Destination Dreams
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
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
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Places
The forest Is always calling Deep in my heart The scent of fern and bark Takes me back To where I belong
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
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Back to the Future
I whispered through a wormhole Sending back words Of wisdom to myself Be braver - I said. Take risks - have more confidence Avoid this safe, stable life I look back on It must have worked Now, I rule the world with terror
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, First light
I awoke I remembered my dream My oldest friend And I On holiday On a strange island We were going glassblowing He dashed ahead I lost him I panicked
I know dreams don’t really mean anything – but this surely means my dreaming mind is more creative than my waking one.
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Comedy of Errors
It’s 2022 It true But still There’s a madman With his finger on the button Our zenith has passed We missed the chance To progress beyond Our nature
OK – nothing to do with the prompt really – apart from that’s all that came to mind when I read it.
Keep them on the verge
Of being panicked
Keep them unsure
And afraid
Whip them into a frenzy
Then collect the coin they make
Prod them where you need them to go
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Happy ever after
Happy ever after? We all know This is consigned to fairy tales Why In this century Are we still driven by greed To war?
None can understand me
Our inner teen cries
And so the world hurls
And churns
On and on and on
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Cliche
A bird in the hand Is not worth Two in the bush The two in the bush are free The one in the hand will wither The two in the bush will multiply Bring forth bounty The one in the hand will need feeding Care and Tenderness The hand that holds Is neither tender nor caring
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Buffalo Nickel
I found a coin From 2007 I was newly married Brown was a new PM Helicopters and coaches crashed Here and there I started a new job We were still in Europe We didn't know the joys And the horrors to come In the next 15 years By the end of the next 15 I should be retired What will happen between now And then
What were you doing in 2007?
Speaker throbs with bass
Notes leap higher and higher
Feedback thrills the crowd
The purr of the projector
Warm popcorn scent
Dust motes dancing in the light
Deep, dusty heavy red drapes
Mumbles and fumbles in the shadows
Hand brushing hand by chance
Close, sweet breath and perfume
The excitement of the old silver screen
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Worn out, knackered, done
A brimful of boxy fun
In old Legoland
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
The latecomer arrives
The straggler
Moving slowly and surely
Youth spent
Only to find
Everyone else departed
Leaving him
With only their mistakes
Behold the great eye
Watching through the trees, maybe
Just a butterfly
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Mentors
The Swan glided by
Remembering
Its days as a cygnet
Mesmerised by its mentors
Now it knew
Their lessons were empty
Now he chose
His mentors more wisely
The tiger curses
Beautiful, perfect pelt
The hunter’s desire
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Proud
I have been proud Recently My colleagues, friends, loved ones Told me Well done I swelled Ah I am easily led To that fall
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Cupid’s Arrow
Through glass doors, I saw your eyes They struck me that very first time And as you waited, I felt surprise And bells began to chime I had been resigned until that day To accept a single life Now it seemed I must find a way To make this girl my wife I opened up those doors that day And let you in my life You sashayed by in your silky skirt More than my heart arose I wondered if would just be hurt If this road I chose History did not promise much My track record did not shine But your perfection I longed to touch Could it be that you’d be mine? To the smallest hope, I would clutch And revelled in your shine Your beauty, your smile they stole my heart I longed to hold you near To be your friend was a shaky start Al least I could be near Until that day we made took the leap We became more than friends Then my heart was forever deep With a love that never ends And though age and time forever creep This love still never ends Your ever happy shining heart Lights my life through every waking hour You are a living work of art A beauty like a flower You stir my lust, you stir my love You want to make me grow You are sunshine from above A perfect warming glow You are my hope bringing dove May your light forever flow
Starlings swooping down
As they spy the big city
Wonders await them
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Shoulda, coulda, woulda
Shoulda done more Coulda done more Would have done more But There was this And there was that We did our best Under the circumstances We did Better than them Better than we thought So We apologise For earth we left you We enjoyed it while we could So now you can’t
We
are blind
to the truth
Everyday
Suffering goes on
And we deny it all
Unable to find a way
Through the maze of our modern lives
To a place where we can be ourselves
And hold out that hand that helps our neighbour
Instead we clench our hand in a tight fist
Holding tight onto what we have gained
Not seeing what we are losing
What slips away from our grasp
Diminishing our souls
Focused on our goals
With such passion
That we are
simply
Blind
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, All about you
I can’t contain my dreams So I write I can’t speak with eloquence So I write I cannot fly So I write I cannot stand and fight So I write I cannot remember So I write I cannot still my fears So I write There is so much to dream for So many arguments to win So much to fly from So much to fight against So many memories to cherish So much to fear So I write
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Whoa
Ballons in a duvet An attack on the Martian Embassy Wome in bras jogging In the moonlight A car overturned Sneaking through The grounds on MI5 Wouldn’t you like to know….
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Childhood revisited
Don’t be so afraid child Fear will stifle you Fear will cage you in Nothing is as bad As you fear So live Smile And savour passion
On the cusp
Of hell and
Something else
Who knows what
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Karma Chameleon
The sins I must have committed To deserve my luck I hope I enjoyed them
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Right to Health
Can we call ourselves civilised? If we do not care For every last person Who needs it
We have handed over our passport
Battered down the hatches
In a siege of our own designing
Some feeling smug justification
Others wondering if they should have done more
All responsible
All of us
Remember this
Huddled behind our walls
When the hunger strikes
Fortune favours the bold
Risk equals success
People stop seeing risk
And hand over their cash
Their time
Their labour
Their lives
The minority shine
The majority are mesmerised
While they fall
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Call me maybe
A phone Is a clock A calculator A camera A notebook A console A radio A TV A movie screen A book An encyclopedia A chain A cage
Territory shrinks
As the walls rise again
And the drawbridge is raised
The world is smaller
The worst of times
From long ago
Are opium
Entertainment
Sleight of mind
Meanwhile
Terry the Tory
Sniggers behind
Fake pride
And cheap beer
Protest
Is the latest sport
Avarice
The virtue of power
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Green and quiet With a gentle breeze Sunlight warming A cool drink Solitude Then I am ready
The Elixir
Swept through the void
Hunting
Stars glinting off the
Silver skin
The peak of human invention
Empty and silent
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Writing room
Green and quiet With a gentle breeze Sunlight warming A cool drink Solitude Then I am ready
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
Blue eyes turned purple
Deep purple and very still
Watching all my life
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Flangiprop!
Flangiprop: Iscis tulartart Iscis tulartart Savvy savvy sah Holah iniquit Everar tala Notah
From the purple eye of death
The last exhaled breath
Comes an aweful doom
And darkness starts to loom
It dims the roads once bright
Quenches golden light
Sends tremors through the land
Like my trembling hand
Trembling on the key
That sets the danger free
Releasing purging fire
Born from grief and ire
Fear will bring the dark
And there is no lighted ark
So hide your fears away
Until the final day
Deep bright purple star.
Piercing from the depths of roiling blue gas clouds
And a million billion stars
Outshining Venus and Mars
Swathes like silver paths
Some gathered in spiral wheels
And between them in the sparse dark spaces
Ships blink and travel on by.
A memory from the deepest well of childhood.
A memory that could not have been.
In response to Scott’s Daily Prompt, Burning down the house
The mountain rained fire Castle trembled, emptied of life In time, forgotten
Meaningless
Less meaning
All our words
Our angry words
Falling on deaf ears
Met with serious frowns
Hiding sneering laughter
Less
Less
Nothing
Only the attempt
Gives us life
Scott Andrew Bailey - Author 