By Scott Bailey © 2014
Brass
Steam
Steel
Coal
Old
Times
Warm
Smells
Thudding
Down the rails

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Destination Dreams
Brass
Steam
Steel
Coal
Old
Times
Warm
Smells
Thudding
Down the rails
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Behind the door?
Was it something moving?
Someone?
Just ignore it. Dive back under the covers, carry on reading…
A collection of short stories concerning ghosts. Some are traditional ghost stories in the tradition of M.R. James and Edgar Allan Poe. Other are not. Some scare, some are fun. Some play with the concept of a ghost. There are ghosts who are out for revenge and the living avenging the spirits that curse them.
Ideal for sitting around a campfire and late at night under the covers. Or maybe not if the stories themselves are any guide.
Check it out on Amazon and Smashwords and other online e-book retailers.
A paperback version is now available for those who prefer the feel of the paper while huddling by the fire – on your own – in the dark – with that noise behind you……
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is:
When the fire goes out
The heat is dissipated
Darkness falls again
Only then do the creatures
Of the night find their solace
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 112, “COLD & SAFE,” #SYNONYMSONLY
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
A tanka this week.
#tanka
Birds do it. Bees do it
Even the goddamn fleas do it
It’s in the genes to survive
It’s not enough. Not for us
We have more, in our double helix
Than the ability to thrive
Make it our duty
Transcend circumstance!
In response to my daily prompt Double
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Dissecting darkness
Silver shining score
Weaving across the night
Hanging, trembling, shimmering
Waiting for
A hapless fly
To wrap up and serve
As an artist’s
Main course
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is:
Here I abide
Amidst the craters
Of too much cultural shelling
Here there resides
Residual echoes
Of now silent voices
Stranger music silenced
The pale lord voiceless too
Many last departures
Many miss the few
Clinging to the final notes
As lovers do
In dark and empty craters
Bubbles shadiness and greed
A fecund vile concoction
Upon which the beast will feed
Need is the successor
Here where I abide
In response to my daily prompt Cultural
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Monster
Caught in lead and steel
Frozen
In time
Human
Caught in the machine
Enslaved
Forever
Somewhere
An artist smirks
And settles
To eternal sleep
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Strings and drums
Swells and thrums
Filling halls and domes
Even sneaking in our homes
It warms our hearts
Can upset carts
Evoke our tears
Even stoke our fears
Calm the day
And send away
The darkest thoughts
Even move the worst of sorts
No compare
In empty air
So play the notes
Even on our dreams, it floats
In response to my daily prompt Pressure
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
The powder the burns
Clouded judgment
Gave power
To cowards
That never learned
Burnt bridges
With wisdom
Killed
And can never go back
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Respect is
Expected
Everywhere you go
Respect my rights
My views
My thoughts
We have forgotten
Respect
Should be earned
Not expected
Mutual
And reciprocated
In response to my daily prompt Respect
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Whenever wolves win
A warm beating heart is lost
The law of the wild
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #229 Win&Lose
#amwriting, #postaday
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is:
Heart beneath blue skies
Bluer than the deep blue sea
Rage into the stars
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
We have a love/hate relationship with it.
We do not want to be afraid. We want safety and comfort.
Or do we?
Underneath, secretly we crave it. The thrill of fear, the arousal of danger.
So turn off the lights. Open the pages and delve in.
Find the thrill in the words.
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is:
Stacked high and waiting
All ready to be consumed
And give out their warmth
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
A pewter dragon in the dust
Some curling chains turned to rust
Some old bones stacked in line
A bone comb with a broken tine
Ritual gifts or just waste
Theorise with too much haste
Maybe let the question go
Maybe let the mystery grow
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Slip away for a few hours, into other worlds – away from all the troubles of this one.
Perhaps into the future – a near future – dark and disturbing and yet – so close. There follow the fates of four people worn down and broken – or angry with the system. Who break out of it and try to break it. Who question why they did and falter in their resolve only to be thrown back into the fray to discover the truth within themselves. A tale that questions rebellion and its motivations while railing at the oppression around us. Try it.
Or if not the future – the other worlds – supernatural ones – that impinge onto ours from – where? Some other dimension? The afterlife? Our own minds?
Where ever they come from – try these Thirteen Tales of the Ghostly variety.
Or forget them all and take a moment each day – to read a little poetry and think. Three hundred and sixty-five poems in all shapes and sizes sprung from dreams and emotion. Published day after day for a year. There are haiku, sonnets, katauta, lanturnes and many other forms – including free form. The moods are as varied as the forms and often reflect my mood on the day. There is sadness and grief, joy and love.
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is:
Swirling up into the night
Like some lonely northern light
Not north but here it did appear
Why am I not filled with fear
A spiral of blue and green
Wispy tendrils barely seen
Twisting up and further still
I watch it rise with mounting thrill
Into the stars I watch it go
And then alone the heavens know
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is:
Turn upon turn upon turn upon turn
Green upon green upon green upon green
Tracks and tracks and shining silver
Decision-making machine
Can it take the pressures
Of expectations on board
Will I
In response to my daily prompt Pressure
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Same, same, same
Same job
Same problems
Same pressure
I am wood
Not stone
In response to my daily prompt Pressure
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Insurance
Remember
we have none
On the earth
In response to my daily prompt Insurance
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
In silicon hell
The servant does not obey
But who is the slave
In response to my daily prompt Hell
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Black and white headlines
Betray grey morality
Fallen leaves turn brown
In response to my daily prompt Linear
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
This is is age
Of SHOUT first
Ask questions later
Of passion
Without pause
On consequences
With no apparent cause
Denial
Blame
Anger
Just think
In response to my daily prompt Pause
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
We have reached the point
Where the genuine
Is ridiculed out of fear
So accustomed to lies
They have become
Our staple
In response to my daily prompt Genuine
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
From the symbol of peace
Comes a stealthy killer
Seductive and insidious
Giving all
It appears
But taking all
Even tears
In response to my daily prompt Heroin
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Hurrying, cramming in, rush rush rush
Preparing for tomorrow is all
By the time it’s done
Tomorrow is already gone
And so the cycle goes
On and on
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Dancing with my wife,
last week the telegraph came:
Coughs ring round the trench.
Available as
or hardback
from Amazon
or CreateSpace
Check out my author website for more details
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is:
The world we live in
The very structures of our lives
Built upon gold
But gold is so soft
So who the hell
Made that decision
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Would all the earth succumb to the concrete blanket of mankind? Was that the best legacy they could leave? Was their vision that limited?
One day there would come a time when it would be more profitable to tear these trees down than to leave them. Then there would be no power on earth that would save them. Even concerned consumers couldn’t stand in the way of profits anymore.
Read an excerpt here.
Available as
or hardback
from Amazon
or CreateSpace
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is:
To glimpse a snippet
Of the incomprehensible
Just take a look
At the white cliffs
Reaching up from the sea
The result
Of trillions and trillions of tiny deaths
Life
Has been here so long
It has built
Landscapes
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Explorers – or pillagers? The line is thin on the high seas, in strange exotic lands. Those that operate without fear of consequence soon learn their folly. There are older powers in the world than gunpowder and steel.
A collection of short stories concerning ghosts. Some are traditional ghost stories in the tradition of M.R. James and Edgar Allan Poe. Other are not. Some scare, some are fun. Some play with the concept of a ghost. There are ghosts who are out for revenge and the living avenging the spirits that curse them.
Ideal for sitting around a campfire and late at night under the covers. Or maybe not if the stories themselves are any guide.
Check it out at Amazon and Smashwords and other online e-book retailers.
A paperback version is now available for those who prefer the feel of the paper while huddling by the fire – on your own – in the dark – with that noise behind you……
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is:
There are holes
In everyone’s hearts
Some are big
Made by lives fulfilled
And long
Some are small
Short and brief
Somehow
The smaller
Hurt more
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is:
All around me
Lies
The ruins of young
Dreams
Away from me hope
Flies
Bursting at the
Seams
So where to go
Now
The truth has been
Exposed
When you don’t know
How
To let go what you
Supposed
Find a new path to
Walk
Step up to the
Task
Start the do and stop the
Talk
Start the make and stop the
Ask
Man up and face the
Truth
You’ve faced worse and
Survived
You’re longer in the tooth
Time to come
Alive
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Humanity reduced to a bottom line.
Trapped. In a world where everything is measured and control pervades every area of life, four people begin to break down. Instead, they break through the walls of deceit and propaganda and into a world of revolution.
Each, in their way, vow to overthrow the established order. They embark on a journey against the forces arraigned against them, forces of state and self-doubt.
Ultimately their paths converge on a dangerous road and the discovery of an ancient secret.
One one level this is a story about how different people react the ever growing and relentless pressure of everyday oppression. It explores their journeys as they are broken and rebuilt and investigates their modes and motivations for rebelling.
At another level it is a critique on the darker side of capitalism and free markets and how that has driven us further and further away from the evolutionary advantage that gave us supremacy in the first place. It questions whether the human race has doomed itself or whether we still have the capacity to wrench ourselves from the track we have so tightly committed our society upon.
Read an excerpt here.
Available as
or hardback
from Amazon
or CreateSpace
Now also available at Smashwords, IBooks, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and many other outlets.
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is:
A fitful candle
The scratching
Of a quill
On parchment old
A chill
A shiver
A creeping smile
A glint
Ghosts
Are born
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Brass cantilever
Golden cogs and diamond heart
Magic seconds pass
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Wherever words roam
Over fantastical lands
The heart rests at home.
Available as
or hardback
from Amazon
or CreateSpace
These Daily Prompts are my attempt to fill the hole left by the now retired Daily Post.
To see them all click here.
I will not be able to review them or comment on them but feel free to join in and use them as an inspiration for your own work. They have been randomly generated by this site so there is a chance they have already been used by the Daily Post.
Want to join in. Publish a new post on your blog interpreting the theme. Create a pingback to this page. These pingbacks have to be approved manually so they may not appear immediately. Then come back, browse the other pingbacks, leave some likes comments and network!
Today’s prompt is: