Today’s prompt is. Judgment day
If you were to judge your favorite book by its cover, would you still read it?
Scott’s Daily Prompt 27/03/2022
Creative Writing
Let It All Out
By Scott Bailey © 2017
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
Scott’s Daily Prompt 26/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Déjà vu
Have you ever truly felt déjà vu, the sensation that you’ve already had the experience you’re currently having?
Bruised
By Scott Bailey © 2013
He would never see his son again.
Unless…
Unless he went made it through today. Found the strength from somewhere. Put aside his pain.
The trauma his son had suffered had not been at his hands. Logically there was no responsibility for it on his shoulders.
Logic was a weak fence against raw emotion. Emotion that told him that he had failed as a father, that the protection he was supposed to give had been lacking, just that once.
Nobody agreed with him.
That made no difference.
So, he would not compound failure with failure. This was his last chance. He would take it.
He had tried all other avenues. Therapy, prayer, medication. Nothing worked, Yet what it had done was show him the way. It had made clear the path he needed to tread.
So he took a deep breath and rose from his seat. He nodded to the doctor signalling his readiness. The doctor frowned but kept his piece. He opened the door and let him enter his son’s room.
The room was sparse, clinical. His son lay curled on top of the bedsheets, motionless. Awake but unresponsive. He did not look up or acknowledge his father’s entrance.
There was a small bedside table to the left of the bed on which sat a plastic beaker of water. The bed was positioned by the window. Sunlight tried to make an impression on the coldness of the room but failed. The only other furniture was a white chest of drawers and some empty white bookshelves.
Then there were the books.
The books, many many books, that should have rested on the shelves or strewn on the floor. An impressive collection for one so young.
They hung impossibly in the air.
He sighed. He knew what came next. It had all become familiar to him. This time though he did not avoid it. He did not flinch or try to defend himself. This time he smiled at his son.
The books flew at him. As if thrown by immense strength and anger. The hard spines whacked into his flesh like dull nails. Again and again and again. Raining pain upon his body. The books that hit him fell to the ground limply, twitched like dying flies, then were suddenly whisked up and flung again.
There was no let-up.
He could feel his body being pummelled into a bloody bruised mess. But he took it. Stood calmly, raised his arms towards his son and kept smiling. Gave all he had left to him – gave him his unconditional love. Took the punishment not meant for him.
The books whirled faster as the rage grew. Like a tornado of leather and card, they descended on him, pounded him. The pain passed over what was bearable to no longer being processable – so he no longer felt it. He knew he would not last much longer – if this continued his body would fail him. Darkness crept inwards along the edges of his eyes. He kept smiling, locked his legs and stood, arms out.
The whirl became a darkness that was trying to beat his flesh from his bones. He felt like the bones themselves were splintering beneath.
Then it stopped.
Suddenly all the books fell to the floor. Sunlight sprang into the room as if a lock had burst.
His son looked up and held out his arms for his father.
Scott’s Daily Prompt 25/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Idyllic
What does your ideal community look like? How is it organized, and how is community life structured? What values does the community share?
Catapults and Boiled Sweets
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Catapults and boiled sweets
Sailing boats and jam jars
Watching tadpoles
Playing in the woods
Hunting newts
Swings and roundabouts
Wistful thinking
For the days
That never were
Scott’s Daily Prompt 24/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Competition
What activity, task, or game most brings out your competitive streak?
The Tip of the Flame
By Scott Bailey © 2015
The glint in the dark
From the deep of the cave
The thirst that draws
The primitive out
Out from the dark
Out from the safe
Into the harsh
Changes of life
Leaping from age to age
The fire that burns inside
Connecting us over time
To the fires that have passed
Every ancestor who held it
Was a winner in their life
Success upon success
And you are the tip of that peak
Scott’s Daily Prompt 23/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Local flavor
Write a piece about a typically “local” experience from where you come from as though it’s an entry in a travel guide.
Holding Hands
By Scott Bailey © 2016
Tiny, warm, fragile
Fingers tightly holding mine
Treasured memories
Scott’s Daily Prompt 22/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Stranded
You’re stranded in a foreign city for a day with no money and no friends. Where do you go; what do you do?
Songbirds
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Miracle needed
To save the earth from its doom
Songbirds hail the dawn
Scott’s Daily Prompt 21/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Bedtime stories
What was your favorite book as a child? Did it influence the person you are now?
Blogging Struggles
It’s getting a struggle to keep going lately. I have missed four or five days of my own daily prompts – which I am about to go back and try to catch up on. But it all seems a bit pointless right now. None of the effort seems to be paying any dividends. It is not driving any sales of my books and I am not earning any other income from it.
But then again that was never the point – the main point is for my own mental well being – it’s my outlet. But now its reached the point of being a struggle to keep posting – even that benefit seems to be gone.
And on top of that – like many people, the cost of living is squeezing me and my renewal for the plan I am on is coming up and I simply cannot afford it. This doesn’t mean I have to scrap it all, but I would have to revert to the free plan and then I would lose my own domain name and possibly all the followers I have built up. Unless some kind millionaire happens upon the site (or a few less well off people make a couple of small donations via Paypal – see below) I don’t think I really have a choice.
Keeping the dream alive
A way of making a donation to keep this site alive – just for me to cover the costs of running it. Which is less than £100 for the year but which I cannot afford.
£5.00
Adrift
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Adrift
Lost
Floating
Free
No goals
No direction
No chains
Just reflection
Sparkling stars
Burning sun
Gentle waves
Life undone
Free
Floating
Lost
Adrift
Scott’s Daily Prompt 20/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. INTJ
Do parties and crowds fill you with energy, or send you scurrying for peace and quiet?
Sailing, Unfettered
By Scott Bailey © 2017
I am a ship
Crowded into the harbour wall
Anchored sound
And safe
But I can see the sea
Beyond the gap
Calling
Lulling
The storms come
The harbour shields
But still, I am tossed
And battered by
Uncaring waves
The chain is strained
The anchor holds
For now
So many storms I have seen
How many more
Before the chain breaks
Setting me free
Lost at sea
Sailing unfettered
Unmoored
Scott’s Daily Prompt 19/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Menagerie
Do you have animals in your life? If yes, what do they mean to you? If no, why have you opted not to?
Always Descending
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Always descending, never ascending.
Moving downwards, moving down.
I can’t get used to this feeling
Moving downwards, moving down.
Is it really like this? What are we doing?
Do we really want this?
Is this the thing to be?
The chains that pull the valves and the levers,
That drive the steam through pipes of dreams.
Dream worlds falling, morning calling,
Pull the chains on, shoulder the yoke.
Down to business. Down to labour.
Moving downwards, moving down.
I don’t like this, what am I doing?
I don’t really want this, what is to be?
Enter the shaft that takes us downwards.
The light is dimming as our dreams descend
Scott’s Daily Prompt 18/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Impossible
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” – the White Queen, Alice in Wonderland.
What are the six impossible things you believe in? (If you can only manage one or two, that’s also okay.)
Scott’s Daily Prompt 17/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Bone of contention
Pick a contentious issue about which you care deeply — it could be the same-sex marriage debate, or just a disagreement you’re having with a friend. Write a post defending the opposite position, and then reflect on what it was like to do that.
Qualm
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Calm your qualms
It’s all change
It’s all good
Still
The trembling
Still
Scott’s Daily Prompt 16/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Show and tell
You’ve been asked to do a five-minute presentation to a group of young schoolchildren on the topic of your choice. Describe your presentation.
Collaboration
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Collaboration
Is knocked out of us
Systematically
In the school system
Filling us up instead
With competition
And greed
Perfecting us
As the ideal consumers
The perfect wheels in the
Machine
Those who hold the levers
Know
Collaboration
Could bring them down
If you liked this poem check out my novel – the theme of this poem is the central theme of the book – see below.
Mankind Limited
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.
On one level this is a story about how different people react to 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
Scott’s Daily Prompt 15/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Comfort zone
What are you more comfortable with — routine and planning, or laissez-faire spontaneity?
Karma
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Let not victory
Excite you too much, karma
Has her eye on you
Scott’s Daily Prompt 14/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. 180 degrees
Tell us about a time you did a 180 — changed your views on something, reversed a decision, or acted in a way you ordinarily don’t.
Official Hospitality
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Government Guide to Hospitality
We welcome you with open arms
If you can afford it
If not, go to hell
Scott’s Daily Prompt 13/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Silver screen
Take a quote from your favorite movie — there’s the title of
your post. Now, write!
Scott’s Daily Prompt 12/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Erasure
You have the choice to erase one incident from your past, as though it never happened. What would you erase and why?
Lab Rats
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Lab rats
In a maze
Looking for
The exit
The Prize
The BIG CHEESE
Suppressing
Suspicion
Sure knowledge
The maze is it
The maze is all
Scott’s Daily Prompt 11/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Ghostwriter
If you could have any author –living or dead – write your biography, who would you choose?
Pink
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Pink
A delicate shade
Of colour
Hijacked
By toy makers and marketers
To smash young minds
Into shape
And conformity
Give it back
To salmon
And cold autumn evenings
To flushed skin
And lips
And artists
And leather bound books
And bank notes
And fresh ink
Pink
Scott’s Daily Prompt 10/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Playlist of the week
Tell us how your week went by putting together a playlist of five songs that represent it.
Scott’s Daily Prompt 09/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. VIP
Who’s the most important person in your life — and how would your day-to-day existence be different without them?
Glory Days
By Scott Bailey © 2013
So the soldier walks alone
beneath the
starry night
He has no aim but distance
from the bloody fight
But the war it still pursues him
snapping at his heels
He slips into the forest deep
beyond those broken hills
O glory days
Those glory days
They’ve shattered
and they fade
They only left a rumour
A shadow
where they laid
So the sword is silenced
with a deep and lasting chill
In his heart, the war goes on
the beating never still
Behind the hallowed orders
that laid so many low
Is revealed the empty truth
the sickest, cruellest blow
O glory days
Those glory days
They’re gone
they never were
So the soldier walks away
from guilt
that he defers
Scott’s Daily Prompt 08/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Fantasy
The Tooth Fairy (or Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus . . .) : a fun and harmless fiction, or a pointless justification for lying to children?
The Lonely Tree
By Scott Bailey © 2016
The lonely tree
Stood atop the blasted hill
Stark
Barren branches snatching
Rays from a mist-shrouded sun
Every now and then
Upon an errant breeze
Flits a weary bird
Resting one more time
On its final flight
Then falls
All around the roots
Dead birds and ash
Giving meager succour
To the lonely tree
One day
From that blood-soaked soil
This tree’s seed will rise
Green will conquer grey
Once more
But too late
For this final witness
Of our fall
#ClimateStrike
Scott’s Daily Prompt 07/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Seven days
You wake up tomorrow morning to find all your plans have been cancelled for the next seven days and $10,000 on your dresser. Tell us about your week.
Sonnet for our Times
By Scott Bailey © 2013
So it seems to me that beyond the news
Beyond the web of the media spin
There are places still where the only views
Are battlegrounds full of unearthly din
I see the most pious places burning
Where the holy words still hold high accord
Where simple souls for peace are still yearning
The peace that those holy words won’t afford
Yet here where reason and science abound
We live comfy lives secure in our ways
No bombs rain down on our manicured ground
There is no revolt, no passion ablaze
There’s something wrong with this picture I see
Is it really this way, can you tell me?
Scott’s Daily Prompt 06/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. All grown up
When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?
Buffalo
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Sunset of the plain
Buffalo are running fast
Into leaden death
Scott’s Daily Prompt 05/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Perspective
Write about the last disagreement you had with a friend or family member — from their perspective.
Scott’s Daily Prompt 04/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Twenty-five
There are 26 letters in the English language, and we need every single one of them. Want proof? Choose a letter and write a blog post without using it. (Feeling really brave? Make it a vowel!)
Candles
By Scott Bailey © 2013
One lumen
The light of a candle
It can be seen they say
For many miles
Candles burn tonight
One for each lost angel
Light that will been seen over many years
Still bright in our minds
A million candles
A fiery sun of bittersweet memories
The burning potential
Of lives that never were
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
The Pool
By Scott Bailey © 2013
They trickle in
The protesters, the bitter, the dispossessed, the poor
They swirl in slow currents
Exchanging thoughts, views, ideas.
An oasis for the outcasts
The Man sits by the pool
And fishes
Taking what he needs
Watching the rest
The pool holds no threat
Scott’s Daily Prompt 03/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. No, thanks
Is there a place in the world you never want to visit? Where, and why not?
Bubbles Bursting
By Scott Bailey © 2014
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
Scott’s Daily Prompt 02/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Places
Beach, mountain, forest, or somewhere else entirely?
Scott’s Daily Prompt 01/03/2022
Today’s prompt is. Back to the future
A service has been invented through which you can send messages to people in the future. To whom would you send something, and what would you write?
