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

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Tower of stone
Where hearts are joined
Names are blessed
Flesh is laid to rest
Still
The tower is stone
And cannot
Learn to love

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Span of stone
Taking some to work
Others home
As it has
For centuries
Others watch

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

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

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Hot red and burnt orange
The peppers in the pot
Ready to be plucked
And in the dinner popped

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Whatever happened to gauges
Haven’t seen one for ages
It gives a feeling of age
Does a good gauge
Engineering solid and good
Surrounded by brass or set in wood
The odd jet of steam venting
What were they all preventing

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

On wing
Defying the earth
Submitting to the wind
And trust
Soaring joy
Freedom high
Oh for wings
For real

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Bluebell path
Goes to the heart
A potent sign
Of where I am
Where I have been
My roots are theirs
We share soil
And shall again

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

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

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Living to please
Rather than to be
More on show
Than on the prowl
But in the beating
Heart and genes
Waits the hunter

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Staring down the barrel
Of everyday life
Wondering how long the fuse will last
Tensing to dodge
The final bang
Never can

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

With my lens
Capture the beach
Only to find
A watcher
Staring back
What does it see
The watcher from the sea

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Shining steel
A grill like a grin
Of the shark that killed you

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Defying the cold
In blue and gold
Vanity knows no bounds

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Mysteries of the deep
Simple and unique
Floating by in waves
Who knows what it saves
Deep in its memories
Deeper mysteries

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Back and forth
Criss-crossing
Thick and thin
Loose and taut
A complexity of lines
Just
To go forward

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Food and heat and warmth
Constant needs that connect us
To ancestors old

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Like broken teeth
Unmaintained
No longer useful
Yet
Somehow
Pleasing to the eye
Leading us
To who knows where

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Rock in the flow
Water jumps high
Rock is steadfast
Water jumps for joy
Time passes
Rock is worn to sand
Water flows serene

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Climbing
Slowly to the sky
Many years
Many lives
Reaching for the canopy
We rise
Will we be spared
The axe

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Into the hole
Drawn in by the urge
To know
Waiting
Are fangs

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Brass
Steam
Steel
Coal
Old
Times
Warm
Smells
Thudding
Down the rails

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Dissecting darkness
Silver shining score
Weaving across the night
Hanging, trembling, shimmering
Waiting for
A hapless fly
To wrap up and serve
As an artist’s
Main course

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Heart beneath blue skies
Bluer than the deep blue sea
Rage into the stars

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Stacked high and waiting
All ready to be consumed
And give out their warmth

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

A pewter dragon in the dust
Some curling chains turned to rust
Some old bones stacked in line
A bone comb with a broken tine

Ritual gifts or just waste
Theorise with too much haste
Maybe let the question go
Maybe let the mystery grow

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Beacons of hope in darkness
Shining from afar
Reaching out to guide us
But one is fitful and passing
The other faithfully burns
And as always
Nature surpasses invention
The beacon of life shines on

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Hurrying, cramming in, rush rush rush
Preparing for tomorrow is all
By the time it’s done
Tomorrow is already gone
And so the cycle goes
On and on

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

The world we live in
The very structures of our lives
Built upon gold
But gold is so soft
So who the hell
Made that decision

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

To glimpse a snippet
Of the incomprehensible
Just take a look
At the white cliffs
Reaching up from the sea
The result
Of trillions and trillions of tiny deaths
Life
Has been here so long
It has built
Landscapes

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

There are holes
In everyone’s hearts
Some are big
Made by lives fulfilled
And long
Some are small
Short and brief
Somehow
The smaller
Hurt more

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Brass cantilever
Golden cogs and diamond heart
Magic seconds pass

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

The sun setting large
A swollen ball of fire
Birds settle to roost

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Two esteemed academics
In high-definition
In a stately home
Discussing Disraeli

Meanwhile
In another land
Another world
A young girl awakes
In the slum
Steels herself
For another long day of work
Man after man after man

And in between the two?

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Knowing what has gone
Savouring what is to come
Surfing in between

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Black swan gliding
Over serene waters
But still
The reflection looks disturbed

White swan slipping
Over icy lake
Frozen
To the heart

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

The presence of cages does not reassure
Just confirms that there’s danger inside
So the rules on expenses just confirms the fear
That the vultures are circling once more

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

One Cara Pilkington-Smythe
A dancer once young and lithe
Left the stage behind one day
Decided on a new way
Married an Oxford star
Together they went far
He conquered financial seas
She blew in like a breeze
To the corridors of power
A bee drawn to a flower
Sipping the nectar sweet
The world was at her feet
They had all they desired
No contingency required
Beautiful homes in beautiful vales
For them, their parents, easy sale
Perfect schooling for their son
Their family secure, every one.
Parties, holidays, swelling banks
Clever accountants give them thanks
Hide away the tax they’d lose
Living how and where they choose
But then the rain started falling
When the scandal came a calling
The houses paid for with expenses
Squirreled out from the benches
Made up claims and other tricks
The media brings names and sticks
Now their lives are not the same
Now they now live with the shame
With their reputation now bereft
It would seem nothing’s left
Except the houses and the wealth
And fine wine to toast their health
And education to ensure
The offspring’s path will be pure
And the network of protecting hands
And the ever-growing lands
And the secret contemptuous laugh
That may be their epitaph

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

In the deep deep dark
Where pressure builds all around
Scarce light is precious

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

Yellow meadow bright
In one corner, rusty red
An old iron shed

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

The wild tiger caged
Is more dangerous than those
Who roam in their realm

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams