AT A TIME. Submit to: Victor Schwartzman ( \n victors@mts.net ) or through the link to Victor at the top of the Review page. Do you get paid: I don't know, do you? Can you lend me some money?

Submitters retain all copyrights, apart from us being able to post their work, and with an option to put the poems into a book.

Bring it on! Mission (soon, maybe, eventually) accomplished!

C Steuart: Skepticism

By Victor Schwartzman, on 09-12-2007 09:56

Published in : OW! Site Content, Agit Prop 101

Heavy metal meet OW.

C Steuart writes lyrics for, and plays and sings with, a heavy metal band in Winnipeg: ISM. He's a friend I met through the local science fiction convention, KeyCon. I asked to look at his lyrics for ISM, always looking for the new and different for Agit Prop 101.

I liked the other songs but Skepticism worked not only as lyrics, but as an Agit Prop 101 poem. Listen for the guitars and drums when you read the lyrics. The rhythm of the words conveys it is a song and the music it was written for.

I have the audio track for the song. Want to hear it? If someone tells me how to post it....

You can contact the author at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it The band's website is http://www.myspace.com:80/ismmetal

Skepticism

Lyrics by C Steuart

a blind man sees the future

as I see today

I see the hopelessness

in the choices we’re forced to make

in just one day

I watched them rise to power

and I’ve watched them fall

dreamt of our final hour

but missed the wake-up call

to the death of us all

once I could run the distance

how I’ve grown old

sharing experiences

that make the heart grow cold

thank you for the time

led by the sycophantic

ruled by some old semantic

we trip through the life so tragic

call me skeptical

A demon within his tower

thinks he is god on earth

wielding a nuclear power

to raise the nation’s worth

are you out of your mind

making a circus of murder

to catch the world’s eye

helping parasites prosper

never knowing why

I can’t believe it’s right to be miserable

I won’t believe we’re just here to die

I can’t believe we fight for some principle

I am skeptical

Last update: 09-12-2007 09:56

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Found Poem

By Victor Schwartzman, on 08-12-2007 07:46

Published in : OW! Site Content, Agit Prop 101

I am running a writers' circle in a personal care home (nursing home). One of the residents gave me some letters and essays he had written, and I found the email below on the back of one of the sheets. It was an email from his daughter to the personal care home. Seemed to me her email was a "found" poem that had a lot of resonance. She has agreed to let the email be posted here, but without her full name. If you read the poem carefully, if you have a heart you will start to cry.

Note for my dad

by Marci

Would you kindly print this note
and pass it along to my father?
thanks Barb

Hi dad
I spoke with the hearing centre
and they said that your aid has been cleaned
and seems to be in perfect order
they think perhaps that you aren’t putting it in properly

in any case
I made you an appointment
for Friday at 2 pm
to go to the Redwood Hearing Centre
and have them assess your situation

I have booked the handi transit
and will have to confirm your pick up time
and return time
but I can’t do that till after 2 on Thursday
so you will have to be patient
make sure that you have tickets

I know you are in distress
but that’s all I can do for now

love you

Last update: 08-12-2007 07:46

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By Victor Schwartzman, on 02-12-2007 18:54

Published in : OW! Site Content, Agit Prop 101

I obviously liked this poem and thought it fit in the Agit Prop 101 pages!

by Tao Lin

ORGANIC COLD-PRESSED VIRGIN COCONUT OIL

Coconut oil is the only oil that can be heated and remain non-toxic in its unrefined state.

Coconut oil stimulates the thyroid which promotes an appetite

that is socially responsible and not out of control.

In the 1970's people started to say to eat less fats

which caused people to eat more carbohydrates

in the form of bread, cake, soda, and other low-fat foods.

There is no such thing as an obese wild animal.

There is also no such thing in ~~the~~ wild habitats as bread, cake, soda, refined sugar,

muffins, or any kind of baked goods. A diet high in fat and protein and raw vegan foods

will make you feel better, look better, and ~~also~~ reduce pain and suffering in the world.

Eating meat or dairy for one year is equivalent to dumping 500 pounds of toxic shit

into the ocean, choosing to inflict severe pain onto hundreds of animals, both human

and non-human, and voting 20 times for the presidential candidate

you talk shit about for over 200 hours every year.

Since we are alive right now and not killing ourselves

our philosophy of life must be that life is worth living.

I know that all meaning is arbitrary. All goals are arbitrary.

But conscious existence is impossible without meaning and goals

however temporary or inconstant those meanings and goals are.

To think beyond what I just said

will make a person go insane.

Therefore I think like the answer to a math question

that the correct thing for me to do sometimes

is to lecture you about eating meat and dairy.

Last update: 02-12-2007 18:54

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Bill Grimes Jr.: American Dream

By Victor Schwartzman, on 02-12-2007 18:50

Published in : OW! Site Content, Agit Prop 101

I obviously liked this poem!

by Bill Grimes Jr., who writes about himself: Me..... a child of God, proud single dad, wordsmith, music junkie, loyal friend, cool pop lover, homeless advocate, grateful survivor, promoter of peace, feeder of sheep, romantic soul.........

AMERICAN DREAM

Dozing watchmen

Asleep at the wheel

Sweet slumber of indifference

Sedated

Proletariat multitude

Whacked on narcotic apathy

Stagnant spirit

Insipid eyes

Blank stare of nihility

Anesthetized sting

Haunting sonorous moans

Middle Eastern death knell

Increments of bipartisan drivel

Tortured subsistence

Mighty military machine

Arrogant vision

Complete world dominance

Drunk on wine of aggression

Rueful repercussions

Synthetic American dream

Mirage of freedom's spoils

Counterfeit success

We conquered Babylon

For U.N. parking spots

Cataclysmic consequences

Global strike capability

Thermonuclear physics

Paper trail bureaucracy

Deceiving propaganda

On the road to Damascus

Oil well fires ablaze

Petrochemical blackmail

We bet the house on crude

We lost our shirt that day

Iran

The latest "thug"

Hawks begin their chant

Plastered commonwealth

Bereft middle class

Controlled

Manipulated

Common sense

Devoured

Aristocratic puppets

We stalk our prostrate prey

Imperialism mosh pit

Insatiable greed

Power behind the throne

Ludicrous

Unbridled

Beware

As Turkey joins the fray

Frustrated

Complicated

Kurdish implosion

Volatile house of cards

Israel's nemesis

As it is written

Deceived denizens

View the power play

We tumble blindly

Into the void

Dark expectations

Forget "global warming"

The desert heat ignites

Last update: 08-12-2007 07:51

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Frank Sloan: Balance of Trade

By Victor Schwartzman, on 02-12-2007 18:45

Published in : OW! Site Content, Agit Prop 101

This poem is a bit on the didatic side, but I like the flow of the lines & certainly the mesage.

It was written by Frank Sloan, of El Dorado, Ks. You can reach him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ex-firefighter, ex-beat cop, ex-dirt farmer/cowhand/bouncer and current garden center flunky; Frank Sloan lives and writes in a small shack near the heart of the American empire.

balance of trade

we don’t make enough goods to balance what we buy overseas.
every day, as a nation, Pilgrim, we slip further into hock.
every day, as a citizen, I slide further into dismay.
we can’t pray hard enough to balance our addiction to gadgets.
we can’t work hard enough to balance the freight bill with our spiritual life.

every day, as people, Pilgrim, we loose a bit of our humanity.
every day, as stewards of ourselves and our world.
we let those blinded by bigness and power make too many critical decisions.
we can’t scramble fast enough to balance their greed and ambitions.
we can’t search our souls deep enough to balance their stubborn denial.

these sad facts dog every step we take and every reform we consider;
we can’t change fast enough to balance the damage already done,
we can’t stand still long enough to quell the shattering surge of uncertainty and fear.

Last update: 08-12-2007 07:49

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About OW!

Outsider Writers have been distributing chapbooks in dark subterranean caverns for too long. The corporate presses and literary institutions have no vision. The media is irrelevant. It's time to rise into the sun!

Our Goal: Unite the write! We will join forces where we are strong, eliminate duplication of effort where we are weak and put the power and authority over literature back into the hands of the only legitimate owners: the authors and the readers.

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