Scott Andrew Bailey &#8211; Author

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Territory

Sat February 5 2022Tue July 30 2024Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

By Scott Bailey © 2017

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

The Elixir

Fri February 4 2022Fri August 2 2024Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

By Scott Bailey © 2017

The Elixir
Swept through the void
Hunting
Stars glinting off the
Silver skin
The peak of human invention
Empty and silent

Mankind Limited – Succumb

Sat October 2 2021Fri July 19 2024Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Would all the earth succumb to the concrete blanket of mankind? Was that the best legacy they could leave? Was their vision that limited?

One day there would come a time when it would be more profitable to tear these trees down than to leave them. Then there would be no power on earth that would save them. Even concerned consumers couldn’t stand in the way of profits anymore.

Read an excerpt here.

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A Spring of Dreams – Butterfly

Wed July 7 2021Sun June 27 2021Scott Andrew Bailey1 Comment

Butterfly

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Sod the camouflage
Be resplendent in the sun
Flutter high and shine

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Fri December 13 2019Sun December 1 2019Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

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Daggers

Fri June 18 2021Mon May 31 2021Scott Andrew Bailey2 Comments

By Scott Bailey © 2014

A dagger can be subtle
Not just a sharp stabbing tool
Can slowly cut away supports
Until they fray with time
And then it only takes
A single little pluck
And all comes crashing down
The betrayers hand unknown

Red

Sun April 4 2021Mon July 22 2024Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Red
Swathes in fields
Too many

Black and white
The headlines
That sowed the seed

Grey
The problems
The ethics
The guns

Yellow
the gas
and the memories

Red
Remembrance
and ledger

Perhaps

Sun August 2 2020Sun July 21 2024Scott Andrew Bailey3 Comments

By Scott Bailey © 2013

In an unremarkable flat
Next to a noisy tapas bar
Is where, perhaps, Hawkins might die
Folded in his chair
It will not be remembered
Unlike his remarkable mind
Such are the vagaries of life and death
Both ridiculous and sublime

Alcyone (Pleiades)

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Another spirit lost
Awash in the swell and foam
Anguished over lost love
Anger dealt him the blow
Arising from the sea
Alighting on the air
A bright bird arises

Tue October 29 2019Sun September 29 2019Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

News

By Scott Bailey © 2013

What’s behind the story
What is the reason for that news
Who gets the benefit, the prize
The envelope with the bread
The law successfully passed
The company tracked greased
Somebody’s life made easier
At the cost of somebody else

Fri December 29 2017Thu January 12 2017Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

A Spring of Dreams – Distant Clattering

Distant Clattering

By Scott Bailey © 2014

A white wedge
Spotted in the corner
Of a run-down shop
Off the track
Joyful memories swell
And from the past
I hear the clattering
Of a metal bowl
Filling with a quarter pound
Of sherbet lemons

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A Spring of Dreams – Splosh

Sat July 1 2017Sat July 1 2017Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Splosh

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Splosh
And a little erosion
Helped on
By little hands
Joy is free

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Minimal

Tue March 21 2017Scott Andrew Bailey2 Comments

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Minimal contact
Minimal support
Minimal communication
Maximum propaganda

In response to the daily prompt Minimal

#DailyPrompt

A Spring of Dreams – Starfire

Mon January 16 2017Wed January 4 2017Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Starfire

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Made of crystal
So clear
It can hardly be seen
The breadth of seven men
The height of the clouds
The top unseen
Inside
Sparking and crackling
Impossible
Bright and pure
It is filled with
Starfire
For miles around
The land knows no dark
Ever
The question might be asked
Why it was built
Were there anyone around
To ask it

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A Spring of Dreams – Sparrow

Tue January 10 2017Sun June 30 2024Scott Andrew Bailey2 Comments

(Sparrow)

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Sparrow, sparrow in my way.
Briefly tell your tale today.
Tell me if my love is dead.
Do I waste the tears I shed?

Briefly now I’ll tell my tale.
Pray your courage does not fail.
You do not waste the tears you shed.
Alas I say, your love is dead.

A sharp, cold sword did spill her blood.
She tried to stem an angry flood.
But peace that day she could not win.
So fearful war will begin.

Thank you bird for being true.
Nothing’s left for me to do.
To take up arms and pursue strife.
Slay the spoilers of my life.

I bid you sir, think awhile.
Turn from this dark path so vile.
Listen to my humble song.
Step not where your lover’s gone.

Just a simple bird am I
But far above this land I fly.
And see its beauty spread below.
See ahead, where you might go.

Lay down your sword with forgiving heart.
Do not tear your land apart.
Still your rage and vengeance cease.
Follow rather a path of peace.

Humble bird I hear your song.
But my love is dead and gone.
So I raise my sword today.
And will make those killers pay.

The enemies that broke my heart.
And now have torn the land apart.
Upon their heads is all this blood.
For I must release the flood.

Then sir, I shall shed a tear.
For the future I do not fear.
Yet for now I swiftly go.
To make way for the crow.

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.

Sales and Stats slowly climbing

Thu December 15 2016Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

I did it! Well, the first of my aims for the end of this year. I made it over 10,000 views this year. Paltry compared to some I know but miles better than any previous year for me.

Just another 90 followers to pick up now 🙂

On top of that a few more sales this week – including a soft back! Maybe the ball is finally picking up some momentum.

For many reasons – roll on 2017!

Poem a day challenge #249 (Dressing Up)

Fri September 30 2016Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Dressing Up

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Watching dressing up
A mini ninja dancing
Whirling all in black

Poem a day challenge #160 (Highlands)

Mon September 12 2016Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Highlands

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Tarns tributaries tumble down
heather cloaked hills
red-brown tufts twitching in the wind
Cold water, cold air, eagle riding the high winds
Wolves range over moors
Sheep shiver, shepherds huddle
Fire crackles, broth steams
Tarns tributaries tumble down
heather cloaked hills

Poem a day challenge #148 (Man)

Sat September 10 2016Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Man

By Scott Bailey © 2013

I am the hunter
The bringer down of prey
The destroyer
The shadow
The bringer of fear.
I am the master of war
The hoarder of riches
The steel lord
The holder of lightning
I am strength and glory

So why do I still struggle in vain

Poem a day challenge #124 (Rising Tide)

Mon September 5 2016Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Rising Tide

By Scott Bailey © 2013

From the shallows to the icy deep
Where dolphins dance and starfish sleep
Through swaying kale and shifting sand
Feel the touch of an oily hand

Where lights speed by in total dark
Where rest many a sunken ark
Where through the kale fish do slip
Feel a cold and choking grip

Where bubbles rise and currents surge
Where waters from the heavens merge
Where weight does crush both bones and rock
Feel the iron fingers lock

And here my heart it swells and roars
From roiling dark to shattered shores
And I will rise with fury’s might
And crush the hand that picks this fight

So fear the shark with jaws that rend
And the mighty swell that shall bend
Every fence and dam and wall
And drown the rumble of cliffs that fall

And when the hand has done its deed
You will curse your dirty seed
And then, at last, you will see
How small you are beside the sea

Poem a day challenge #112 (News)

Sat September 3 2016Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

News

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Poem a day challenge #103 (Explorers)

Thu September 1 2016Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Explorers

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Wandering the shore
Through new lands everyday
Ancient fishermen

Poem a day challenge #96 (Shadows)

Wed August 31 2016Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Shadows

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Our voices are simply the shadows
Cast by our dreams and our thought
If the shadows become ineffectual
Then our voices will end up as naught
Yet shadows can give us the outline
Of what is looming above
If we take note of the darkness
We can give those dreams a shove
One thing we must yet remember
To give those shadows a shape
Sunlight is needed behind it
From brightness the dreams will escape.

Poem a day challenge #95 (Debt)

Tue August 30 2016Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Debt

By Scott Bailey © 1998

Do not lightly discard them
with tales of the foolish bold.
They sat for weeks, for months, for years
in trenches freezing cold.
Sometimes feet simply mouldered
in the sucking mud.
And now and then they’d rise and run
and spill their loyal blood.

Do not belittle the suffering
of soldiers now long dead.
With nothing but talk and songs and bombs
bursting in their head.
Bound together with chains of love
shattered by leaden death.
They ended as they had begun
with cries upon their breath.

Do not lightly remember them
with only paper flowers.
they faced the fear, the pain, the cold,
for hours and hours and hours.
They ran together and fell alone
upon those foreign fields.
Protecting those they loved
those frightened human shields.

Do not read these words and think
that these things are passed.
Do not think you will not hear
that deep and dreadful blast.
Do not sit in decadence
and take for granted peace.
You owe a debt to those who died
and that debt will never cease.

Poem a day challenge #94 (Web)

Tue August 30 2016Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Web

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Glistening silver
A delicate spider web
Fallen tree around

Mankind Limited -Selling Off Society

Sun July 3 2016Sat July 2 2016Scott Andrew Bailey1 Comment

Want to know where we will end up when we have finished selling off society? Read on..

Read an excerpt here.

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Self Publishing Ups and Downs

Sun June 19 2016Scott Andrew Bailey1 Comment

Well, it’s only been a week since I venture onto Smashwords so this is probably premature – but…

Emotionally it’s been up and down. I was elated that I got through to the premium catalogue on the first attempt – gives me confidence that I have the technical skills at least!

Seeing my book in the Nook store and on IBooks have me a real pleasure.

On the Smashwords dashboard, I see that 14 people have sampled the book already and over 100 pages read.

However, 0 sales.

That’s making me feel despondent. I thought that maybe I just wasn’t reaching anyone through Amazon Kindle. That my feeble marketing attempts just weren’t going anywhere.

Now? It seems that it’s getting noticed – but after reading some of it, they are not buying it to read the rest.

What do I have to do?

It’s hard to tell what’s going on though. Under Kindle, there were not stats on how many people sampled the book. So maybe I wasn’t getting noticed there. And the stats at Smashwords don’t give me reasons and details. Maybe those 14 people were expecting a different kind of book? Maybe my description is misleading in some way that I haven’t spotted?

Or maybe they just didn’t like it. There’s no feedback so I can’t really tell.

So – I am feeling a bit defeated and tired. But it won’t stop me ultimately – I will get back to writing a bit more now instead of marketing. The writing is the pleasure anyway.

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Mankind Ltd – Quote

Tue May 24 2016Fri July 19 2024Scott Andrew Bailey1 Comment

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What right had she to make decisions for other people?

What had made her think that those posters were true?

How dare she have the courage to break those chains?

By Scott Bailey

Read an excerpt here.

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Mankind Limited – Review

Tue April 5 2016Sat May 18 2024Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

“This book ⇑⇑⇑ should be a movie. Somewhere in Hollywood right now there are actors waiting for their agents to deliver this story in script format to them. The makings of all action-packed adventure films is here. I can see the film in my mind’s eye.
But this one is different.

It’s not fast-paced for the thrill of it alone. It needs to be to get the message across. Mankind could be on the threshold of just such a future. Time is racing.

This one could be us.

Maybe a few years down the line yet, maybe already almost there in some similar format. Change a few details. Replace one group for another. Look behind the motives in politics and corporations. Stretch the reality just a little. Ask ourselves questions looking through the light of a different lens.

It feels like us, it acts like us, it may very well come…”

#IARTG

Mankind Limited – Quote 4

Sun December 6 2015Scott Andrew Bailey1 Comment

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Would all the earth succumb to the concrete blanket of mankind? Was that the best legacy they could leave? Was their vision that limited?

Read an excerpt here.

Available as

or hardback

from Amazon