Writing

Through the Glass (Villanelle)

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By Scott Bailey © 2013

Slowly the shadows pass
As memories retreat and fade
Passing beyond the glass

Like springtime budding grass
New joys together are made
Slowly the shadows pass

This pain we will surpass
And sunbeams will cascade
Passing beyond the glass

Though sometimes the shattered glass
Will cut us like a blade
Slowly the shadows pass

New light will surely trespass
On the lawn that we have made
Passing beyond the glass

Those memories we can’t bypass
But their colour has finally greyed
Slowly the shadows pass
Passing beyond the glass

Image from Pixabay

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

The Man in the Tree

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By Scott Bailey © 2013

English: Green Man. This superb Green Man is c...
English: Green Man. This superb Green Man is carved into an old tree stump near to the Teversal Trails Visitors Centre. The Teversal Trails are concessionary footpaths that cover a range of old railway tracks and Colliery land. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The man in the tree
The plank
The turned leg
The joint
The dust and the shavings.
The tree in the man
The setting down of deep roots
The reaching for the skies
The drinking deep of the earth
The steadfastness and the wielding.

Spider

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By Scott Bailey © 2013

Dusty grey spider
Runs amidst the brush
The twigs and broken leaves
Casting coverlet of silk
Over winters decay
Busy, light, unnoticed
Predator

Image from Pixabay

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Ancient Coast

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By Scott Bailey © 2013

Where the crashing sea
Meets the shifting cracking ice
Hunters hunker down

Trees

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By Scott Bailey © 2013

Two trees
Old as memory
Some leaves fallen
A root cut off
Two trees
Explored
Examined
Noted down.
Two trees drawn together
Forever entwined.

Image from Pixabay

The Conduit

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By Scott Bailey © 2013

A conduit, a bridge or a gateway.
It goes under many old names.
Open it with wonder and reverence,
For the spell will then be underway.

The weakest of hands can undo it
The portal of magical ways
Connecting one mind to another
With a delicate ethereal wave.

Some portals are heavy and dusty
Some dance with electrical sparks
But they all do the same, all show the way
For strange dreams from heart to heart.

There were even once living gateways
Who opened the way with a look
Always there’s one right beside us
The conduit, the gateway, the book.

Image from Pixabay

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

Green Fingers

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By Scott Bailey © 2013

Green fingers
Rip open the rusty shell
Slow tendrils with irresistible grasp.
Dealt with by a blade or a chemical wash
They will be back.
In time, victory will be theirs.

Twentieth Century Taliesin

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By Scott Bailey © 1999

I am the factory wall, despised and so defaced
Covered with graffiti, defiled and disgraced.
I am the concrete tower that holds up the concrete road
Bleak and faceless white, bearing my toxic load.
I am the bin on the street, bursting full with waste
Where rats and vermin crawl, around me in distaste.
I am the battered traffic cone abandoned in the hedge
A used forgotten prize of lives lived on the edge.
I am the street side gutter where dirty water flows
A place of infestation, where all the darkness goes.
I am the discarded knife with bloodstains on the blade
The close but unseen menace lurking in the shade.
I am the lofty tower spewing clouds into the air
That speed across the oceans, killing without a care.
I am the broken shelf with screws rent from the wall
That supported all the books and caused them all to fall.
I am the sodden cardboard box flapping in the street
Broken, limp, forgotten, always under feet.

Once I was a poet, bright-browed with golden-haired
Playing harp and singing, songs into the air.
Once I was a druid learning from the trees
Drawing strength from bark and wisdom from the leaves.
Once I was a warrior with proud and shining sword
Singing with my war-band a deep heroic chord.
Once I was a chieftain with princes round my hearth
Against war and cold and famine, our mighty hearts did laugh.
Once I was a king whose soul was all the land
Who tended all his people with a strong and generous hand.

But I made other people suffer
Now suffer myself in turn.
But as you wreak your vengeance
What lesson do you learn?

What lessons do you all forget?

Benjamin West [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Feigning

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By Scott Bailey © 2018

Feign ambition
Feign happiness
Feign expertise
Until the day
It all comes true
Until one day
The realisation
That day
Will never come

Image from Pixabay

In response to my daily prompt Feign 

A tenuous link today but hey!

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

Deserts

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By Scott Bailey © 2018

Deserts
Dust and heat
That will be the crop
Of the greed
Of our age

Image from Pixabay

In response to my daily prompt Crop

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

Twisted

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By Scott Bailey © 2018

Acute pain
A cute name
For agony
Thus
Language
Is turned against us

Image from Pixabay

In response to my daily prompt Acute

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

Sold

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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

Image from Pixabay

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

www.scottandrewbailey.uk

Remembrance

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By Scott Bailey © 2018

Gone
The sound
The thunder
No silence reigns
And the poppies bloom
Nodding respectfully
To the brave that lay beneath
The swathe of red that remembers
The blood that was shed here for freedom
And the folly of man to his brother
So we may never forget all that pain
To ensure it will not come again
We respect them with silent thoughts
Resist any violent trends
Talk, build bridges, not walls
While the poppies bloom
While silence reigns
Honour those
That are
Gone

Image from Pixabay

 

In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 109, HAPPY NOVEMBER – “POETS CHOICE OF WORDS”

Check the link for the guidelines and rules

A double mirrored Etheree that is fitting for the time of year – particularly this year.

#Etheree

Between the Lines

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By Scott Bailey © 2015

Black and white headlines
Betray grey morality
Fallen leaves turn brown

Image from Pixabay

In response to my daily prompt Linear

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

Modern Manufacturing

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By Scott Bailey © 2018

Making tiny pieces
Of truth
Making golden memories
Of the past
Manufacturing magical times
To garner accord
Pedalled
By the powerful
Shepherds
Of the sheep

Image from Pixabay

In response to my daily prompt Manufacture

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

Thirteen Tales of Ghosts – The Church

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The Church tests scepticism when confronted with the supernatural. Four friends venture into a ruined church, dismissive of its dark past. But bravado soon fades as the restless dead make their presence known.

The toppled altar, broken crucifix, and cold mist become vivid reminders of mortality and the unknown. The night turns into a chilling meditation on fear and the boundary between life and death. This experience forces them to confront the permanence of the spectral world.

The Church
Get Now

Thirteen Tales of Ghosts – A Ghost Sighting

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In A Ghost Sighting, a man navigates a labyrinth of forbidden passion, jealousy, and supernatural phenomena that bend time itself. The lines between the living and the spectral blur as he experiences uncanny transformations and apparitions that force him to question reality—and his own fate.

This story explores guilt, justice, and the weight of choices. As he journeys through this haunting world, he confronts human vulnerability faced with forces beyond understanding. The echoes of history and unresolved emotions cling tightly, making this experience unforgettable and deeply personal.

A Ghost Sighting
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Thirteen Tales of Ghosts – Suspense

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In Suspense, a man finds himself dangling from a bridge above a misty Swiss gorge, suspended between life and death by forces he can’t begin to understand. The tension is raw—guilt, memory, and the consequences of what he’s done weigh heavy. There’s a pale-faced woman, too—antagonist or spectre—whose knowledge of him cuts impossibly deep, adding layers of mystery and fear.

He lives every tremor of that moment, caught between immediate danger and psychological unease. This story isn’t just about a supernatural threat; it’s about reckoning with his past and how unresolved guilt can haunt in the most unexpected ways. The misty gorge and her enigmatic presence push him to the edge, forcing him to face the permanence of actions left unatoned.

Dangling between life and death… 🌫️👻 Suspense is where guilt, memory, and the supernatural collide. #GhostStories #Thriller #HalloweenReads

Thirteen Tales of Ghosts – Mother

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In Mother, I delve deep into the psyche of Connor, a man tormented by the lingering presence—or memory—of his late mother. Her influence suffocates him; her voice is sharp, relentless, and invasive. Even after her death, she continues to haunt his mind, poisoning how he sees the world and the people he loves. I leave it ambiguous: is he truly haunted, or is this the unravelling of his own sanity?

His descent is gripping, beginning in the cramped, filthy confines of his apartment and spiralling outward as he struggles to maintain control over his life. This story is about trauma, unresolved grief, and the destructive power of anger left unchecked. As he confronts his wife and wrestles with memories of his mother, he questions the ownership of his own actions: how much of what he does is truly his?

My prose is vivid, unflinching, and haunting, making Mother a story that lingers long after the final page. It’s a reminder of how family influences us inescapably and how the past shapes who we are now.

mother
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Duty

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By Scott Bailey © 2013

Birds do it. Bees do it
Even the goddamn fleas do it
It’s in the genes to survive
It’s not enough. Not for us
We have more, in our double helix
Than the ability to thrive
Make it our duty
Transcend circumstance!

Image from Pixabay

It Is Rain

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By Scott Bailey © 2015

It is rain
All the pain
And grief

All the pain
Of everyday
It is rain

Of everyday
Stresses
We are plagued

But it is rain
Just rain
Falling down

Rain makes us
Wet and cold
Dampens us

If we choose
Misery
Rain is heavy

The sun will come
Summer reborn
From spring

Rain is life
Nourishment
Fresh

No misery
Be wet not damp
Be soaked

Revel in the rain
Dance and sing
In life

All the pain
The grief
The stress

It is rain
Just rain

Image from Pixabay

Sway

Scott Andrew Bailey5 Comments

By Scott Bailey © 2019

All
That I
Survey is
Under my sway
That is what they say
The evidence is slim
So I start to understand
How perfidious is the world
And the darkness begins to seep in
The entropy of hope, and dream slayer
So I must strive to remember the truth
My eyes are my window to the world
What dwells behind them in my world
My kingdom and my domain
So here I shall remain
That is what I say
Under my sway
In my eye
That is
All

In response to COLLEEN’S 2019 WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 132 #SYNONYMSONLY

Influence & Perception

Check the link for the guidelines and rules

A double Etheree

#Etheree

Jealousy

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By Scott Bailey © 2016

Jealousy
A deadly sin
So we are taught
Over and over
Again
And when
We dare to question
The questionable ways
Of wealth and power
They smirk and hint
Jealousy
And the lessons rise
Prodding our conscience
Silencing our voices
With guilty pillows
Thus
Why we are taught
What we are taught
Is plain to see

Image from Pixabay

Fleet

Scott Andrew Bailey2 Comments

By Scott Bailey © 2018

The prancing gazelle
Being fleet of foot evades
The red rending jaws

Image from Pixabay

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #232 Foot&Mouth

#amwriting, #postaday

 

Panacea

Scott Andrew Bailey1 Comment

By Scott Bailey © 2017

The panacea
To all of the world’s ills
Is in our hands
Specifically
In their joining

Image from Pixabay

In response to my daily prompt Explicit

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

Albatross

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By Scott Bailey © 2016

Albatross hovers
High over surf scattered sand
All will pass in time

Image from Pixabay

In response to my daily prompt Hover

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

Soaring

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By Scott Bailey © 2018

Soaring
High in the sky
In synchronicity
Gathering, readying to leave
Flocking

Image from Pixabay

In response to my daily prompt Consolidate

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

Butterfly

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By Scott Bailey © 2014

Sod the camouflage
Be resplendent in the sun
Flutter high and shine

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Cup

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By Scott Bailey © 2018

The goal should not be
To fill the cup to the brim
But savour it

Image from Pixabay

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #231 Goal&Cup

#amwriting, #postaday

 

Pool of Dreams

Scott Andrew Bailey2 Comments

By Scott Bailey © 2013

Long shadows
Cast their thoughts behind us
Dim our once bright footsteps
An unclean window screen

But flashes from sudden mirrors
Slash through the shadow’s forms
Glimpses of dreams that passed us
Keeping them alive

Though shadows keep on growing
We head towards the sun
In shade, our dreams may swim
But they will follow until we’re done

Image from Pixabay

In response to my daily prompt Keep

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

Premonition

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By Scott Bailey © 2018

I have a bad feeling about this
He said
She said
It said
Many voices

They did it anyway
Always

 

Image from Pixabay

In response to my daily prompt Feeling

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

Exclusion

Scott Andrew Bailey1 Comment

By Scott Bailey © 2018

Today’s trend
Seems to be
Exclusion
Isolation
Leaving
When all we really want
Is to come together
And hold hands

Image from Pixabay

In response to my daily prompt Exclude

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

The Solace of the Night

Scott Andrew Bailey4 Comments

By Scott Bailey © 2018

When the fire goes out
The heat is dissipated
Darkness falls again
Only then do the creatures
Of the night, find their solace

Image from Pixabay

In response to COLLEEN’S WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 112, “COLD & SAFE,” #SYNONYMSONLY

Check the link for the guidelines and rules

A tanka this week.

#tanka

Monster

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By Scott Bailey © 2014

Monster
Caught in lead and steel
Frozen
In time

Human
Caught in the machine
Enslaved
Forever

Somewhere
An artist smirks
And settles
To eternal sleep

IMG_9741
Photo by Scott Bailey

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams

Powder

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By Scott Bailey © 2018

The powder that burns
Clouded judgment
Gave power
To cowards
That never learned
Burnt bridges
With wisdom
Killed
And can never go back

Lord Mountbatten [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

In response to my daily prompt Powder

#DailyPrompt, #amwriting, #postaday

Bound

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By Scott Bailey © 2018

Whenever wolves win
A warm beating heart is lost
The law of the wild

Image from Pixabay

In response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #229 Win&Lose

#amwriting, #postaday

 

Lights

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By Scott Bailey © 2014

Swirling up into the night
Like some lonely northern light
Not north but here it did appear
Why am I not filled with fear
A spiral of blue and green
Wispy tendrils barely seen
Twisting up and further still
I watch it rise with mounting thrill
Into the stars I watch it go
And then alone the heavens know

Originally published in A Spring of Dreams