By Scott Bailey © 2013
Another spirit lost
Awash in the swell and foam
Anguished over lost love
Anger dealt him the blow
Arising from the sea
Alighting on the air
A bright bird arises
Another spirit lost
Awash in the swell and foam
Anguished over lost love
Anger dealt him the blow
Arising from the sea
Alighting on the air
A bright bird arises
The blood of stars
Drives the magic of our dreams
Bound in dragon tears
Blue star beam
Slides by a smoky moon
Dances through Saturn’s rings
A lone abyssal tune
Lingers by the Jovian storms
Then on to lunar dust
Down through cool and silent sky
Drawn down and down like lust
Brief it touches silken skin
Pauses for a spell
Then down into the darkness
Of the iris that does swell.
So the soldier walks alone
beneath the
starry night
He has no aim but distance
from the bloody fight
But the war it still pursues him
snapping at his heels
He slips into the forest deep
beyond those broken hills
O glory days
Those glory days
They’ve shattered
and they fade
They only left a rumour
A shadow
where they laid
So the sword is silenced
with a deep and lasting chill
In his heart, the war goes on
the beating never still
Behind the hallowed orders
that laid so many low
Is revealed the empty truth
the sickest, cruellest blow
O glory days
Those glory days
They’re gone
they never were
So the soldier walks away
from guilt
that he defers
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
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
Revenge can be patient. And it can come at the most unexpected time. Old crimes, suppressed and twisted come back to haunt a monster.
A collection of short stories concerning ghosts. Some are traditional ghost stories in the tradition of M.R. James and Edgar Allan Poe. Other are not. Some scare, some are fun. Some play with the concept of a ghost. There are ghosts who are out for revenge and the living avenging the spirits that curse them.
Ideal for sitting around a campfire and late at night under the covers. Or maybe not if the stories themselves are any guide.
Check it out at Amazon and Smashwords and other online e-book retailers.
A paperback version is now available for those who prefer the feel of the paper while huddling by the fire – on your own – in the dark – with that noise behind you……