By Scott Bailey © 2013
Brushed by death today
Twice.
Metal boxes speeding
Too fast, too near me
Driven on by the wrong thoughts
Or expensive wanderings

Brushed by death today
Twice.
Metal boxes speeding
Too fast, too near me
Driven on by the wrong thoughts
Or expensive wanderings
A sad shadow falls
Casting gloom over our dreams:
Sparks dispel the dark!
Check out my author website for more details
All
That I
Survey is
Under my sway
That is what they say
The evidence is slim
So I start to understand
How perfidious is the world
And the darkness begins to seep in
The entropy of hope, and dream slayer
So I must strive to remember the truth
My eyes are my window to the world
What dwells behind them in my world
My kingdom and my domain
So here I shall remain
That is what I say
Under my sway
In my eye
That is
All
In response to COLLEEN’S 2019 WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 132 #SYNONYMSONLY
Influence & Perception
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
A double Etheree
#Etheree
Cloudy
Dusky pillows
Huddle in the valley
Like a giant’s bed covers
Misty
#cinquain
When the fire goes out
The heat is dissipated
Darkness falls again
Only then do the creatures
Of the night find their solace
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 112, “COLD & SAFE,” #SYNONYMSONLY
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
A tanka this week.
#tanka
Life is engaging
Creatures decipher the truth
They peruse it all
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 110, “PLEASANT & READ,” #SYNONYMSONLY
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
A haiku this week. Keeping it simple.
#haiku
Gone
The sound
The thunder
No silence reigns
And the poppies bloom
Nodding respectfully
To the brave that lay beneath
The swathe of red that remembers
The blood that was shed here for freedom
And the folly of man to his brother
So we may never forget all that pain
To ensure it will not come again
We respect them with silent thoughts
Resist any violent trends
Talk, build bridges, not walls
While the poppies bloom
While silence reigns
Honour those
That are
Gone
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 109, HAPPY NOVEMBER – “POETS CHOICE OF WORDS”
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
A double mirrored Etheree that is fitting for the time of year – particularly this year.
#Etheree
This is serious
The future makes me tremble
These frightening days
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 108, “AFRAID & GRAVE,” #SYNONYMSONLY
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
A senryu (sort of) this week. Very late and a little hurried
#senryu
For a sweet moment
This green forest was all mine
My own secret realm
Now, it is fenced off, private
Playground of the privileged
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 107, “HAUNT & SPELL,” #SYNONYMSONLY
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
A tanka this week.
#tanka
Orange
King of the hues
When autumn starts to fall
Slowly, fear steals over the land
Chilling
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 104, HAPPY OCTOBER – “POETS CHOICE OF WORDS”
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
And if you are feeling in the mood to get creepy – check out this
#CINQUAIN
Water
Drops from the sky
Yearning to reach the sea
It’s path always heading downwards
Tumbling
Humans
Are not water
Humans yearn for the sky
They strive and climb up and up
Struggling
Sliding
Down from the heights
Steps faltering and weak
Bringing us down into the deep
Failing
Thinking
Measure the path
Assaying obstacles
Planning with forethought and wisdom
Reason
Rising
Against the rain
Climbing the steep ascent
Aiming for the sky, for the stars!
Soaring
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 103, “FALL & TRY,” #SYNONYMSONLY
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
Had a go at a crown cinquain this week
#crown-cinquain
The passion of youth
Fires the body to action
After a lay in
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 102, “VIGOR & ENERGY,” #SYNONYMSONLY
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
A quick senryu this week
#senryu
Starting
Taking small steps
Closely follow the guide
Take every instruction to heart
Ending
In response to COLLEEN’S #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE RECAP NO. 100, “POET’S CHOICE OF WORDS”
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
A cinquain this week
#cinquain
Screaming at the storm
The words lost in the thunder
Storm undeflected
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 99, “CHANGE & DEFY,” #SYNONYMSONLY
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
Another senryu – I have taken the opposite of one of the words this time so a bit of a cheat.
#senryu
My pen to paper
The dream I just cannot grasp
Er, except for now
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 98, “SAD & WRITE,” #SYNONYMSONLY
Check the link for the guidelines and rules
I think this qualifies as a senryu?
#senryu
Dawn spills on the land
Sharing its free, warm bounty
Nurturing the seeds
Feeding the grazers in turn
Then stolen by the hunters
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 90, “Give & Receive,” #SYNONYMSONLY
An attempt at a Tanka
#Tanka
The white wolf’s triumph
Hunt over, hunger sated
No howling tonight
In response to Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 81, DIGNITY & SUCCESS, #SynonymsOnly
A haiku again this week. My brain is too fried for anything more.
#haiku
Basking in the sun
The snake saw lunch in his mind
Movement brought him back
In response to Colleen’s 2018 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 82 – BELONG & DREAM #SynonymsOnly
A haiku this week. I have inferred the given words rather than use synonyms so breaking the rules a bit. This post was also prompted by the fact that on a country walk yesterday my eldest nearly stood on one of these – an adder – the only venomous snake on these isles. I think it was a juvenile as it was small but definitely a viper rather than a grass snake.
#haiku
Swansong
All clap along
As the end approaches
And the triumph lifts us all high
Cheering
In response to Colleen’s 2018 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 82 – The May Day Edition: SING & CELEBRATE #SynonymsOnly
A cinquain this week
#cinquain
In exultation
Shoots arise, reaching skyward
Until sharp blades sweep
In response to COLLEEN’S 2018 #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 78, GROW & HONOR, #SNYNONYMSONLY
Tenuous synonyms for my haiku – again
#haiku
Arise
To the thunder
The raging of the skies
Rain, that splits the drought asunder
Rejoice
Tremble
Beneath the aweful majesty
Of natures might roar
Making your heart
Thunder
In response to Colleen’s 2018 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 76: JOY & FURY, #SnyonymnsOnly
Had a go at a reverse cinquain this time.
#Cinquain #reverse-cinquain #CinquainPoetry
See the sky blush with
Golden fire heaven sent
And then the darkness
In response to the daily prompt Blush
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
Nature
Claws back its realm
Over many ages
Verdant fingers prying apart
Even
The strongest of our creations
With persistence of growth
Old and fertile
Mother
In response to the daily prompt Patience
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday
See the argent moon
Chasing the brightest sunbeams
Moments slip away
Nature
Claws back its realm
Over many ages
Verdant fingers prying apart
Even
The strongest of our creations
With persistence of growth
Old and fertile
Mother
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 75: “PATIENCE & GREEN” #SNYNONYMSONLY
Had a go at a butterfly cinquain this time – and I had the perfect picture to go with it – one I took myself for a change.
#Cinquain #butterfly-cinquain
I watch the snow melt
The green shoots of grass rise up
To greet the new dawn
Taking a bracing shower
In glistening morning dew
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE, NO. 74: “RENEW & FRESH,” #SNYONYMSONLY
#Tanka
If only I knew
What I know now years ago
My time would have been
Spent in a much better way
Less effort on silly things
In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE, NO. 73: ENERGY & KNOWLEDGE, #SNYONYMSONLY
#Tanka
Forward
Maybe
From the chaos
From all the death and anger
We can find a better answer
We Need
I used the American form rather than the didactic.
In response to Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge, No. 72: Breakthrough & Movement, #SnyonymsOnly
#Haiku
The resplendent cock
Struts and crows, feathers rich red
While the hens scatter
In response to Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge, No. 71: Character & Affection, #SnyonymsOnly
#Haiku
The earth will arise
Topple all fences and walls
A spark in the night
In response to Colleen’s Weekly 2018 #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge, No. 70 “DESTINY & CHALLENGE”
#Haiku
I am in a quandary – what to do with this blog next year.
This year I set up prescheduled posts – three a day for a whole year! Then I posted each day as and when I could.
This has resulted in two things.
This got me thinking – how do I match it? How do I keep the momentum going?
Then I thought again. Do I want to?
I realised as I was trying to plan out a new schedule of posting I thought about what it meant. What was the reason for it?
Last year I wanted to increase my views – but the reason for that was to increase exposure of my books – and try and boost their sales. Sure I enjoy the writing and enjoy the challenges I have become a part of. It has helped build up a and strengthen a little network of fellow bloggers that I now value.
But it has had detrimental effects too. As mentioned it has filled my blog with reams of duplicate content. But worse – it has taken up all the precious writing time I had. All of it. This means I have done nothing else.
On top of that – it has not boosted my book sales at all. So it failed at its main aim.
So, I have decided that this year I will take a new approach. I will probably try and write every day – do Ronovan’s Haiku Challenge on Monday’s as well as something for the Daily Prompt. But, I am not going to get hung up on stats and trying to reach targets. I am going to step back and try and produce some more books. Another poetry collection, and maybe another collection of short stories.
But I won’t be disappearing.
Over in the US
The new boss has his eye on you
You are all apprentices now
All in the firing line
In response to the daily prompt Apprentice
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting
Calm my beating heart
Racing for the beauty of
My beloved wife
In response to the daily prompt Calm
#DailyPrompt, #amwriting
This one for my Poetry Collection!
“Great concept to write a poem a day for a year and provides an insight into copying with difficult family circumstances – a recommended read for anyone who has struggled in such situations. Some poems were obviously more personal than others (my favourites were those when the writer cherishes the ‘small moments’ in life such as going to a fireworks display with his wife and son) but he also branches out into more political territory. Look out for the funny poems scattered through-out the book too, one in particular made me laugh out loud! A good read and Scott Bailey shows talent as a poet. Recommended.”
Check out the original here!
It is dark but true
Uncomfortable evidence
When we dig deeper
Wherever words roam
Over fantastical lands
The heart rests at home.
Watching dressing up
A mini ninja dancing
Whirling all in black
Glistening silver
A delicate spider web
Fallen tree around
or – chill out and relax – lose yourself in some poetry
The result of a year-long challenge to write a poem a day for a year. Raw and accessible poems of many moods.
Presented as they were written and so reflecting my mood, my life and my time constraints at the time.
Available as
or hardback
from Amazon
or CreateSpace
Well a bit anyway – but how’s this for a jump in sales rank!
A jump of 923,067 ranks! Come on! Buy a few more people – just a couple – I might get to number one!
Thank you whoever brought the latest copies – my ego needed it.
Lightning flash charges
The rain drenched primordial dawn
A spark of life stirs
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #96 Lightning&Rain
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge
Kerching! Kerchang! Pow!
Our economy picks up!
Soul still desolate.
Dancing with my wife,
last week the telegraph came:
Coughs ring round the trench.
A sad shadow falls
Casting gloom over our dreams:
Sparks dispel the dark!
Wherever words roam
Over fantastical lands
The heart rests at home.
A silk-lined invite
Lures the hedonist inward
Down the dragon’s jaws
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #95 Dragon&Invite
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge
Fleeing from killers
The child runs desperately
To fill out a form.
Old light from the past
Is still illumination
Wisdom echoes far
Pearls of wisdom fade
Becomes as hard as diamond
Implacable thought
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #94 Diamonds&Pearls
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge