By Scott Bailey © 2013
Where the crashing sea
Meets the shifting cracking ice
Hunters hunker down
Ancient Coast
Creative Writing
Trees
By Scott Bailey © 2013
Two trees
Old as memory
Some leaves fallen
A root cut off
Two trees
Explored
Examined
Noted down.
Two trees drawn together
Forever entwined.
Green Fingers
By Scott Bailey © 2013
Green fingers
Rip open the rusty shell
Slow tendrils with irresistible grasp.
Dealt with by a blade or a chemical wash
They will be back.
In time, victory will be theirs.
Twentieth Century Taliesin
By Scott Bailey © 1999
I am the factory wall, despised and so defaced
Covered with graffiti, defiled and disgraced.
I am the concrete tower that holds up the concrete road
Bleak and faceless white, bearing my toxic load.
I am the bin on the street, bursting full with waste
Where rats and vermin crawl, around me in distaste.
I am the battered traffic cone abandoned in the hedge
A used forgotten prize of lives lived on the edge.
I am the street side gutter where dirty water flows
A place of infestation, where all the darkness goes.
I am the discarded knife with bloodstains on the blade
The close but unseen menace lurking in the shade.
I am the lofty tower spewing clouds into the air
That speed across the oceans, killing without a care.
I am the broken shelf with screws rent from the wall
That supported all the books and caused them all to fall.
I am the sodden cardboard box flapping in the street
Broken, limp, forgotten, always under feet.
Once I was a poet, bright-browed with golden-haired
Playing harp and singing, songs into the air.
Once I was a druid learning from the trees
Drawing strength from bark and wisdom from the leaves.
Once I was a warrior with proud and shining sword
Singing with my war-band a deep heroic chord.
Once I was a chieftain with princes round my hearth
Against war and cold and famine, our mighty hearts did laugh.
Once I was a king whose soul was all the land
Who tended all his people with a strong and generous hand.
But I made other people suffer
Now suffer myself in turn.
But as you wreak your vengeance
What lesson do you learn?
What lessons do you all forget?
Runs Through Trees
By Scott Bailey © 2013
Slowly shifting canopy
Layer on layer soft light green
Waving like courtesan fans.
Sun winking through.
Seedlings drifting down sunbeams
Dappled brown leafy ground.
Scent of earth.
Rough feel of bark.
Through this, I run!
And the forest’s essence
enters my senses
vitalises my blood!
Awkward
By Scott Bailey © 2018
The awkward stance
Where does it stem from
A lifetime of toil?
Injury?
Or the weight
Of the world?
In response to the daily prompt Awkward
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Feigning
By Scott Bailey © 2018
Feign ambition
Feign happiness
Feign expertise
Until the day
It all comes true
Until one day
The realisation
That day
Will never come
In response to my daily prompt Feign
A tenuous link today but hey!
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Deserts
By Scott Bailey © 2018
Deserts
Dust and heat
That will be the crop
Of the greed
Of our age
In response to my daily prompt Crop
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Twisted
By Scott Bailey © 2018
Acute pain
A cute name
For agony
Thus
Language
Is turned against us
In response to my daily prompt Acute
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Sold
By Scott Bailey © 2013
We can make you a better parent
Just come and bank with us
We can make you a better lover
Just use our scent
We can make you more successful
Just drive our cars
We can make you a better man
Just drink our beers
We can make you young and cool
Just use our phones
We can make you healthier
Just eat our food
Give us your money
So we can fill the gaps
Of your so obviously
Empty lives
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Remembrance
By Scott Bailey © 2018
Gone
The sound
The thunder
No silence reigns
And the poppies bloom
Nodding respectfully
To the brave that lay beneath
The swathe of red that remembers
The blood that was shed here for freedom
And the folly of man to his brother
So we may never forget all that pain
To ensure it will not come again
We respect them with silent thoughts
Resist any violent trends
Talk, build bridges, not walls
While the poppies bloom
While silence reigns
Honour those
That are
Gone
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 109, HAPPY NOVEMBER – “POETS CHOICE OF WORDS”
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
A double mirrored Etheree that is fitting for the time of year – particularly this year.
#Etheree
Between the Lines
By Scott Bailey © 2015
Black and white headlines
Betray grey morality
Fallen leaves turn brown
In response to my daily prompt Linear
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Modern Manufacturing
By Scott Bailey © 2018
Making tiny pieces
Of truth
Making golden memories
Of the past
Manufacturing magical times
To garner accord
Pedalled
By the powerful
Shepherds
Of the sheep
In response to my daily prompt Manufacture
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Duty
By Scott Bailey © 2013
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!
Summer Clouds
By Scott Bailey © 1999
A quavering wave
of light in the summer clouds
as the sun goes down.
Jörmungandr
By Scott Bailey © 2015
There once was a grouchy poet
If happy, he sure didn’t show it.
A dragon was curled
Around his whole world
Fire above and fire below it.
Choose
By Scott Bailey © 2015
Choose a clan
Nerd or jock
Red or blue
Rose or tree
Choose
Then sit back
Your decisions are made
Shout to defend them
But no more need to think
Just sink
Into the arms
Of your clan
The Meek
By Scott Bailey © 2015
The weak shall inherit the earth
So it is written
Of course
When the strong are done with it
It will have lost its worth
A played out empty husk
A flooded desert
Then the meek can have it
It Is Rain
By Scott Bailey © 2015
It is rain
All the pain
And grief
All the pain
Of everyday
It is rain
Of everyday
Stresses
We are plagued
But it is rain
Just rain
Falling down
Rain makes us
Wet and cold
Dampens us
If we choose
Misery
Rain is heavy
The sun will come
Summer reborn
From spring
Rain is life
Nourishment
Fresh
No misery
Be wet not damp
Be soaked
Revel in the rain
Dance and sing
In life
All the pain
The grief
The stress
It is rain
Just rain
Lake Zen
By Scott Bailey © 2019
Zen-like calm descends
Belies the chaos beneath
Butterfly settles
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #261 Zen&Chaos
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge
Pride
By Scott Bailey © 2019
The pride fights as one
The king of the beasts leads them
But the queen provides
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #260 Pride&Fight
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge
Quarks
By Scott Bailey © 2019
Strange, tiny, movements
Invisible to the eye
Birth, supernova
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #259 Super&Strange
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge
Sway
By Scott Bailey © 2019
All
That I
Survey is
Under my sway
That is what they say
The evidence is slim
So I start to understand
How perfidious is the world
And the darkness begins to seep in
The entropy of hope, and dream slayer
So I must strive to remember the truth
My eyes are my window to the world
What dwells behind them in my world
My kingdom and my domain
So here I shall remain
That is what I say
Under my sway
In my eye
That is
All
In response to COLLEEN’S 2019 WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 132 #SYNONYMSONLY
Influence & Perception
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
A double Etheree
#Etheree
Ceremony
By Scott Bailey © 2018
Change
Ushered in with ceremony
To hide
The cracks and flaws
Assuage the fears
Distract attention
From the directors
In response to the daily prompt Ceremony
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Jealousy
By Scott Bailey © 2016
Jealousy
A deadly sin
So we are taught
Over and over
Again
And when
We dare to question
The questionable ways
Of wealth and power
They smirk and hint
Jealousy
And the lessons rise
Prodding our conscience
Silencing our voices
With guilty pillows
Thus
Why we are taught
What we are taught
Is plain to see
Night Hunter
By Scott Bailey © 2018
In the dark between
The tree trunks, sneaks the deft fox
Dawn steals her cover
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Hunters Rush
By Scott Bailey © 2018
Thoughts lost in the rush
Emptied by the hunter’s rage
Purpose cleansed once more
Pillows
Cloudy
Dusky pillows
Huddle in the valley
Like a giant’s bed covers
Misty
#cinquain
Moonshine
By Scott Bailey © 2016
Shine for me, moon, shine
I need your silver beams
To heal
To calm
My love is not for you
But shine for me still
The stars, they pluck my heart
But not you
Shine your slow shine
Dip into the sea
Rise again one day
To shine away with me
Fleet
By Scott Bailey © 2018
The prancing gazelle
Being fleet of foot evades
The red rending jaws
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #232 Foot&Mouth
#amwriting, #postaday
Panacea
By Scott Bailey © 2017
The panacea
To all of the world’s ills
Is in our hands
Specifically
In their joining
In response to my daily prompt Explicit
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Albatross
By Scott Bailey © 2016
Albatross hovers
High over surf scattered sand
All will pass in time
In response to my daily prompt Hover
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Soaring
By Scott Bailey © 2018
Soaring
High in the sky
In synchronicity
Gathering, readying to leave
Flocking
In response to my daily prompt Consolidate
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Butterfly
By Scott Bailey © 2014
Sod the camouflage
Be resplendent in the sun
Flutter high and shine
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Cup
By Scott Bailey © 2018
The goal should not be
To fill the cup to the brim
But savour it
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #231 Goal&Cup
#amwriting, #postaday
Pool of Dreams
By Scott Bailey © 2013
Long shadows
Cast their thoughts behind us
Dim our once bright footsteps
An unclean window screen
But flashes from sudden mirrors
Slash through the shadow’s forms
Glimpses of dreams that passed us
Keeping them alive
Though shadows keep on growing
We head towards the sun
In shade, our dreams may swim
But they will follow until we’re done
In response to my daily prompt Keep
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Premonition
By Scott Bailey © 2018
I have a bad feeling about this
He said
She said
It said
Many voices
They did it anyway
Always
In response to my daily prompt Feeling
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Exclusion
By Scott Bailey © 2018
Today’s trend
Seems to be
Exclusion
Isolation
Leaving
When all we really want
Is to come together
And hold hands
In response to my daily prompt Exclude
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
The Solace of the Night
By Scott Bailey © 2018
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
Monster
By Scott Bailey © 2014
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
Powder
By Scott Bailey © 2018
The powder that burns
Clouded judgment
Gave power
To cowards
That never learned
Burnt bridges
With wisdom
Killed
And can never go back
In response to my daily prompt Powder
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Bound
By Scott Bailey © 2018
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
Lights
By Scott Bailey © 2014
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
Silicon Hell
By Scott Bailey © 2014
In silicon hell
The servant does not obey
But who is the slave
In response to my daily prompt Hell
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
What We’re Fed
By Scott Bailey © 2018
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
The Grain
By Scott Bailey © 2018
From the grain grows the stem
That delivers the wheat
From the deep furrow of the ground
Harvested
By the old
Leather-clad hands
Carried beneath the canvas
Of the rocking wagon
To the mill
Until the day
We went against the grain
In response to my daily prompt Harvest
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
The Discarded
By Scott Bailey © 2018
The bag
Useful but discarded
Like so many
People
The world
That does this
Is doomed
In response to my daily prompt Bag
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Soak Away
By Scott Bailey © 2018
The tears, the grief, the bitterness
The anger, the revenge and recriminations
They will soak away
Soak away
Into the earth
And feed it
History will take them all
Absorb them, dull them into the distance
Until we are free to look
And try to learn
But the passion is
Soaked away
So the lesson is empty
The truths, the pains, the memories
The holes, the aches and the yearnings
They all soak away
Into the earth
Enrich it
Perhaps
We should hold the pain
Remember
And learn
In response to my daily prompt Soak
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Welfare
By Scott Bailey © 2018
The welfare state
The helping hand for the unfortunate
The most humanity
A government has shown
How the rich and powerful hate it
How they vilify those who need it
How they love to try to destroy it
A little less desperation
Means
A little less exploitation
So
Beware the day
They succeed
In response to my daily prompt Welfare
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Hunger
By Scott Bailey © 2018
Hunger’s fingers steal
Deep into an empty gut
So the wolves must strike
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #225 Strike&Hunger
#amwriting, #postaday
Scott Andrew Bailey - Author 
