Poem a day challenge #163 (Snoring)

Snoring

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Snoring on my chest
Warmth and love resting at peace
An early night in

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Poem a day challenge #162 (Dive)

12 Hours day at work – and still not finished. So a quickie.

Dive

By Scott Bailey © 2013

There was a young diver called laurel
Who spent her life in the coral
Of the men of the land
She dismissed them offhand
As she found them just far too amoral

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Poem a day challenge #161 (Time is Up)

Time is Up

By Scott Bailey © 2013

The fat white man
Built a castle
And ruled within his walls
Lived with impunity
and flowing wealth
A harem for his use
and other toys
spiced and prepared
He slumps
In his foetid
white
flesh

Those without
devalued
cheap
Turned cheapness to gold
Built better
Bigger castle

The fat white man
Never noticed the decline
The decaying walls
The deserters
The fall

Time
is
Up

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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

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Poem a day challenge #159 (Around and Around)

Around and Around

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Electron around and around an atom’s core
Atoms around and around each other
Mass around mass and air around rock
Rock around and around rock
Moon around and around earth
Earth around and around Sun
A billion suns around galactic core
Spiralling into the dark
A billion galaxies dance their endless dance
Around and around and around

I stand still

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Poem a day challenge #158 (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.

 

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Poem a day challenge #157 (Fireworks) (Triolet)

(Fireworks) (Triolet)

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Hand in hand we all walk tonight
Mother, Father and loving son
Watching darkness bursting with light
Hand in hand we all walk tonight
Sky flowers blooming burn our sight
This time of year is always fun
Hand in hand we all walk tonight
Mother, Father and loving son

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Poem a day challenge #156 (Water)

Water

By Scott Bailey © 2013

A silent sunset
Calm waters ripple slowly
Dark storm clouds gather 

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Poem a day challenge #155 (Demons)

Demons

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Trick or treating
With our son
For the first time
Wishing the other
Were here
As the demons cavort
and dance
Gathering their loot
Doing their worst
Other flesh freezes
Starved of food and hope
Is one man’s fun
Another’s murder?

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Poem a day challenge #154 (To the Bone)

To the Bone

By Scott Bailey © 2013

A pounding headache
The fruit of today’s labour
Now going to sleep

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Poem a day challenge #153 (Dreaming)

Dreaming

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Tiny starbursts
The peak on tiny waves
Deep green over yellow
Swaying weeds
Dappled stones
Dark fish darting
The scent of rich water
And reeds
Time to watch
Relax
The life I crave
Instead
Work, bills, sleep, stress

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Poem a day challenge #152 (Poppies)

Poppies

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Time for the flowers to bloom again
Red
Like blood
That was shed
A century ago
And every day since
One day
They will be white

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Poem a day challenge #151 (Party)

Party

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Passing the parcel
Noisy musical statues
Children’s birthday joy

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Poem a day challenge #150 (Epic)

Epic

By Scott Bailey © 2013

He slew the great beast
Whose mother took her revenge
The great Beowulf

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Poem a day challenge #149 (The King)

The King

By Scott Bailey © 2013

The King who was
And shall be
Stirs restive in his sleep
Sword in hand
Ready
Who will it smite?
Invaders or haters
Will justice by the sword
Ever be served?

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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

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Poem a day challenge #147 (I/O)

I/O

By Scott Bailey © 2013

The information superhighway
It is a heavy weight
Data, redundancy
Processes
Alerts
Objectification
Frames
Presentations and investors
Response
Time
High availability
Validity
Technical, radical, practical, logical
Balancing load
Stresses
Testing
Testing
Test

Craving
Simplicity

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Poem a day challenge #146 (Sustenance)

Sustenance

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Cheese, onions, bread and beer
Like it or hate it
Sharing an experience
Over thousands of years

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Poem a day challenge #145 (Seven Years)

Seven Years

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Seven years
They say it’s wool
Well I have my little lamb
To keep me warm
And hope to hold her
Beyond diamond!

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Poem a day challenge #144 (Drained)

Drained

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Every buzz and chime
On the phone
Is a worry
Something has gone down
Something is wrong
Another demand
On my time and my brain
Which are both drained
Something
Must change

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Poem a day challenge #143 (Words)

Words

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Master of words
By words mastered
Many a politician can claim
Those that abuse the power
By which they rose
Will be bitten by the beast they tamed

Such is the reality
We choose to believe
But the truth we know is worse
Where corruption rules
It protects its own
Mostly, the corrupt rule

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Poem a day challenge #142 (Sick)

Sick

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Feel as sick as a dog
Too much work not enough play
Dulling the senses

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Poem a day challenge #141 (Bound to Serve)

Bound to Serve

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Bound to serve
The master that we crave
Enduring the pain
Not struggling in the ties
That bind
Taking the punishment
Utter submission
Belittled
Stripped
Of dignity
All for the reward
The release
The coin

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Poem a day challenge #140 (Deep Red)

Deep Red

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Deep red-brown
Liquid
Augmented by amber light
White top
Gold badge
Warmth
And slow appreciation

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Poem a day challenge #139 (Candles)

Candles

By Scott Bailey © 2013

15th Oct:  a wave of light and love
15th Oct: a wave of light and love (Photo credit: scribbletaylor)

One lumen
The light of a candle
It can be seen they say
For many miles
Candles burn tonight
One for each lost angel
Light that will been seen over many years
Still bright in our minds
A million candles
A fiery sun of bittersweet memories
The burning potential
Of lives that never were

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Poem a day challenge #138 (Brain Dead)

Brain Dead

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Brain dead tonight
Can’t think straight
Waiting for the muse
To open my mind’s gate

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Poem a day challenge #137 (Time)

Time

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Our most precious coin
Swamped by trivial demands
Yet can’t be ignored

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Poem a day challenge #136 (Blunt Hammer)

Blunt Hammer

By Scott Bailey © 2013

When horror is turned to love
And death has become high romance
Do the forces of the underworld
Practice a jubilant dance

Do vampires laugh with glee
And werewolves lick their fangs
As they open up their gates
With fanfares, bells and clangs

And into their arms they run
The poorly misguided youth
And their heroes welcome them in
With claw and jaw and tooth

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Poem a day challenge #135 (Night Forest)

Night Forest

By Scott Bailey © 2013

A silver sylph slips silent through the trees
Spreading silver stardust upon the trees
Disappearing into the deep shadows
Where foxes hunt

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Poem a day challenge #134 (The Dark)

The Dark

By Scott Bailey © 2013

The darkness where the heart beats fast
The shadows where no moonlight’s cast
The deepest dell of starless nights
Gleaming eyes the only light

The sound of cold and ancient breath
On the breeze the scent of death
A rustle from behind the trees
A snapping twig the blood to freeze

The conflict of the fight​ or flight
But where to run on icy night?
The frozen legs the burning fear
The certainty of danger near

Imagination births these fears
But even as the presence nears
Pointing out what we must mark
Why do we so fear the dark

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Poem a day challenge #133 (Cable Ties)

Cable Ties

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Cables ties us
Hold us tight
To one spot
Even invisible ones
Chains
Keeping us busy
Keeping us attentive
Keeping us productive
and consuming
So when they are cut
We are lost
Unable to produce
As we once did

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Poem a day challenge #132 (Ups and Downs)

Ups and Downs

By Scott Bailey © 2013

From joy to worry
As sickness strikes yet again
Families hold tight

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Poem a day challenge #131 (Relief)

Relief

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Weight from shoulders lifts
Unanimous approval
The road is still long

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Poem a day challenge #130 (Formation)

Formation

By Scott Bailey © 2013

A single mote
of stardust
sparkles bright
in endless black
drifting
No goal,
no direction
for time
that feels
eternity
Nothing
Cold, cold
Nothing

And then
Attracted to another
Bright shining mote
Joined together
Bound in twisting dance
round and round
and down
What seems forever
togetherness
never apart
again

The other comes
with more attachments
gathering around
A family, a clan
a get together that has no end
a bouncy, rowdy party
as things heat up

And the happening attracts more
and the numbers swell
the dances speed and the steps
multiply with complexity
The place is hotting up
as events coalesce

Then the point of no return
This is the place to be
the single mote has pulled
more that could be dreamed
and the crowds rush in and in
and down
the crowds become a crush
And the heat gives rise to new forms of dance
and new energy as the crowds arise

And then the circle is complete
as the fire starts to burn and the lonely mote
is now the heart
of brand new burning star

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Poem a day challenge #129 (Consumed)

Consumed

By Scott Bailey © 2013

More fucking shopping
I’m consumed by consuming
Working just keeps up

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Poem a day challenge #128 (Health Gains)

Health Gains

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Giving people health
Appears low priority
Set against profits

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Poem a day challenge #127 (Wallowing)

Wallowing

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Corrupt. Wealthy. Safe.
Wallowing in filthy loot
And laughing at us

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Poem a day challenge #126 (The List That Should Not Have Been)

The List That Should Not Have Been

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Tragic stories
Behind smiling faces
And pleading eyes
How did it come to this

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Poem a day challenge #125 (Prevailing)

Prevailing

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Lost to us, never forgotten
Unusual tides took him away
Carried to peace and to sleep
And even as the dark will swell
Sad, but sad will not prevail

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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

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Poem a day challenge #123 (Fragile)

Fragile

By Scott Bailey © 2013

So many connections
So many lines
All taut and humming
Junctions and switches
A house of cards
Delicately balanced
Systems
Working to full capacity
One break from collapse
Such is life

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Poem a day challenge #122 (Sold)

Sold

By Scott Bailey © 2013

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

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Poem a day challenge #121 (Sensitive)

Sensitive

By Scott Bailey © 2013

My eyes are sensitive to the light
They are filtered
Protected by shades
What about my heart?
My feelings?

No filter please
I am sensitive
I need all the light let in.

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Poem a day challenge #119 (Chipping Away at Mountains)

Chipping Away at Mountains

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Lines and words and lines
On one screen they mean this
Elsewhere something else
On paper strangely old
Before my eyes
Flashing by
Doing magic
But why
For the small ends
Of small goals
Chipping away at mountains

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Poem a day challenge #118 (Wandering Spells)

Wandering Spells

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Is it enough?
These words
We gather here
From across the globe
Our thoughts thrumming
Over strands of the web
They gather and agree
Mostly
And we know
What is wrong with the world
What is right
How to behave
And with well picked word
We condemn
Or cajole
the effective ones.

But is it enough?
Just the words.

Yet once upon a time
There was a spell
A magical combination
That set me on this course
Of reason and reason-ability

Maybe it is enough
If someone somewhere
Is moved by our spells
To do the right thing.

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Poem a day challenge #117 (Galaxy)

Galaxy (A Nonet)

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Black hole quasar NASA
Black hole quasar NASA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Swirling, whirling milky clouds of stars
Spiralling down to the black hole
Supermassive hungry dark
Swallowing all it can
Axle of the wheel
Sparkling star arms
Shining cloud
Holds our
Home 

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Poem a day challenge #116 (The House of Bailey)

The House of Bailey

By Scott Bailey © 2013

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

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Poem a day challenge #115 (Nostalgia)

Nostalgia

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Worn wooden floor
Distant, ancient scent
Tobacco long gone
Beer, deep red in thick glass
Salt and vinegar crisps
Pickled eggs
Pickled patrons
Warmth and welcome
Long gone like the smoke
One missed

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Poem a day challenge #114 (Uncaring Mirth)

Uncaring Mirth

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Laughter echoes
In rarefied halls
Between clinks from glasses
Raised in champagne toasts
While expensive soles
Walk heavy
On broken dreams and despair

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Poem a day challenge #113 (Errors)

Errors

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Mistakes seep into
Our minds through repetition
Habitual truth’s born

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