My Poem “Bowie and Me”

Mark Hastings me, Poetry , , , , , , , , , ,

Every day of the week
I head down to Dudley Street
to meet, to greet, and to speak
with the one and the only
David Bowie,
and every time I see him
he talks to me and
he communicates so much to me
without even having to say a word
how lucky we all are to be alive
and walking the streets and the paths
of this world –
and every time I see him
I get this instant flash
of inspiration,
like a bolt of lightning,
that I try to imbue
into the art that I create
which always follows
my divine-like encounter with “Bowie”
who waits tirelessly for me
against a wall of blue
on Dudley Street like a gate-keeper
and a guide to a world of
wonder, imagination, and self-discovery.


“Bowie” by Annatomix – Dudley Street, Birmingham, United Kingdom

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My Poem “Outlet”

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Everyone has something inside of them…
everyone has something to share…
everyone has a source from which
they draw their power…
everyone has a need all their life
to explore further down the path
that leads to who knows where…
everyone has a flame
that they gravitate towards…
everyone has a time in their life
when they want to go backwards
at the same time they are going forwards…
everyone has a place – a cafe, a bar,
a room, a forum, a gathering,
that they worship, that makes them happy –
where they can go to relax and be themselves…
everyone has a favourite reality –
whether it is one of familiarity,
or one of fantasy –
where they can dream and imagine
living a completely different way of life
within the stories that can be found
stacked next to one another on a bookshelf…
everyone has to have an escape…
everyone has to have somewhere else –
even if that place is in their mind
where they can do what they want to do
and where they can say what they want to say…
everyone has to have a place, a time,
or a person, where, when, or to whom they can vent…
everyone – no matter who they are –
has to have an outlet.

“Yesterday/Today”

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“Yesterday/Today – this was me, and this is who I am today… Life changes people in so many ways – both good and bad… Life slowly takes away our innocence and over time we can become unrecognizable to ourselves – but, no matter how old we get, or what we go through in our lives, there always remains a part of us that will endure until the day we die.” – Me

My Poem “The Resolute”

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It is always important
to have a purpose in life…
it is always important
to have a constant in your life…
it is always important
to have a tenacious idea in your mind…
it is always important
to begin every new day
as if it were the last sunrise of your life…
it is always important
to be open-minded to the needs
and the feelings of other people,
because sometimes the greatest gift
that you can give to anyone is to be kind.

Kindness costs nothing…
being cared for is a wonderful feeling…
loving someone is the best part of living…
giving your time to someone
who just wants to talk about
the memories that they have made
is like standing in the light of the sun
and witnessing the resurfacing
of an energy within someone
that is nothing but rejuvenating.

Every second of every minute
of every hour of every year
I remain hopeful and optimistic
about the future, about this world,
about humanity, and about myself –
because, to me, there is no other way to be…
resolutions come and resolutions go,
resolutions are made in good faith,
and sometimes resolutions have to be
left behind when the road of life gets rough.

As I have lived I have learned
that you have to adapt to unplanned circumstances
and go with the flow of energy
that you find yourself within,
especially when you believe
that you have nothing to lose…
resolutions are like dreams…
sometimes in this life
you have got to make the first move –
so, in this life, be bold, be spirited,
be unshakable, be dedicated, be resolute,
and there is no telling
where you will go and what you will do.

Happy Birthday, David Bowie!

Mark Hastings books , , , , ,

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It was 3 years ago that I started writing a short-story in tribute to the late great @davidbowie following his death called "The Man in Black"… and it was almost a year ago that that short-story and the six others that followed it , which are all connected spiritually to one another, were published… and seeing as today is David Bowie's birthday I would like to publicly dedicate my book "Playing God" again to David. David Bowie inspired the powerful protagonist of my book of stories, just as he inspired me to write the stories that I wrote and to have the book that I had published. My book "Playing God" and the stories within will always be my life-long gift and tribute to David Bowie – and I hope that wherever he is he is watching over us just as we will continue to look up and be inspired by him! Happy Birthday, Starman! Happy Birthday, David! 😎🤩⭐🎈🎉🎊 #DavidBowie #HappyBirthday #PlayingGod #MarkHastings #ZelooMedia #book #dedicated #tribute

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My Poem “Transformative”

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They say that how you end one year
you will begin the next year in the same way?
However, in this life, though we may have
no control over the when and the where
we enter and exit this world,
what we can control is what we decide to do
and when we decide to do it, and with whom…
Life is too short to waste…
Life is better when shared with a soulmate…
Time waits for no-one…
People are there one minute,
and the next they are gone…
Angels exist, demons do too…
Heaven is a real place,
Hell is where you live
when you stop doing what you love to do…
You can begin something again any time you want…
You can create anything your mind can imagine…
You can go anywhere you want –
never let anyone tell you that you can’t…
If you think of every day as if it were
the next level of a game then one day
you can reach the end of the story
you are a part of and win…
Patience is a necessary component
in anybody’s quest to achieving anything…
Planning and practice can sometimes be beneficial –
however, following a blueprint to the nth degree
can sometimes hold you back from exploring
the magic that comes from spontaneity
and focusing on the rhythm of your own breathing…
Sometimes in life you have got to be inventive…
Sometimes in life you have got to be passive…
Sometimes in life you have got to dig deep
and give all that you have got to give…
In life you have got to live and embrace
the moments of living in order to experience
a restorative energy that never ceases
to be transformative.

My Poem “Crossroads”

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Once a year
we all find ourselves here –
here, at the end of one year
and at the beginning of another –
where and when a transition occurs
within the blink of an eye,
as colorful explosions light up the sky
all around the world,
as people celebrate the start
of a new time in their lives…
the sun rises, the sun sets –
just as it has done countless times before –
however, just as the year changes
so does the world ever so slightly…
the stars still sparkle the same
at night as they’ve always done –
however, far away in the vastness of space,
past, present, and future intersect,
and new doors open between two sides…
music plays constantly throughout the cosmos
that when heard by those able to hear it
inspires poetry, art, scientific discovery,
wonder, and dreams that will paint
the landscape of what is to come
with echoes of colour of what came before…
there is no limit to where anyone can go
when they discover what is possible…
there is no end to what knowledge
can be attained when you open your mind
to a new world you never even knew existed…
there is a truth to be found
about the nature of the universe
by looking at the delicate petals
and inhaling the breathtaking perfume of a rose…
there is no knowing what awaits any of us
when we decide upon the path we choose to take
when we reach a waypoint in our life-long journey
when we find ourselves at a crossroads.

My Poem “Lights”

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Lights above, lights below…
lights of love, lights that glow…
lights of Christmas, lights of life…
lights that shine like the moon at night…
lights of the generous, lights of the thoughtful,
lights of the giving, lights of the sharing,
lights of the kind, lights of the divine…
from the sun in the sky during the day
to the stars of the night that shine far away,
from the flames of a candle in a church
to the electric torches that we sometimes
have to turn to to guide our way,
from the night-light that gives comfort
to a child at night
to the sparkling lights of a Christmas tree –
lights surround us, lights invite us,
lights sustain us, lights define us…
our planet is a world of light –
even at night, or when seen from space,
the lights of humanity can be witnessed
at every hour of the day…
some lights shine all the time,
but the aura that they emit
cannot always be seen in all their splendor –
however, the more that you get to know
some lights more than others
you begin to understand why some lights,
why some people, never stop shining…
each of us is a ray of light
from a miracle source of creation
and our presence should never be taken for granted…
each and every one of us constantly receive gifts
throughout our lives of all the things
that we have all wished for and always wanted…
time is far too precious to let get away without a fight…
life is the gift we were all given
to make the most of while doing all the things
we discover about living that we like…
the time that we spend with the people who we love
is never enough, because every moment –
even one of silence, spent with someone special –
is truly once in a lifetime…
stars, streetlights, souls, songs, spirits, snowflakes –
from the dim to the bright, from the small to the big,
life would not be what it is without people,
and people would not be who they are
without their guiding lights.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

My Poem “Never Forget A Face”

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Some people are better at remembering names…
some people are better at remembering places…
some people are better at remembering numbers –
and then there are people, like me,
who are better at remembering faces
and at spotting the various distinguishable
features about a person…
once upon a time, people who had the innate gift
to be able to pick a face out of a line,
or a file of people, were sought-after –
however, in this day and age of the future,
the technology to be able to pick
a face out of a crowd has been invented
to catch the likeness of someone
and instantly reveal a person’s identity…
in years gone by, people used to take photographs
and collect them in photo-albums
to preserve the memory of something,
somebody, at some memorable point in time –
and though people still do take photographs
and collect them together into albums,
pictures taken now are mostly collected
and organised digitally…
remembering people used to be more of a tactile act,
paying tribute to someone used to be more like a pilgrimage –
but now that technology has made the world
relatively smaller, in a sense, and more connected,
people can easily reach out in some way
and talk to people far away directly and immediately…
technology has made communication between people
easier and more readily available,
and it has made it possible to share
what is on your mind with a countless number
of different people from all around the world –
even those who live and work in space…
however, I believe that no matter how
technologically advanced we become as a world
there will always be a need for those people
who have a natural talent about them
to do something amazing –
be it the ability to run fast,
the gift to be able to tell incredible stories,
the miracle to be able to write poetry
and make their own kind of music,
or the skill to be able to never forget a face.

My Poem “Deus ex Poetica”

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Wishes and prayers come from hope…
inspiration rises when a feeling is set free…
memories and emotions are like ghosts…
poetry comes from God, and God comes from poetry.

Nobody has ever asked God why they created the universe –
but nobody should ever ask an artist
why they create the art that they make,
because, most of the time, an artist
is only following their instincts
and trying to capture a feeling, an experience,
or an emotion that they want to share.

An artist can spend years living in darkness –
and then, light, life, an idea,
an entire universe can instantly come into being
and start a chain-reaction that expands without end
before their eyes, and build a reality
of its own, layer by layer.

There is always someone listening…
there is always someone watching…
there is always someone thinking,
dreaming, and imagining something new…
there is always someone waiting…
there is always someone anticipating…
there is always someone creating
magic from out of the blue.

Everything is what it is for a reason…
everybody is who they are because who they are
is who they are meant to be…
everyone who is anyone has at least once in their life
opened their heart, closed their eyes,
dug down deep within themselves, touched their own soul,
and returned to the world with something about themselves
that they never knew they possessed.

When an artist first becomes an artist,
what they feel, what they see,
and what they know drives their emotions
and their imagination, can sometimes be scary –
however, the more that an artist creates,
the more that they want to create…
artists are constantly driving to inspire
a feeling in someone else because of the echo
of a feeling of that which inspired them –
comedians receive such a feverish reaction
to their art when they inspire
an audience of people into laughter.

God has always been
the greatest artist anyone has ever known…
since the beginning – when they created
the heavens and the Earth –
every day God’s greatest creation – Life –
continues to evolve and be reinterpreted
over and over again, and it will continue to be –
because Life will always be the greatest masterpiece
ever envisioned or created, just as it has been
since the beginning of time
when God created poetry.

My Poem “Goes to my head”

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The more that someone allows
the spirit of something to capture them,
the more that they embody
the properties of that spirit…
the more that someone becomes engulfed
in the wave of energy and emotion
that rises at a particular time of the year,
the more that they want to share
the joy that they feel with whomever they are with…
the more that someone succumbs to traditions
that mean something profound to them,
the more that they want to repeat
those same rituals time and time again…
the more that someone thinks about
how someone or something makes them feel,
the more that they do not ever
want to be away from the object of their affections –
and even the thought of being far away
can be enough to bring them to tears…
the more that someone strives to reach
a state of complete and utter happiness,
the more that someone will discover more
about what keeps their heart beating
and the thought of who and what
they love the most ticking…
the more that someone does something,
the more that someone can become addicted
to the way that special something
never stops making them feel –
sometimes something can fill a person
with such a glow that their heart and soul
can be seen shining like the tail of a firefly…
there are so many things that instantly
overcome me and make me forget
the last thing that I said:
inspiration, sunshine, music,
the beautiful face of my fiancé,
the knowledge of something new –
however, there is only one thing
that immediately gives me a rush of blood,
at the speed of light, that goes straight to my head,
and that thing is the feeling of love.

My Poem “The Best of All Worlds”

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It can sometimes be hard
to find balance in your life…
it can sometimes feel like
you are walking a line
when trying to find
a happy medium in your life…
it can sometimes be like ice-skating
when you are trying to keep going
and attempting to stay upright…
it can sometimes be perilous
trying to please every side
of your own personality…
it can sometimes be hard
juggling your emotions
while trying to cater to
the feelings of other people…
knowing what side to choose
and what the best thing to do
can be a test of character
and a crossroads to what and to where
your heart and soul yearns for…
sometimes, in order to have a happy life,
you need to make compromises…
sometimes, in order to achieve peace
and reconciliation between two sides,
you have to find some kind of common ground…
sometimes, to realize happiness within yourself,
you need to find the right way to say
what sometimes cannot be expressed in words…
sometimes in this life you have got to make amends
with the things that you can’t control
and allow nature to take its course –
and, usually, at some point, you reach an impasse
where you discover the best of all worlds.

My Poem “Commuters”

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Commuters – all in their own worlds…
Commuters – all sitting in silence,
some not even uttering a single word…
Commuters – some transfixed and hypnotized
by the glowing screens of the mobile computers…
Commuters – fellow passengers on a journey,
all with their own destinations,
things to do, people to meet, and plans…
Commuters – some making the most of the free Wi-Fi…
Commuters – some listening to the radio,
some listening to their own music,
some watching an episode of their favourite T.V. show,
some getting lost in the story-line of a movie…
Commuters – some reading a book, some writing into a notebook,
some just looking out of the window
at all of the things that they pass…
Commuters – some talking on the phone,
some drinking a hot drink out of takeaway cup,
some thinking about how life is short
and how fast the years pass us all by…
Commuters – some sharing, some socializing,
some watching, some listening, some observing,
some interacting, some starting a new day,
some finishing a long night, some tired,
some inspired, some happy, some sad,
some optimistic, some reflective…
commuters all share something in common…
commuters are mostly all strangers to one-another –
and yet they find themselves sitting
with one-another for a reason…
commuters often repeat the same journey regularly,
and they get to recognize familiar faces
who they see often from those
who they just see once and never again…
some people like having the freedom
to go wherever they want in their own bubble of isolation –
however, there are those who enjoy the ritual
of leaving their home and joining
the other travelers who daily have to
make their way to somewhere they need to go
by sharing a communal experience with fellow commuters.

My Poem “M.E.L.I.S.S.A.”

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M is for Magical…
E is for Extraordinary…
L is for Lovely…
I is for Incredible…
S is for Supernatural…
S is for Sensational…
A is for Amazing, and every day
I am truly in awe of you –
my Magnificent, Enlivening, Luminous,
Insightful, Sublime, Super, Angel –
and I want you to always know that
I love you like I have never loved
anyone or anything before!

You are everything! You are my life!
You are my morning, you are my night!
You are the most beautiful woman
this world has ever known!
To me, you are my queen – and, in my opinion,
you should have your own crown and your own throne!

I love you more and more every day!
I will always feel like
the luckiest man alive to be with you!
When I am asked what I believe the meaning of life is
it is your perfect face that I see,
because I know that you are always going to be the answer!
You are my dream come true
and I thank God every morning for the gift that is you!
I love you so much! And I will love you with all that I am,
always and forever, my beautiful and gorgeous Melissa!

My Poem “You will always be my starlight”

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Stay with me… never leave…
you are my dream… can’t you see,
I have loved you since I looked at you
and since that moment you looked at me –
and now, every day I am lucky to be
able to see your beautiful face
and call you my fiance,
the one who loves me,
my love, my heart, my soul, my life…
you are more amazing than you could ever know…
I will always be yours – even when we’re old.

I could never live without you in my life –
if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be able to walk,
if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be able to talk,
if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be able to think,
if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

I’ve told you many times how much I love your eyes…
I’ve told you many times how much I love your hair –
no matter the colour, no matter the length…
I’ve told you many times how much
I love your perfect smile…
I’ve told you many times how much
I love everything about you –
from your freckles to your toes –
and I will always love you on the inside and on the outside,
every moment of my life, every hour of the day and the night,
and my only wish is that we stay together, forever –
because, just as I am your sunshine,
you will always be my starlight.

My book ‘Playing God’…

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My Poem “Another Insight Into Life”

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I often think about the fact
that there are other worlds
out there in the universe
with their own future,
their own present, their own past…
I often wonder, as I marvel at
the human endeavors that take place
to land on another planet,
what stories await to be unearthed
and retold about the who, the what,
and the where of an alien place
that is also our celestial-neighbor…
I often wonder about our connections
to the other planets of our solar system,
and why the myriad planets, moons,
comets, and asteroids call out to us
to visit them and understand them…
I often wonder whether it is the universal
human compulsion to explore the unknown
and learn as much as we can about what
we don’t understand that compels us
to keep staring up at the night-sky
and wanting to reach out and touch
and put our footprints into the soil
of a world unlike our own…
throughout my life I have often dreamed
about escaping the gravity that holds me
to this spinning sphere of rock,
water, life, and hope –
but even if I never get the chance to do so
in my life-time I remain optimistic
that within the life-span of the next generation
children will know more about the universe
than any era of human history ever has before…
I often share the belief that we yearn
to return to the stars, because that is where
all life came from long ago –
but the best thing about wondering
what lies elsewhere in the universe,
and about where all life came from,
is that, at this point, nobody knows
the answers to the fundamental questions
of existence, and in my opinion
we as a species, and as a planet,
have only just begun to scratch the surface
in our discovery of an insight
into what gives the light of existence
its spark of life.