By Scott Bailey © 2017
Starlings swooping down
As they spy the big city
Wonders await them

Starlings swooping down
As they spy the big city
Wonders await them


Dancing with my wife,
last week the telegraph came:
Coughs ring round the trench.
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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.
I’m fresh out of spring
Beyond the long summer days
Winter is coming

In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Think global, act local!
We must treasure those Who are close and are willing To help those afar

In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Burning down the house
The mountain rained fire
Castle trembled, emptied of life
In time, forgotten

There once was a time
When the crackle of vinyl
Was the path to love

A shout from the earth
Twisting rivers of fire
Cascade to the sea

In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, free association.
The rain on the soil Leads us to the homeward road Where roots are deepest

In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Toot your horn
A tenuous connection but that’s how my mind works.
Knowledge is nothing To admit your ignorance That is true wisdom

The kingfisher marks
The day with a drip, drip, then
Flashing, splashing colour.

In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Clean Slate
Rain washes the slates Grey sheen shines in the sunlight Ready for the moss

We swing from lack of
Parlay to way too much talk
Blessing or a curse?

Let the wind blow me
On the course of its desire
The ocean’s freedom

The ancient secret
Burns in our hearts and our blood
Obscured by sharp lies
If you really want to know the secret check out Mankind Limited

The brush of midnight
Sweeps darkness across the sky
Sprinkled with white stars

In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Stroke of Midnight
Silk slides on the breeze
Meets the flow of sharpened steel
Leaves a perfect tear

The meteor dares
To kiss the flames of the sun
Then slingshots away

Sleek steel aperture
Widens for a brief moment
Exposing a truth

Thinking aesthetics
Is vaguely anaesthetic
Trying hard to write

I’m not capable
Of writing a good poem
Tonight. Worn right out

Someday, one day, soon
After that important thing
That I need to do

Little monkey clings
Tightly to his mother’s back
Ancient lizard flies

This car is coasting
Familiar road ahead
Time to go off-road

Gravity
When specific
Has strange effects
Things get wibbly-wobbly
Certain lines
Get bent
Other lines
Get crossed
So watch
The specific gravity

Feel the space around
Everywhere that I can see
Breathe, release and live

Discovered knowledge
Treasured sweeter than any
Teacher could serve up

Dead enthusiasm
Passion for mundane labours
Seems to be required

Ring the bells of life
Every heartbeat tolling on
So jingle them well

Kingfisher fishing
Silver treasure in the dark
Ice seals the lake shut

The cold swallows flee
Riding currents to the south
Rivers take their time

Never ending beach
The crashing waves repeating
Permanence missing

Swifts swoop and dazzle
Aerobatics in the sky
Still, we watch in awe

Stood before a wall
Dreaming of the road beyond
Still before a wall

You must remember
When waking from reveries
All your dreams vanish

Let’s play with our pets
Keep them happy and content
While we milk them dry

Golden sunlight fills
The air where the songbirds spill
Their song while frost kills

Yes, if you fancy a bit more luxury, you can now get all four of my books in hardcover format!

For quick links to them all jump over to my Amazon Page.
Or read on.

Marc trudged on with life, marching in line with his fellow workers. Weighed down by the everyday burdens of life, the pressure to conform, to succeed or face destitution.
Yet he knew, in his heart that it was all wrong, the questions squirmed like fiery dragons in the pit of his heart, beneath his deepest darkest doubts.
Until they grew and burst his sanity, set him on a path of defiance and rebellion. A path that would cross three others – all like him seeking answers.
A path of danger and adventure that would see him marked as a terrorist and fleeing for his life. It would see him find love and heartbreak, hope and despair, Most of all, it would open his eye to the possibility of an ancient and powerful secret that might answer all his doubts and fears.
If he survived.
In a world obsessed with measurement and success four rebels question everything – including themselves.

In these times of quick gratification and short attention spans, I decided to try and buck the trend and present something not only with greater length but also depth.
The poems in this collection were written over a long period and for different purposes. They are varied but they are all long. And they all represent challenges. Each was a challenge to myself, to sustain a quality of writing for a long period and within tight constraints of form while still telling a story. They also represent and challenge the reader. To throw off the pressure of everyday life, the pressure to hurry, hurry, hurry to take the time to read something, absorb it over time.
Such effort needs reward, these poems should not be a one-time quick fix. If the reader is going to put that effort in then there should be a payoff, they should be able to continue to get something from it afterwards. Whether that be from contemplation of what they have digested or from revisiting, rereading and seeing things they missed the first time around. So the final challenge to me was to provide this depth of content – not just quantity.
Something not only with greater length but also depth

As the title says – thirteen tales about ghosts. Yet, while ghosts feature in them all – not all are traditional ghost stories.
You will find the vengeful spirit but also the plaintiff one. The haunting message from the past and the playful spirits capturing the joy of their past lives.
Some of these visitors from beyond lead the haunted to peace and joy – others take them on much darker paths to places with no return.
Enjoy them – just don’t get too comfortable.
Ideal for sitting around a campfire and late at night under the covers. Or maybe not if the stories themselves are any guide.

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.
The result of a year-long challenge to write a poem a day for a year. Raw and accessible poems of many moods.

The sun reaches out
And excites the northern sky
A watcher’s pleasure

Resting on the coast
The soothing sounds of the sea
Fill this empty shell

Hope holds back the tide
Stays the shifting golden sand
Thin mist arises

The painted ladies
Thousands fly from Africa
To be lunch for birds

Spring showers cascade
The blackbird enjoys the hour
Worms join the party

The snowflake’s fate is
To melt, to make great rivers
Thus quenching the flames

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

Also inspired by an old and longer poem -> here
In the red embers
The wake of the forest fire
Fresh green shoots arise

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

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

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

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