Red Sails

By Scott Bailey © 2017

The red sails are rising
In the grey of the dawn
The grey spume is parting
Before the forlorn

Drawing out passion
Promising dreams
To the young and the lost
Into the sea they stream

The red sails are gone
Over the blue
Long is the draught
Of its bitter brew

The red sails are parting
Tearing apart
Lovers and mothers
From the vein of their hearts

The red sails are empty
Of all that they took
The decks all wiped bare
Dreams all forsook

The red sails are cursed
My mother’s onshore
But none will set sail
To settle the score

Deep Green

By Scott Bailey © 2017

I stand on the shore
Unsure. Intimidated
By the great green deep

Photo by Matt Hardy on Pexels.com

Also inspired by an old and longer poem -> here

Carrier

By Scott Bailey © 2017

The secret passenger
Scampers around
Just looking for a snack
Innocent, unaware
Of the death that he carries

Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com

Rested Wheel

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Why aren’t we railing?
Why aren’t we mad?
Why do we sit in silence?
In apathy so sad.

Is the sickle blunted?
The hammer dropped and cracked?
Has the guillotine lost its edge?
Has liberty backtracked?​

The peasants have moved on
From field to factory to desk.
Is it beautiful progress
Or captivity grotesque

So day after day
after day after day.
We struggle and toil
No time to play.

We hand over our freedom
We hand over our cash.
While the fat cats sleep
on their growing stash.

Where is the spirit of liberty?
The hero in the square?
The lone horse trodden woman.
Defanged are those who care.

Photo by Oleg Magni on Pexels.com

Drifting Islands

By Scott Bailey © 2017

Where is the local
The friendly greengrocer
Baker, butcher
The watering hole
The fire we gathered around?

Now we are islands
Floating in a digital sea
Waving to each other
Smiling, winking, liking
While we drift apart

Image from Pixabay

Green Shoots

By Scott Bailey © 2017

In the red embers
The wake of the forest fire
Fresh green shoots arise

Photo by Matthis Volquardsen on Pexels.com

Cringe

By Scott Bailey © 2017

We all have those moments
That we cringe to recall
Should we try to wipe them?
Or are they signposts to us all?

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Illusion Time

By Scott Bailey © 2017

Time for illusion
For magic to be cast
For the world to fade
And dreams to ascend

Photo by Kaique Rocha on Pexels.com

A Blank Piece of Paper

By Scott Bailey © 2017

A
Blank piece of paper
Has
Limitless potential
To become
A plane
A swan
A hat
Or an idle doodle
Or a poem of grief
Or love
Or rage
A protest
A plea
A stiff complaint
A soft seduction
Or
The start
Of a whole new world

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Meddler

By Scott Bailey © 2017

We should meddle
With the peddling of their lies
We should obscure
All the surety of their spies
We should extrapolate
What they obfuscate
To find truth
We should hold hands
In bands and lands
Of support

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Relieved

By Scott Bailey © 2017

The suits stand ready
To relieve you of your cash
Thus I am relieved

Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava on Pexels.com

Shining Deep

By Scott Bailey © 2017

Darkness rules the deep
Bio-luminescence shines
Nature wins the day

Photo by Irina Iriser on Pexels.com

The Birds that Catch My Eye

By Scott Bailey © 2017

A rustle of brown
A song trilling in the trees
A fine spread of delicate feathers
High, in a clear blue sky, a buzzard soars
Mobbed and harried by dark ravens
The red and gold darting finch
The woodpecker drill
The hooting owl

These are the birds
Catching my eye
These days

Image from Pixabay

Spin the Bottle

By Scott Bailey © 2017

Is life just spin the bottle
As the bottle maker laughs
Or a game of hopscotch
Lines drawn in shifting sand
Children’s games and distractions
Carried over time
Methods and controllers
Programming sublime

Image by Shutterbug75 from Pixabay

Rising Tide

By Scott Bailey © 2013

From the shallows to the icy deep
Where dolphins dance and starfish sleep
Through swaying kale and shifting sand
Feel the touch of an oily hand

Where lights speed by in total dark
Where rest many a sunken ark
Where through the kale fish do slip
Feel a cold and choking grip

Where bubbles rise and currents surge
Where waters from the heavens merge
Where weight does crush both bones and rock
Feel the iron fingers lock

And here my heart it swells and roars
From roiling dark to shattered shores
And I will rise with fury’s might
And crush the hand that picks this fight

So fear the shark with jaws that rend
And the mighty swell that shall bend
Every fence and dam and wall
And drown the rumble of cliffs that fall

And when the hand has done its deed
You will curse your dirty seed
And then, at last, ​you will see
How small you are beside the sea

Image from Pixabay

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Puncture

By Scott Bailey © 2016

Ugly the scar

We leave upon this earth

As we puncture

And drill, and frack and crack

A long, searing scar

If this is what marks

The passage of our lives

What then will mark

Our passing?

Photo by Tom Fisk on Pexels.com

Taper

By Scott Bailey © 2017

The red taper burns
Slow, slow, slow
Till the orange flame gives up
And its wispy soul
Rises
Blue and grey
Finally black

Photo by Top 5 Way on Pexels.com

Volume

By Scott Bailey © 2017

The greater the volume
Of opinion
The more stress upon the foundation
The higher the lofty morals
The shakier the ivory tower
Oh how the papers wail
How the timelines howl
The mad feeding frenzy
Of the trolls
Who rule

Photo by Anete Lusina on Pexels.com

Supernovae

By Scott Bailey © 2017

A distant star blooms
Shining in the ancient night
Showers of starlight

Photo by Miriam Espacio on Pexels.com

Triumph

By Scott Bailey © 2017

Hot metal smell
And petrol
Shining chrome
And deep green metallic
The Triumph roars

Photo by Stephan Louis on Pexels.com

The Dragon

By Scott Bailey © 2017

Spit and polish
Iron and wash
Put out the bins
Face awash

Head off to work
Stuck in a jam
Ground to a halt
In the program

Morally sound
Ethically cool
Questioning news
Nobody’s fool

But
Still
The Dragon
Stirs

Alok Ranjan Art Alok Ranjan Art Studio is a fine arts and digital artist studio.

The Man

By Scott Bailey © 2017

He was natty
Never tatty
Always wore a smile

Never tattered
Never shattered
Going the extra mile

So concise
And precise
Clearly had a plan

In control
On a roll
Simply, the Man

When he stopped
Bubble popped
And that was that

He took aim
Such a shame
Ended with a splat

Image from Pixabay

Non Uniform

By Scott Bailey © 2017

Just like school
The non-uniform times
Are when our true colours show
So what does that say
About school
About life

Photo by Patrick Case on Pexels.com

Daisies

By Scott Bailey © 2017

The warm sun colours
The world like dancing daisies
Spread between the graves

Photo by Krystyna Zygalska on Pexels.com

Wolf in Snow

By Scott Bailey © 2015

Hard the mud did cake
Matted fur, red blood flowing
On snow-covered wolf

Image from Pixabay

So It Goes

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Stereotypical headlines
Reactions just the same
Ample opportunity
To apportion blame

Night time is for thinking
Sorting truth from lies
But in the sunshine morn
Dreams just fly

So it goes

Image from Pixabay

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Grey

By Scott Bailey © 2017

Gunmetal grey
Blood-red letters
Professional presentation
Businesslike
Guns and Blood and Business
Bedfellows for eternity

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Owl

By Scott Bailey © 2021

The screech of an owl
Clouds like scratches on the moon
Mouse darts warily

For “Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 369 SCRATCH and Screech.”

Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 369 SCRATCH and Screech.

Bows End

By Scott Bailey © 2016

Red
Silk sliding
Tantalising thighs
Undulating
Velvet
Whispering wiles
X
Yearning
Zipped zones

Photo by Maëliss Demaison on Unsplash

Repetitive History

By Scott Bailey 2017

Tyranny answers
As the replacement chosen
For austerity

In response to the daily prompt Replacement

#DailyPrompt

Image by DaKub from Pixabay

Automatic

By Scott Bailey 2017

Automatic lives
With automatic answers
Easier to rule

Image by yalcin dag from Pixabay

Filter

By Scott Bailey 2017

The filter of social media
Keeps us warm or angry
Reaffirms
The wall goes up
Again

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Simple

By Scott Bailey 2017

Simple white paper
Flowing blue lines
Birthing complexity
Beyond the bounds
Of reality

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Ten

By Scott Bailey 2017

Ten pins
Bowled.
Ten fingers
Ten toes.
Ten commands
Carved in stone.
I can only conclude
The world was created
By
Two
Magical
Starfish

Image by TanteTati from Pixabay

Autism a Colourful Spectrum

A reminder – for me – and anyone who needs it.

Amongst all the dreary advice and articles I have read I came across this comic. Which I think is just brilliant

introduction to colorwheel autism spectrum

The original article is here.

Tempting

By Scott Bailey © 2017

Blank white paper sheet
Tempting me to slash with ink
Cutting with dark words

Photo by John-Mark Smith on Pexels.com

Crossing Out

By Scott Bailey © 2017

Crossing out
Deleting
Inserting
Adding on
Dropping
Expanding
Changing
Evolving
Inserting
Crossing out
Life
And death

Photo by Skylar Kang on Pexels.com

Droplet

By Scott Bailey © 2017

Droplet spins midair
Shimmering graceful free fall
Dashed against grey stone

A Spring of Dreams – Nation

Kerching-Kerchang-Pow

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Kerching! Kerchang! Pow!
Our economy picks up!
Soul still desolate.


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.

If nothing else – these can provide a small moment in everyone’s stressful lives to stop and contemplate the world in a different way.

Tower of Stone

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Tower of stone
Where hearts are joined
Names are blessed
Flesh is laid to rest
Still
The tower is stone
And cannot
Learn to love

Photo by Scott Bailey
Photo by Scott Bailey

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Span

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Span of stone
Taking some to work
Others home
As it has
For centuries
Others watch

Photo by Scott Bailey
Photo by Scott Bailey

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Distant Clattering

By Scott Bailey © 2014

A white wedge
Spotted in the corner
Of a run-down shop
Off the track
Joyful memories swell
And from the past
I hear the clattering
Of a metal bowl
Filling with a quarter pound
Of sherbet lemons

IMG_2054
Photo by Scott Bailey

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Peppers

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Hot red and burnt orange
The peppers in the pot
Ready to be plucked
And in the dinner popped

Photo by Scott Bailey
Photo by Scott Bailey

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Gauges

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Whatever happened to gauges
Haven’t seen one for ages
It gives a feeling of age
Does a good gauge
Engineering solid and good
Surrounded by brass or set in wood
The odd jet of steam venting
What were they all preventing

Photo by Scott Bailey
Photo by Scott Bailey

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

On Wing

By Scott Bailey © 2014

On wing
Defying the earth
Submitting to the wind
And trust
Soaring joy
Freedom high
Oh for wings
For real

Photo by Scott Bailey
Photo by Scott Bailey

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Bluebell Path

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Bluebell path
Goes to the heart
A potent sign
Of where I am
Where I have been
My roots are theirs
We share soil
And shall again

Photo by Scott Bailey
Photo by Scott Bailey

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Splosh

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Splosh
And a little erosion
Helped on
By little hands
Joy is free

Photo By Scott Bailey
Photo By Scott Bailey

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Sleeping Tigers

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Living to please
Rather than to be
More on show
Than on the prowl
But in the beating
Heart and genes
Waits the hunter

Photo by Scott Bailey
By photo Scott Bailey

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

The Final Bang

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Staring down the barrel
Of everyday life
Wondering how long the fuse will last
Tensing to dodge
The final bang
Never can

Photo By Scott Bailey
Photo By Scott Bailey

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams