The Pyre Beacon of Books

By Scott Bailey 2017

When will come the time
Fascism is recognised?
When books start burning?

In response to the daily prompt Recognize

Burning books

#DailyPrompt

Scents

By Scott Bailey 2017

The wind shifts its path
Bring new scents in its wake
Fresh blood lures the wolf

In response to the daily prompt Scent

Wolf

#DailyPrompt

A Spring of Dreams – Starfire

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

A_Spring_of_Dreams_Cover_for_Kindle

Available as

Kindle

or hardback

from Amazon

or CreateSpace

 

 

 

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

 

A Spring of Dreams – Sparrow

(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.

Calm

By Scott Bailey © 2016

Calm my beating heart
Racing for the beauty of
My beloved wife

In response to the daily prompt Calm

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting

Another Fantastic Review!

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!

A Spring of Dreams

Sales and Stats slowly climbing

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!

Dark Truths

By Scott Bailey © 2016

It is dark but true
Uncomfortable evidence
When we dig deeper

Dark Truths Hidden

Mists

By Scott Bailey © 2016

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

The Name is…

The Name is..

By Scott Bailey © 2015

Death and lust
Entwined in one
Both without
A thought
Both with
Expert care
Sheer red satin
Ripped to shreds
Blood red
Pale skin
Gun metal grey
In cold blue eyes
And a name
That beats hearts
Passion and fear
And steel
And lead
Death and lust
And a name
The name is…..

 

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

 

In Remembrance

in-remembrance-11300115244nlu

I am deeply honoured that poem of mine – topical for today – has been featured on the Thanet writers website.

It was originally written for Armistice day – then later a friend and I adapted it as a song and this is the version they have featured.

While we are remembering – we also said goodbye to some more legends today. Robert Vaughn – the Man From Uncle, and also one of my favourite all time singer/songwriters – Leonard Cohen.

 

This is my favourite – and with apt lyrics for today.

 

The Programme

By Scott Bailey © 2015

START

My god, my hands are dry

Must remember to buy some moisturiser

←——Insert fear

My god, my hands are dry

Must remember to buy some moisturiser

My god, my hands are dry

Must remember to buy some moisturiser

My god, my hands are dry

Must remember to buy some moisturiser

——–> extract money

RETURN TO START

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

A Spring of Dreams – Words

 

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Words

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Wherever words roam
Over fantastical lands
The heart rests at home.

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

Poem a day challenge #265 (Blue)

Blue

By Scott Bailey © 2014

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

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

Poem a day challenge #249 (Dressing Up)

Dressing Up

By Scott Bailey © 2014

 

Watching dressing up
A mini ninja dancing
Whirling all in black

20140202_185242

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

Home

By Scott Bailey © 2016

A day in the woods
Jumping in piles of brown leaves
Autumn brings us home

 

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #116 Home&Leaves

#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Poem a day challenge #160 (Highlands)

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

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

 

Poem a day challenge #148 (Man)

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

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

 

Spent

By Scott Bailey © 2016

My life is being spent
Waiting outside shops
Herding kids
Driving
Working for reasons unknown
On maintenance

Not on friends or laughter
Not on relaxation
Not on health
Not on passions

Tick-tock, tick-tock
Life’s precious coin
Being spent
For very little change

Time
Image from Pixabay

Poem a day challenge #124 (Rising Tide)

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

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

 

Poem a day challenge #112 (News)

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

 
www.scottandrewbailey.uk

Poem a day challenge #103 (Explorers)

Explorers

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Wandering the shore
Through new lands everyday
Ancient fishermen

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

 

Poem a day challenge #96 (Shadows)

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.

www.scottandrewbailey.uk 

Heroes

By Scott Bailey © 2016

All my heroes let me down.
All of them.
I tried to be my own hero.
That. Was the worst.

Fallen Heroes

Poem a day challenge #95 (Debt)

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.

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

 

Poem a day challenge #94 (Web)

Web

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Glistening silver
A delicate spider web
Fallen tree around

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

 

Rivers

By Scott Bailey © 2016

Rivers carve the land
Rocks turn flows: who can resist
The river of stone

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #112 River&Stone

Rivers

#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Poem a day challenge #85 (Who’s the Fool)

Who’s the Fool

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Listen to all the anger
Hark at all the fury
Just remember that
You no longer own the jury

Humiliate the whistleblower
Make him out a fool
Wielding propaganda
Like an old blunt tool

Don’t you know we’re cynics now
We can see through all the lies
You will have to do much better
Or suffer the surprise.

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

Poem a day challenge #61 (The New)

The New 

By Scott Bailey © 2013

The new can’t replace the should have been
The should have been haunts us forever
Though the new will be a healer
And receive all our love just the same.
It’s pointless being angry at fate
But that doesn’t stop the burn
The frisson on top of everyday stress
For the should have been we always yearn.
The new will have it’s own should have been.
So maybe we will understand.
And make a happier will be.
At least that is the plan.

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

Change

By Scott Bailey © 2016

If I stay my path
The world will not mind a bit
So change is a must

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #110 Change&Mind

#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Life’s Journey

By Scott Bailey © 2016

Chancing to look up
Seeking hope on my journey
I trip and stumble

Life's Journey

 

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #109-Hope&Up

#Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge

Wordless

By Scott Bailey © 2016

 

Benakeri sorful do

Lillytigh shamton benigh

Alluver ecater feru

Selater erater canoo

And that is how I feel

Light and Drak

The Lies We Tell Boys

The media lies. We all know that. Sometimes, though, it is very subtle.

Like what it tells us about being a man.

Everything we see gives us the same message. The brash businessman dispensing his wisdom, the cocky chancer charming the ladies, the whisky guzzling spy or DCI. Even the greedy bankers and the corrupt politicians – who we all condemn but are still reaping their rewards.

They all tell us the same thing – to be a man and be a success – be strong, take what you want! No one will give it to you so grab it with both hands.

Far more subtly than that but that’s the message.

I have come to a different conclusion lately. To be a man, properly (and I don’t claim to be this by ay means) you have to learn to give. To give of your strength – and to keep giving when your strength has run out. Give your strength to those you care about.

When you’re in love
Nothing matters
Yes, there are annoyances
Sacrifices
Anger
Even tears
Nothing matters
Savour the moments
Bask in the sunlight of her smile
Be warmed by her touch
And keep on giving
Your strength

By Scott Bailey © 2016

A Spring of Dreams has a Spring in Sales

Well a bit anyway – but how’s this for a jump in sales rank!

Salesrank2

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.

 

A Spring of Dreams – Quote 6

Kerching-Kerchang-Pow

Nation

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Kerching! Kerchang! Pow!
Our economy picks up!
Soul still desolate.

Get the previous ones here

http://wp.me/P3kG6h-bb

A Spring of Dreams – Quote 5

recite-2dr0uy

Trench

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Dancing with my wife,
last week the telegraph came:
Coughs ring round the trench.

Get the previous ones here

http://wp.me/P3kG6h-bb

A Spring of Dreams – Quote 4

recite-g3bdu3

Sparks

By Scott Bailey © 2013

A sad shadow falls
Casting gloom over our dreams:
Sparks dispel the dark!

Get the previous ones here

http://wp.me/P3kG6h-bb

A Spring of Dreams – Quote 3

 

recite-1gw36vv

Words

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Wherever words roam
Over fantastical lands
The heart rests at home.

Get the previous ones here

http://wp.me/P3kG6h-bb

A Spring of Dreams – Quote 2

recite-1782e6a

Senryu: Cross

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Fleeing from killers
The child runs desperately
To fill out a form.

Get the previous ones here

http://wp.me/P3kG6h-bb

A Spring of Dreams – Quote

Old-light-from-the-past

Lantern

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Old light from the past
Is still illumination
Wisdom echoes far

Get the previous ones here

http://wp.me/P3kG6h-bb

Play

By Scott Bailey © 2016

Water traces curves
Of showered, moist skin, fingers
Follow down to play

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #89 Shower&Play

Play

#Ronovan #Writes #Haiku #Challenge

Breakdown

By Scott Bailey © 2016

I’m having a breakdown
Pieces of me
falling away
Nail hammered
Into my skull
Nail hammered
Into the lid
Of the final bed
I’m having a breakdown

Come on in
Join in the fun
Let’s fly
The quivering eyes
Give rise to the sight
Slipping away from me
Come on in

Rage,
Rage,
Rage
Nothing but rage
At my age to much
To see
You see
Rage

I’m having a breakdown
Come on in
Rage, rage, rage.

House of Dreams

By Scott Bailey © 2016

Substance over style
Fresh political approach
Or a dream too far

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #80

Start the year with poetry – Still available 365 poems just for your enjoyment.

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

Kindle

or hardback

from Amazon

The Nazi

By Scott Bailey © 2015

The Nazi
Sat alone in his crowded cell
His ghosts reminded him that they had failed too
“One day. One day….”

Other ghosts waited
A mighty horde
Waiting patiently
For him

The Nazi

Scars

By Scott Bailey © 2015

There is a small group of people
I do not know them
But they watched my tears
As I watched him die
And they carry that moment
In their hearts
I hope
They find it strengthens them
Like a scar
Or a broken bone
It does not me

Weeping

Thoughts

By Scott Bailey © 2015

Streams
Tears
All water
That wear
And tear
Rocks
And Hearts
Rend apart
Things
We believe
Solid

Time
Itself
Will wind down
Darkness
Return
So bathe
In the light
While we can

A different present

If you’re looking for a different gift this year how about a book or two 🙂

Oh – here’s one -> And here‘s another!
Mankind_Limited_Cover_for_Kindle A_Spring_of_Dreams_Cover_for_Kindle

Go on – wrap them up with a nice bow and send them to someone you love 🙂

Slaves

By Scott Bailey © 2015

The best-seller lists
Are full of whips and chains and submission
Is it any wonder
We are slaves

Whips

Rising Rain

By Scott Bailey © 2015

Amorous arousal
Building
Caressed cheeks
Delicious
Enticing
Full
Generous
Hard
Inviting

Play