Over the Top

Thu November 11 2021Fri October 29 2021Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

By Scott Bailey © 2006

The general’s orders are loud
Over the shattering shells
Through the mustard gas cloud
The general’s orders are loud
For privates timid and proud
We hear the tolling of bells
The general’s orders are loud
Over the shattering shells

And over the top once again
We face the thundering guns
We climb from our miry den
And over the top once again
A million war weary men
All scared but nobody runs
And over the top once again
We face the thundering guns

They stand at the station and wait
For their heroes and lovers’ return
While praying they will not be late
They stand at the station and wait
With their hearts in a fluttering state
For news they are longing to learn
They stand at the station and wait
For their heroes and lovers’ return

Heavy Hands

Sat December 26 2020Wed November 4 2020Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

By Scott Bailey © 2014

The blood of a million children
Is heavy in my hands
Slipping through my fingers
Like eternal sands

Not the consequence of acting
But the consequence of not
A stain upon my conscience
And ever-growing blot

So I consume and I create
And so I spend and save
Consumer and producer
But I never gave

The hand that should have proffered
Is stained with guilty red
The reproaching cry from beyond
Of the wasted dead

So my heart is heavy
With echoes of that cry
If you believe of guilt you’re free
Look me in the eye

Only Us

Thu December 17 2020Wed November 4 2020Scott Andrew Bailey2 Comments

By Scott Bailey © 2014

We don’t understand
The fight between them and us
There is only us

(Inspired by the Peter Gabriel song of the same name.)

Where the Red Fox Roams

Sat December 12 2020Mon November 2 2020Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

Where the Red Fox Roams

By Scott Bailey © 2014

The timid beasties scatter
With tiny racing hearts
The scent of blood approaches
The herd all ways it parts
For here
The red fox roams

The scent of fear it rises
And fans the fox’s fire
Into enslaving passion
To raise the killer higher
Thus
The red fox roams

Filled with hate and ire of
Where the white wolves dance
The dance the fox desires
Denied its golden chance
Everywhere
The red fox roams

The world has grown accustomed
To fear of tooth and claw
The world has grown so weary
Of lives lived short and raw
Still
The red fox roams

The timid beasties scatter
Will never make a stand
They’ll not accept the secret
To gain the upper hand
So proud
The red fox roams

No one knows the course
Where the fox’s road is heading
All they see is darkness
The cast of all the spreading
Death
Where the red fox roams

A Spring of Dreams – Sparrow

Tue January 10 2017Fri July 23 2021Scott Andrew Bailey2 Comments

(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.

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

Poem a day challenge #95 (Debt)

Tue August 30 2016Scott Andrew BaileyLeave a comment

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

The Nazi

Thu December 3 2015Wed December 2 2015Scott Andrew Bailey1 Comment

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

Manipulation

Sun September 6 2015Scott Andrew Bailey2 Comments

By Scott Bailey © 2015

A drowned boy
Drawn from the sea
Fled from death to death
Burns in our minds
Burns in our hearts
Fans the flames of passion
Just before
The call to war

NaPoWriMo Day #14

Tue April 14 2015Scott Andrew Bailey1 Comment

OK a bit of a cheat – one I had already written – but it fitted the daily prompt so well I had to use it.

Sparrow