By Scott Bailey © 2014
Getting what you wished
Is not always what it seems
So wish well my son

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Getting what you wished
Is not always what it seems
So wish well my son

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
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
Cardiology
And ophthalmology plus
Good old A and E

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
A play in the park
Really knocks the wind from you
In these mature days

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
A sweet sweet Jewess
Married the dark Jew hater
Irony with teeth
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
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
Always racing on
How about stopping for once
To take someone’s hand

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Another long day
Topped off with some contentment
Others feel the dust

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
And then
After an hours silence
He warms our heart
With a carefully crafted picture
Mummy in a tutu
Daddy very tall
Then himself dancing
And his new baby brother – coming soon
And Lucas up in the sky
Looking down from heaven
Not your average family
But happy

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Lots and lots to write
But my eyes are failing me
Red raw pools of pain

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
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
Yet another step
Up the winding stairs to you
Slide down together

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Another blue birthday
Like his eyes
Two years as if yesterday
The memories of watching
Blue fading to darkness
Unlike his eyes
My memories will never fade

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
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
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
Decisions taken
Gateways opened, paths chosen
Following hope’s trail

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
More fucking shopping
I’m consumed by consuming
Working just keeps up

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Heart lifts
When I lift him high
Heart skips
With her every kiss
Through darkness and troubled times
Our place has held us
I return with joy
To the walls
My son
My wife
My home

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
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
Hushed concentration
Then with a sudden surprise
His name is written!

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Pardon me for interrupting
But that was just a step too far
Not really a sporting move
Two years
Two years you have been playing straight
That is to say
Murdering
But with the proper tools
The ones from our markets
Hardware, hard and solid and paid for
That gas – tut tut – just too far
So hand it over
There’s a good chap
And we will let you
Get back to your war

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
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
Yet another wall
How many before we’re home?
Prevaricating

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
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
Silky dress caress
Swishing – lighting my desire
For your loving touch

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
For Sue Vincent’s Thursday Photo prompt
Somehow – I missed last weeks prompt completely. I think by Thursday night I had, had enough of the week. This week has not been much better – so I am recycling again. Using one the picture suggested to me.
This is the picture this week.

They left a legacy written in stone
Plain for all to see
Yet there are less lucid signs
Discovered carefully
Lines that lay across the land
Tales of times gone by
Showing us in hidden ways
To be read by those who try
The tracks we walked long ago
The boundaries of old
A story laid on every hill
And every vale and fold.
And on our tongues and in our tales
Echoes of the past
Holy places beyond the cross
Beyond a gulf so vast
Shapes and forms from ancient times
Still glimpsed within the heart
Of dance and song and tales that burn
And every blessed art

Flesh and bones and genes.
Is that me?
Shirt and tie and jeans
Is that me?
The places I have been.
Is that me?
The words of praise, the blame that cuts
Is that me?
The songs I loved, the books I have read,
The colours I paint, what I like in my bread.
Are these me?
The friends I love and miss,
That is me
The taste of beer and chat,
That is me
The love for my wife and sons,
That is me.
The song bursting in my lungs,
That is me
The stories in my head
That is me
The place where I grew up,
where I was wed,
where one son was named, the other laid to rest
That is me
My dreams that are out of reach
That is me.

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
For Sue Vincent’s Thursday Photo prompt
At last, I managed something new for this challenge rather than recycling.
This is the picture

Light falls
Through the ancient arch
How much light
Has fallen
Through the years
Upon
Lovers joined
The dearly departed
Those welcomed with blessings
Of water
The cold
The hungry
The repentant
The angry
The sinners
The light has fallen
Age has won
All those lighted memories
Nothing
Now the vessel
Is emptied
And ruined
Only the ghost
Of the shape
Of constraint

For Sue Vincent’s Thursday Photo prompt Another old one- it’s been a very long day but when I saw the picture I gain knew I had a perfect poem to go with it.
This is the picture

Wide, water wash
Grey beneath the early morning mist
Chance sunbeams bounce and sparkle
River banks lost and blurred
Returning to their ancient ways
Unbound from man’s constraint
A gentle reminder of the eventual winner
Water wandering where it will
Free and unordered
Rolling seeping or swelling to the sea
Grasses, shrubs and tree swimming
Mirrored in their sudden still lakes
Expanding
Originally Published in “A Spring of Dreams“.

The Press will touch all
The raw places to ensure
Peace will not prevail

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #184 Press&Touch
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Deep in the singed earth
Lies the burners testament
And the seeds of life

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #182 Singe&Deep
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

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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Two this time – makes up for a drought of anything new 🙂
His first attempt at
Sexy was short lived, painful
Full of lasting woe
Short , sweet and sexy
She came swishing to my world
And I longed for her
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #175 Short&Sexy

#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

The hand of winter
Smooths the land with a cold, white
Blanket of deep snow
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #174 Smooth&Hand

#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

In the spooky night
Bats flitter with deadly skill
And the moths shiver

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #173 Spooky&Night
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

And to get into the spooky mood some more – try my collection of short stories.
My wife’s precious heart
Is in need of attention
The surgeon awaits
Well, these two prompt words could not be more apt! My wife is facing major heart surgery this weekend! Consequently, I may be a little quiet here for a while.
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #170 Heart&Need

#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Silk slowly sliding
Over soft smooth skin, caressed
Brushing fingertips

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #169 Silk&Skin
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Tempting sweet nectar
Scent drifts on the summer breeze
Snap! Fly trapped for lunch

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #168 Sweet&Scent
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Lobster shuffles out
Coming out of his safe shell
Fabulously pink

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #158 Pink&Shell
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge


Kookaburra laughs
Amused at the irate ants
Eyeing them for lunch
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #157 Amused&Irate
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Splosh
And a little erosion
Helped on
By little hands
Joy is free
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Hippos do not deign
To sweat in the summer heat
Wallow in cool mud
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #137 Sweat&Heat

#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

An old one that fits.
Blue eyes turned purple
Deep purple and very still
Watching all my life
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #136 Eye&Fade
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Oh how I would love
For the world to be lighter
Not a sinking mess
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #135 Love&Light

#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

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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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.
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!

Mist breathes on the moors
Then the new sun arises
Dissipates to green
In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #123 Breathe&New
#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge
