Month: December 2020

My Poem “Unbreakable Bond”

Mark Hastings Podcast, Poetry , , , , , , , , , , ,

On Christmas evening,
as my family and I gathered together
around the hearth of our burning fire,
while enjoying some family time with one another,
I knew that after this day
nothing would ever be the same again
and we would never again
be able do this in the same way:
enjoy a Christmas meal together,
pull crackers with one another,
sit watching a favourite Christmas film of ours –
because what is going to happen next
will be unlike anything that either of us
have felt, heard, or seen before.

Every moment is unique,
every family has their own story,
every new day is a new dawn,
every time you wake up every day
we all have to reset the clock –
just as every player has to do the same
after they move a piece on a chessboard –
and adapt to whatever life has in store:
all the twists, the turns, the corners,
and the constant lessons that we
have to learn from like the constant
students of life’s school that we are.

Next year will be both the end
of one long chapter as well as
the beginning of another stage in life
that will impact so many peoples’ fate…
very soon there will be a sea change
and all predictions of the future
that have been shared will have to be remade;
however, even though I know
some things will be different,
I know now more than ever
that my family and I will always
have an unbreakable bond between us
that is unlike any other in so many
phenomenal and wonderful ways.

My Poem “There is always hope”

Mark Hastings life, me, Podcast, Poetry , , , , , , , ,

When you are a child
there is no more magical
and joyful moment of your life
than around Christmas time
when you get to write a letter
to a man in a red suit, with a white beard,
who on Christmas day will deliver
all that you have been asking for
for perhaps all of the previous months of the year –
and with a high degree of certainty
there could be no one more popular
than the ever jovial Father Christmas/
Santa Claus/Saint Nicholas himself
who children dream about, write to,
and draw pictures of, as well as his
ever present reindeer and his trusted elves.

Christmas is for everybody…
Christmas is full of positivity, possibilities,
and you truly start to get into the Christmas spirit
as soon as you start to hang the decorations
upon your newly bought, or perhaps your
perennially rediscovered, Christmas tree…
Christmas is a season for hope,
optimism, friendship and family…
Christmas is when people need
other people more than anything –
and the greatest gift that you can
give anybody is your time,
because not only is time precious
but it is also free.

Christmas time can sometimes be hard –
even when their isn’t a dark cloud
hovering over every one in every country –
and so many people do not have
the opportunity to be with somebody
on December the 25th,
which is why everybody young and old
need to remind themselves why it is
important to be there for those
who we are blessed to know
as well as for those who may not know
and who may live on their own.


Christmas time should be hopeful
and without fears and tears…
Christmas time should be about
showing love, as well as about being
happy and merry while listening
to Christmas songs that have endured for years…
Christmas time is a wonderful time
that is capable of making anybody
of any age feel as if they are a child…
Christmas time is a whirlwind
of emotions at the best of times,
however when people are at their most
in need of something and someone
to believe in they can look no further
than to whomever matters the most to them
to give them the gift of a Christmas star
to enlighten and to signal that
even on the darkest of nights
there is always hope.

Merry Christmas! 🙂🥳🎄🎊🎋

My Poem “Celestial Love”

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

Let us take to the road
and we’ll go for a drive…
let us take out a boat
and we’ll sail upon the waves
of an ocean all day and all night…
let us take a plane
and we’ll fly to Spain…
let us take a hot air balloon
and we’ll drift above dark clouds
full of thunder and rain…
let us take a rocket
and we’ll launch into space…
let us float above the Earth in zero-gravity
and we’ll look down at everybody
and wave as we hold one another
in an out of this world embrace…
let us fall asleep side by side
on a starship to a solar system
that has two stars within it instead of one
and before we know it we’ll be waking up
and having to convince ourselves
that what we are seeing is better than a dream…
let us make a new home for ourselves
upon the surface of an alien planet
that looks like Earth but which
from orbit looks to be more blue than green –
and after we settle down upon
this new place of possibility
we’ll look up to the stars above
through a telescope and find
Earth’s flickering blue glow
and we’ll both look at one another
and agree that even in comparison
to all the wonders of the universe
there has never been two souls
who have always been meant to be,
because our life is a constant
celebration of our celestial love.

Playing God – “The Man In Red”

Mark Hastings books, me, playing god, Podcast, Poetry, Short-story , , , , , , , , ,


Get your copy of my book ‘Playing God’ – featuring the Christmas story “The Man In Red” – online in paperback and as an ebook from Amazon: https://amzn.to/383gsII

Merry Christmas! 😎🎅🎄

My Poem “Exposed to The Elements”

Mark Hastings life, me, Podcast, Poetry , , , , , , , , , , ,

Even when it is cold and wet
I like to get out of bed,
I like to get dressed,
and I like take a walk in the elements –
because just as when the weather
is fine and dry I enjoy nothing more
than being exposed to whatever
emanates unabated from the sky,
whether that is raindrops or golden sunshine…
my secret to not feeling cold,
as the wind around me whistles and howls,
is to keep going and to not stop
until I see, until I hear,
and until I feel as if
I have experienced moments
and instances that have imprinted
upon me and have left me inspired.

I live every day under the curse
of the imagination of a dreamer…
I live every day with the gift
of the eternal poet within my soul…
I live every day seeing the silver lining
around so many clouds filled
with lightning and thunder…
I live every day believing that
if we all stay upon the road
that is our sometimes up and down life
we will all one day arrive somewhere,
with something, or with someone,
that we will always want to have
and to hold and never let go of.

It can’t always be sunny…
life can’t always make sense…
the people whom we meet in life
can’t always be as sweet honey…
life can’t always be about pounds
and pence, or dollars and cents –
because what life is really all about
can only be found when you set out
and when you choose to be exposed
to the world and all of its elements.

My Poem “The Merry Go Around”

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

Enlivened by the bright blue sky,
enlightened by the sublime sunshine,
entertained by the festive music filling the air,
entranced by the revolutions
of the red and gold merry-go-round,
as I stand with a cup of
hot chocolate in my hand,
as the world around me
feels like I am underneath a clear dome –
like that of an enclosed globe
just waiting to be turned upside down
so that there can be a a flurry of snow –
everything feels like it should be
at this time of the year,
everybody appear to be in good spirits
and enjoying the gift of the season’s greetings,
and there is a palpable calmness
as if everybody is catching their breath…
it is a wonderful sight to see
both adults and children look up
in wonder at the illuminated decorations
and the gleaming baubles
of the many Christmas trees
and to see people young and old
smile for what might have been
the first time in a long time,
because this year has been filled
with so much uncertainty…
there are echoes of the voices
of the lost to be heard,
there are welcome flashes
of hopefulness to be found…
there are whispers of a cure
for what shadows the present
coming within the near future,
as the sounds of hope ring out
in the form of Christmas bells
that inspire meaningful moments
of merriment as people ride
and as people are drawn to
the magical sight of a spinning
Christmas Merry-go-around.

My Poem “The Kite Flyer”

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

Over time we learn more about the world,
we learn more about ourselves,
and more about how the biology,
the chemistry, and the physics
of the universe actually works –
by asking questions, by seeking connections,
by looking at our own reflection,
by making mistakes, by taking missteps,
by “going off the reservation”,
by doing things, by choosing things,
and by believing in things
beyond what we know that we need to grow,
but which can innitially seem
as ephemeral and as fleeting as snow,
and then slowly but surely
we build up within us memories,
experiences, recollections, and dreams
of a person, of a place, of a time
that can resonate like a beacon to guide us
and potentially save us in instances of twilight,
that we must hold on to and marvel at
like the stars but never let go of –
like a kite twisting and turning
against a blue sky on a day
when the force of the energy all around us
feels like it could easily
lift us off of the ground.