By Scott Bailey © 2017
There once was a time
When the crackle of vinyl
Was the path to love
Music
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
Carrier
By Scott Bailey © 2017
The secret passenger
Scampers around
Just looking for a snack
Innocent, unaware
Of the death that he carries
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.
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?
Illusion Time
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Time for illusion
For magic to be cast
For the world to fade
And dreams to ascend
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
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
Friday Feeling
So, our eldest, Alexander is learning electric guitar at school. I thought it might be a fad but he has stuck at it and is getting very good.
So I thought only responsible and right to shows him some of the greats 🙂
We had a pleasant evening the other day having some father/son time browsing YouTube for great guitar players. (This was harder than expected, wrong generation I suppose.)
We found some classics, showed him some Clapton, some George Harrison, many rocky riffs. Even a bit of Seasick Steve!
Then we stumbled on this – I had never seen this before and it is quite something! So, take some timeout and enjoy it yourselves. You’re welcome.
Slow
Also – rush reminded me of the opposite. A song which sums me up in many ways.
In response to the daily prompt Rush
#DailyPrompt, #postaday
Goodbye and Good Riddance to 2017 – And farewell some beloved Faces
20,000 views
I have been quiet for the past week or so – enjoying time with the family and Christmas!
Looking back at the end of the year and the title says it all. It is a year we hope not to repeat.
But there have been some good bits. I have a far better job.
And I achieved my small target for stats. Hit the 20,000 views for this year. While this is small fry compared to others – it was good for me.
Anyway – I have already posted about my future plans for the blog.
Farewell Frank Delaney
The end of the year brings about other reflections. I remember that 2016 was pretty brutal for taking our celebrities. (Ours? Are they ours? Wonder what made me type that?).
Looking at the list for this year it seems little better – though many of them did not get as much publicity.
One, in particular, caught my eye. I only found this out yesterday though it happened earlier in the year. This was Frank Delaney.
It was Frank Delaney who really fired up an interest I already had in ancient Celts – with his series “The Celts” and his book “The Legends of the Celts.” It led to a lifelong passion for the subject.
I can highly recommend both of these works – especially if first delving into the subject. They are very accessible, the first of what has become “popular history” books.
The series also introduced me to the work of Enya – who composed and performed the soundtrack to the series.
It’s a shame his passing didn’t get more recognition – it is a great loss.
Happy New Year
So looking forward – here’s to a better new year for everyone. Happy New Year!
Just This
Enjoy
Elevation – My Sweet Lord
When I say today’s daily prompt ~ Elevate all I could think of was Daleks!
“Elevate! Elevate!”
I couldn’t get that episode out of my head – so I didn’t think I would end up writing anything. In a way that’s still true – I am just waffling here.
But the tenuous link is the kind of elevation that can be experienced when listening to a particularly good piece of music. Tonight a good piece has been returned to my consciousness courtesy – of all things – to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2!
Now it has many good tunes some of which are on my regular playlists already. But watching it tonight one jumped out at me – that I haven’t heard for a long, long time. It grabbed me and lifted me and I didn’t even wait for the film to finish before I was on the phone downloading it! (Og the wonder of the internet!)
Yep – My Sweet Lord by George Harrison. What a simple but beautiful song. Perfection. Elevating!
In response to the daily prompt Elevate
#DailyPrompt #iamwriting
Outside `The Daffodil and Pen’
By Scott Bailey © 1999
I wandered lonely as a brick
That sinks and dives in stream and lake,
When all at once I was so sick,
And an awful mess I did make.
Beside the lake, beneath the trees.
Splattering my stomach in the breeze.
It must have been the bread I had
Or maybe that old Milky Way.
This puddle of sick smelt so bad
Along the margin of the bay.
Ten pints I had drunk, at a guess.
Tossing my head, I felt a mess.
The waves in my head danced, and they
Dashed my weak legs from under me.
A poet could not be so gay
As the one who stood over me.
He gazed and gazed and then in glee
Threw up and fell down next to me.
Next morn when on my couch I lay
In vacant and in pensive mood.
I swore I’d give up drink that day.
And swore some more, it was quite rude.
But soon, once more, the cider spills.
I’ll sleep again with daffodils.
In response to the daily prompt Dash
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting
Drawn
By Scott Bailey © 2017
I am drawn
By slightly parted lips
Swaying hips
Twinkling eyes
A smile
I am drawn
In response to the daily prompt Magnet
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting
Sunny
By Scott Bailey © 2017
Sunny
She was
And the shadow she cast were long
We long for her
Now the winter is here
And the long long night descends
Bright was her smile
White and bright her smile
Deep and black her skin
And we wanted in
From afar
Memories of sun
In the dusk
In response to the daily prompt Sunny
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting
Big Man, Pig Man
Now I don’t normally like negative politics stuff – but. I was listening to my songs on shuffle the other day and a classic Pink Floyd one came up.
Now – don’t these lyrics and image just belong to each other?
Big man, pig man, ha ha, charade you are
You well-heeled big wheel, ha ha, charade you are
And when your hand is on your heart
You’re nearly a good laugh
Almost a joker
With your head down in the pig bin
Saying “keep on digging”
Pig stain on your fat chin
What do you hope to find?
When you’re down in the pig mine
You’re nearly a laugh
You’re nearly a laugh
But you’re really a cry.
The Lost Art of Listening – to Albums
Pink Floyd had a good point when resisting the demands to release their albums digitally. They argued that their music was written to be listened to as a whole – that their songs melded into one another and were not distinct entities.
I am very guilty of that. I hop in the car, switch on my phone and stick it on shuffle* – I enjoy being surprised and not knowing what the next song will be. And as I have a wide and eclectic taste in music it can jump from one genre to the next with some startling contrasts.
However, I have become guilty of only listening to music in this way. I need to sit down, relax, and make the time to listen to a whole album in order the way it was meant to be.
Pink Floyd’s Animals is a good candidate to start with. So I am off to redress the balance.
* (when I am not listening to Audio Books these days).
Scott Andrew Bailey - Author 