By Scott Bailey © 2026
We like to lounge in leisure
Crash in comfort
Sound and secure
Until we forget
It’s all armour
A shield against the horror
Just remember
One day
We have to open the door
And step out
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Some people have highways
Others fly in their jets
Some leap into space
For the rest
We are trapped
In the cul-de-sac maze
Into which we were born
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DU0mUSckhwd?xmt=AQF0tstuE-kkyHmW1wZMbfUT8pXHP6aCnk-Wn1X4JVvUqLx3afMhG2upBe8GEwB03q3X61BH&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2023
We watched the sun going down.
And deep inside
Every one of us
We yearned.
That primaeval wish.
That the sun would return, rise again.
And like it, we could return to the place we left.
We give the past much reverence
For its shrunken, diminished truth.
We should turn our eyes away
To the real sunrise of the morning
A give our awe
To the future.
By Scott Bailey © 2026
It gathers like wool
In a vale
Golden light
Emanating warmth
Through the mist
And so they come
Congregate around the glow
Until they go
Back into the world
Fulfilled
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
By Scott Bailey © 2026
The distant friction of cars passing
Fading away, as traffic dwindled
Like light seeping away in the sunset
Soon, the last one will pass
And the world will be left alone
In peace and healing
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DUs2meVjXNA?xmt=AQF0jLQ9FkU0XiwoG7hDGp89OBgoZuLt_Yh4fKQjwLd2FQ4RaxvP5sPfwG6U3k1R5X-V2Ds&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
The skin is thin
The father, the worker, the responsible
Peel it away
And there’s the fear, the weariness, the despair
Barely held back
Deeper still is the yearning
To shed it all
To sing and dance and play
Without a care
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DUqVcwagnzH?xmt=AQF0psI13VHVW0jWrPaRp-Qr0YkIBUVbJbNFbuaYwA_PgY1ljMHON7P7_7LFU_IEGcwcrLPW&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
For the love of the fear
We wake
Enter the fray
Surely
That’s right?
Isn’t it?
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DUnx0VEgg9W?xmt=AQF0_ujwR_zcbcBrwl8mQPFdLnAURGKwcJGT-FT681Z4aOjw2dG5BJIkqUr6wlfAnwi14Q8&slof=1
Scott Bailey © 2026
Words
Transferred
From mind
To mind
From nothing
To
Eternity
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
By Scott Bailey © 2026
It was a wonderful day
That they came
Bringing their science from the sky
Removing our problems
No more disease
No more poverty
Immortality
I wonder how
We’ll screw this up
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
By Scott Bailey © 2026
He left words
That nobody read
Was there something there
They missed?
Will he be?
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
By Scott Bailey © 2026
We need her lullaby
To calm us
But we can’t hear her hum
Over the bluster
We need her warmth
To comfort us
But the wind blows cold
From our souls
We need her solidity
To support us
But the earth trembles
For our fears
We need her
We don’t have her
We forsook her
For our greed
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
By Scott Bailey © 2026
There is a God
Whose soul is bursting
With empathy and compassion
Whose very smile is sunlight
That blesses the earth
Nurtures life and love
Whose heartbeat is time itself
Whose breath is the breeze that soothes
Whose tears feed the Seas
That God sleeps.
When that God is needed
What do we need
To end that slumber?
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DUYUsmFiLj7?xmt=AQF0927nS7H2yMaElMLS2vsMCh8nltPJfVl7v9dS84UmaOnPLeTHoXoJGusu4yRyo6jUn_eB&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Greatness is within me
I am the one you all need
Victory will come easy
Everyone just follow me
This is destiny
High and mighty
Everyone says so
My path is clear
Our victory assured
Never doubt
Everyone trusts me, so
You just need to give me your credit card number
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DUVtpLmiMhE?xmt=AQF0usIhR5B8Bb7Vy-nuxyxnz7fn5T36BgcUK60-huv51W41oBcIazwSADXLj_9HfzktvOc&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
I have laid my transgressions in the arms of the past
Hoping
That the weight of time
Will bury them
Until they’re forgotten
It’s what we hope
But some transgressions
Are too big
To bury
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DUTKOz4kl2p?xmt=AQF0Qk78uCCQ3eONcDlCeq7ZGzoqTaREfvvHMSZ2YcwmmWZiCmJelzp_OnzIUxWCbM7sKtY&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Ice cold water, fresh from the spring
Cheese and ham, home reared
Earthy vegetables, simple and true
An ale
Solitude when needed
Friendship at hand
No clocks, no calendar
The sun and leaves a guide
The expanse of the stars
This, is how freedom tastes
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DUQoYjvia1C?xmt=AQF0UHP6DgxXYAdYTHMiUAYJrV8G6JNtjPw5AG7ypmFC6mBNM3jDHe9SiqjAVmJCKJqBiwO3&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
The poem
The words
Incisive
Inspired
That can reach into hearts
Change minds
Shift history
Leave the world a better place
That’s the poem
That, to my shame
I cannot write
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
Scott Bailey © 2026
Gazing in awe
At the piercing stars
Light that reaches the deep
Of my heart
There is comfort in the night
In the soft distance of sounds
As the world
Sighs
There is comfort in the night
While you avoid the dawn
And what the light will reveal
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DULgUFKk5_8?xmt=AQF0vuqEMfh_k0RyMpHgD-RPmGrVxfkEteRN0ltILdq0Jo2EnvyJfNrY3EO2LwXR6MUuIY8&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Creaking deeply
Cracking ice
A frozen lake
Is our path
Tomorrow
The sinking sound
Of uncertainty
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DUI18N-Efnu?xmt=AQF0VTqP-REV-wizzhi12wAEmZGlgM9Mgc9yrtiGynKezYWjBbtQicJDValpg8smlK8PSSS_&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
I am the mighty Dragon waiting in the wind.
I am the twisting fire, ready to begin.
I am the rage of light, that shines within the eyes
Of those who are bereft and see through all the lies.
I am the rising heat, swelling beneath the earth.
The mounting indignation against disregarded worth.
I am the trembling dark, terror of the night.
The creeping realisation of crushing fist of might.
I simply wait the day, when I become the we.
When the shackles burst and fury is set free.
When I am we, remember this
I am coming for you.
By Scott Bailey © 2026
I came from stability
So I crave it
I came from poverty
Where I am stuck
I came from love
So I know how to feel
Where did these
Clueless politicians
Come from?
What will they leave us?
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DUDxhMlCIyP?xmt=AQF0AsMPUEp-I94lTywrz95lFEl5XjRM8FlAu6yvbg-ona6j45UhwmKD2ZVrrQRCi_94PbaN&slof=1
By Scott Bailey
The screen is a lense
Narrow focused and personal
Stare at it for long enough
It becomes a mirror in reverse
As you become the reflection
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DUBNzsQEuLN?xmt=AQF0ejCbmEiWqikZIwx4a5dwG8pBd3FtIFzW5nqovncIySkcOjNmz_42pXkAemnh4gmnEfVS&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
This poem
Could be the blue touch paper
If I could think of the words
Instead
I have to watch
As three hundred and forty three million souls
Fail
To find even one
To outwit
A blithering idiot
Maybe?
Light it?
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DT-nTeKgEBe?xmt=AQF0ELwmhYjmD6LEtk05kFLGeAYDu5eBzzu-pXkni5fjAhOIPf7HnsL3KFt06L4T6gBc5g8V&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Scroll
Rage
Scroll
Learn
Apply
Learn
Work
Bills
Work
Pills
Meals
Pills
Stress
Distraction
Stress
No rest
No rest
No rest
By Scott Bailey © 2026
January snows
White like paper, waiting for words
February mists
Obscuring and caressing the land
March winds
Tumble everything we know
April showers
Freshens the world
May lambs
Bring hope and joy
June beaches
Excite and entice
July sun
Bathes us
August skies
Clear the way forward
September breezes
Tousle the hair of the earth
October leaves
Red like tired eyes
November nights
Reveal the shining stars
December frosts
Freeze time and life
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DT5etEACF3A?xmt=AQF0vwCvxZmW4CGkcff7p8_RuHMNY_oRE0BHZ83QEiLa7LUZo1TvSdA19IUKlCIEimas2kw&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Crime doesn’t pay
They used to say
And the truth was hidden away
Now we hear the truth at last
Obscured in deception in past
Now we see in every broadcast
Crime pays
Might wins
Justice is brought
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DT247CpE_Yr?xmt=AQF0txgXTqcP96e7DghQ6iGreV7nbzcB2HXPrADbgoqiHW4F02QbOyOeIb1RBgzTzsvSFW4&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Welcome
To all
Intelligent chat
Imagination
Philosophers
These are my people
All across the land
And in my heart
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Flipping through faces
Up for adoption
Trying to choose
How have we come to this?
That there’s so much choice
And how can they smile?
Through their trauma
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Loyalty when viewed
Within the circle seems sane
From without, madness
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTvKjIJkVTn?xmt=AQF0HVVYgB82VQcmPIxwgn6aSI4s6eajZKxDYAYW0S3pp528AISiVyKLj3wv9QtpTJFRxxjq&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Peace and quiet
And security
Family provided for
No demands
Whisky and a good book
A simple dream
Yet so far distant
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTsmJw5Dmgq?xmt=AQF0P7fSOmFmNtMVNlbxfuLVfRx4BvIVyOWfTiyuRX7qgBSYMQK52W1t98AbOiSGO6sJetIU&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Death of a dream
Is tragic for a single soul
For a nation
Desolation
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTqD3NXDO8r?xmt=AQF0ciePxLrPdGHP6DGMCxy2nTwKswIsc1XhlT-K6Nli7BRkRRPauX4qhMZCJDF9PcPsYoZ0&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Through shreds of mist
I catch fleeting glimpses
Of you
Twinkling lights, far below
Sparse at first
Spreading fast like glowing webs
Until burning it’s all consumed by fire
Only to start again
I sigh
A watch through the ages
Through shreds of mist
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTneIB-ipax?xmt=AQF0MWwyjZPQ9YYDPhZBWROktab-aJRQTm5s-C_LWp4OpObpovRwudZ-DZZ3qvpRssTpdCDJ&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Like a tree,
I will not move
Though the fire
rages on
Roots are deep,
branches high
Rising high
beneath the sky
Like a stone,
from past ages
Weathered smooth
by the rain
Storms will come
and they’ll go
While I watch,
sure and slow
Like the earth
and the sky
I watch
and I
wonder why
You descend
into ire
To welcome
your own pyre
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTk1DAjEQNh?xmt=AQF0d0AXis9gMGC_TQP9fW9jXMRZCeufWNBLvdaHMcH51zY0xd9KAqdXDjR_XkMARSW4V_g&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Safe
At last
Six feet of earth
Between me
And the madness
Up there
How did I live through it
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
By Scott Bailey © 2026
I have never
Been bored
How can anyone
Be bored?
Adventure lies
Within our minds
Life can be full
In our minds
So remember just
Let your mind go
Never be bored
Let your mind go
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTfzCcDjJtq?xmt=AQF0D4qWCbxXth-TSD3jxVyx0xvhObh3x3NDdCmNFHboPShhVGVHF6WNWMXnu9Y5D6uxxJ7U&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Dear younger me
Here’s my letter from an occupied heart
Enjoy the emptiness of yours
The freedom of choice
Enjoy the years of filling it
Until it’s heavy
With love and loss
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTdIlpXDN-M?xmt=AQF0DnKUORYuze0KxRsUpYi3rOlP-BfU1r78OyJ-34BIFHu0lGr7sGXLUxSJ3YUhj3MwWX0&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
From the generation before me
I learnt
An inherent distrust of the rich
A feeling of their sneer
It’s just the green eyed monster
People would say
But is it?
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTaouDXDDAN?xmt=AQF07iokOK4-S1W_STgLWqwJDnRrEXXSh4by1wvhNsZTwOJtZa94vDaTme5ECvT03V6ax-Oa&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
In that faraway land
Under the star spangled skies
There’s a fierce wall of ice
Casting frost across the earth
The blossoms of the land
Wilt in the freeze.
But there’s a fire coming
Fuelled by the rage and the ire
Of the wronged, the bereft of the poetic dead.
It will melt that wall of ice
And those that built it
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTYBL7uDEG5?xmt=AQF0nOC4pfgVtzBS4plAODeEjwS5OSLNTdULWpBxcMcx5qvPk3w3YJmGUE1K3j_sZqsRT4VJ&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
The river was swift today
Swollen by the snows
Dancing and leaping on its inexorable course
I wonder
If it could sweep away my aches and pains
My sorrows and my stress
Could the sea accept them?
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTVZ8MNjIvb?xmt=AQF01KbeEDCHTUus1GL7g7QuD2jxSq2BHeNdAdxpgl58Wp14unFU9sFK3lqVRgiWD6aufk1T&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Those nights
Hazy, noisy, filled with cheers and beers
They were amongst my fondest memories
Now those nights
Are tinged with sorrow and guilt
They were the red flags we failed to see
Those nights
Were the peak before the decline
What could we have said to save you?
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTSzXGmAnOe?xmt=AQF0kn4EzqdMFFhP0F4HBdFsZjtnz8RXes_0HFEfF4HYZ4BwL73g6stC9737y1yuwlApCSA&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
I want back
The future I was promised
The rewards
For years of dedication, loyalty, determination
The share of the fruits of my labour
Instead
We have the emptiness
That was always
Behind the lies
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTQNfWHgqCW?xmt=AQF0AVJbQkkLzqJyO8c77M7OauJEjiSFMDR4GsroOerTYKbTxvQ1J1_YihrMxTk9H91UUYKe&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
The width and depth of the hole
Is immeasurable
The place where you should be
Is so empty
The opposite of what you were in life
If only the living
Could tell their dead
The immeasurable width and depth
Of your impact in life
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Hands were proffered
Slapped away
Invites offered
I said, not today
If only
If only
If only
I would not be grieving
Eluded joy
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTLC85djCRF?xmt=AQF0uoQKfXRNFAMGGG4K2zGIsJlHtlHGB1rSJCqw16opDUYRbif9LA-xASAcDq_A6tuz-48&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
Step by step
Trembling, shuffling
Step by step
On the narrow span of stone
Stretching off into darkness
Unknown length
Vertigo threatening
Trembling, shuffling
Step by step
Pressed forward
By the weight of the crowd behind
Who need you
To continue
Step by step
Trembling, shuffling
Not courage
Not duty
Just the weight of need
Of the others
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt
https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTIfNARjrqN?xmt=AQF00EwUoDRZLgvJfRRUMgEpyIo4jjUpkaSiZN2_r39zpmEwXg4NXYUti925aq459pARpFm_&slof=1
By Scott Bailey © 2026
An empty affair
And it meant nothing I swear
The heart stays broken
In response to malformed_poetry’s pompt
By Scott Bailey © 2026
I’ve been trying all my life to understand,
What I am
What I should be.
Now I wonder, should I have?
Or should I just have been?
In response to malformed_poetry’s prompt.
By Scott Bailey © 2026
An elephant.
Rendered by time and water
And wanting minds
Myths and legends might arise
Tales of the transformation from flesh to stone
Of the final, enduring, beast
Long after the last real elephant
Has been forgotten
In response to: https://www.threads.com/@malformed_poetry/post/DTAx0UQDCgS?xmt=AQF0FyV3mRIiPxTaOZonNRwewCckhS8cfH468GY1w2E8hfAIJyv4084_D40x8iX14N_zmRQ&slof=1
Slowly the shadows pass
As memories retreat and fade
Passing beyond the glass
Like springtime budding grass
New joys together are made
Slowly the shadows pass
This pain we will surpass
And sunbeams will cascade
Passing beyond the glass
Though sometimes the shattered glass
Will cut us like a blade
Slowly the shadows pass
New light will surely trespass
On the lawn that we have made
Passing beyond the glass
Those memories we can’t bypass
But their colour has finally greyed
Slowly the shadows pass
Passing beyond the glass
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Dusty grey spider
Runs amidst the brush
The twigs and broken leaves
Casting coverlet of silk
Over winters decay
Busy, light, unnoticed
Predator
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
A conduit, a bridge or a gateway.
It goes under many old names.
Open it with wonder and reverence,
For the spell will then be underway.
The weakest of hands can undo it
The portal of magical ways
Connecting one mind to another
With a delicate ethereal wave.
Some portals are heavy and dusty
Some dance with electrical sparks
But they all do the same, all show the way
For strange dreams from heart to heart.
There were even once living gateways
Who opened the way with a look
Always there’s one right beside us
The conduit, the gateway, the book.
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
We can make you a better parent
Just come and bank with us
We can make you a better lover
Just use our scent
We can make you more successful
Just drive our cars
We can make you a better man
Just drink our beers
We can make you young and cool
Just use our phones
We can make you healthier
Just eat our food
Give us your money
So we can fill the gaps
Of your so obviously
Empty lives
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Scott Andrew Bailey - Author 