Year: 2020

My Poem “The Right Turn”

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

In times of crisis and confusion,
or at times of rest and relaxation,
everybody has the same people,
the same things, and the same places
to return to that have always had a way
of bringing them back down to Earth,
of settling them down,
of bringing something out in them
which has always helped to enlighten
and to illuminate a way to find
a sense of peace of mind.

Everybody either has a go to “something” –
good book, a favourite TV show,
a movie, a song, or a piece of music –
that always has this transformative
magic and power to be able to instantly
change a person’s mood
and even have an effect upon
how a person thinks, talks, and moves.

Everybody always seeks out answers
and wants to find simple solutions
to questions and puzzles
that play upon their thoughts,
but sometimes the most accessible,
acceptable, and easily digestible
explanations are hard to find
because sometimes you have to
firstly unlearn what you have learned.

Everybody always has paths
that they travel down that they
know better than others
as well as mental maps that they know
the landmarks of in such detail
that they almost seem ingrained
upon their brain like a tattoo,
because when the time comes to act
they instinctively know what to do,
how to do what they need to do, and who,
what, and where they need to be
to make the right turn.

“The Wolf In You” – One Year Later

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

Almost a year ago my book “The Wolf In You” was published for all the world to read and I still could not be more proud of it and the continuing story of Olivia Hunter that I wrote! Writing “The Wolf In You” was a journey, just as every story is – but this book more so because of all the many layers of depth there are within the story it tells to be revealed, and I genuinely enjoyed every moment that I spent continuing the story of Olivia Hunter and telling the tale of what she did next following the events of the preceeding book “The Wolf In Me”. I hope everybody gets a chance to read “The Wolf In You” and if anyone so wishes you can get a copy on Amazon by touching the image above.

Happy reading! 😊

My Poem “The Comet”

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

As I watched the bright tail
of the comet streak overhead
I began to imagine all of the things
that had to have happened
since the creation of the universe,
since the disk of our galaxy came together,
since the formation of planet Earth,
and since the origin of humanity,
and how everybody and everything
has always been surrounded by
the darkness of space,
all the little things
and all of the big things
that had to combine to make up
the tale of everything –
and no matter the absence of colour that I see
I continue to smile because I know
that there are stars and there are nebulae
out there in the cosmos of the universe
that are like oases of light
and like gardens of life
which are composed of streams of matter
and energy that twist like ribbons
as they ripple like the waves of an ocean,
where stars are being born
every second that our world turns,
that are an example of how something
is always happening somewhere
in places where wonders beyond
the wildest of dreams are being realized –
and as I stare at the bright halo
and the streaking tale of the out
of this world interstellar snowball
I wonder how many other people
have seen this same remnant of
the beginning of the solar system
over the centuries since the journey
began for this particular comet.

My Poem “Impressionable”

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

Since I was a child
I have always been impressionable…
since I was a boy
I have been profoundly impacted
by many sources of entertainment
that subconsciously
left their mark upon me…
since I first started to be drawn
to the images of screens, the words of books,
and the ultrasonic magnificence of music
I have been changed little by little…
since I first began going on journeys
with fictional characters who
inhabited many different worlds
and who lived many different lives
I have been led to believe and to imagine
that what I was shown or gifted
the vision of was a real and true
possibility in some distant
and distinctive alternate reality.

In retrospect, I believe that my childhood
was and still is a treasure trove
and a goldmine of inspiring stories,
visuals, music, and feelings
that over time I saved within my memory
until the day when I would need
a boost of inspirational energy
to help fuel the poetry and the stories
that I would ultimately come to tell…
I truly believe that had I not grown up
how, when, where, and with whom
I grew up with my life would
have turned out very differently
and I would not have been able
to get through some of the things
in my life that led to me to learning from
all the lessons that I now know so well.

There were books that I read,
there were songs that I listened to,
there were TV shows and movies
that I watched over and over again as a child
that I loved and I thought I knew
everything about and every moment of
that when I rewatch and when I replay
them now I realise they were full
of many subtle, but amazing,
details and messages that have
a different, but still just as incredible,
effect upon me that reminds me
why it is sometimes important to return
to something or to somewhere that you
think you know like the back of your hand –
because everyone and everywhere
has more layers and levels of meaning
to reveal about themselves,
especially to those of us who have this
insatiable curiosity about so many things,
who are at their heart someone
who is and who always has been
unashamedly impressionable.

My Poem “A Murder of Crows”

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

Every morning when I look outside
my bedroom window I see a Murder –
however the “Murder” that I speak of
is nothing to be concerned over,
because what I see is merely
an assemblance of crows
all gathered together,
all cawing to one another –
which occurs like clockwork every morning
and all throughout the day,
and it is to the caws of crows
that I have heard and awoken to for years;
because for some reason
where I live is like Crow central for
a large number of nests in tall trees
that are home to the jet-black,
majestic, mysterious, captivating,
soaring, distinctive, supernatural
spirits of the sky who are considered
to be among the most intelligent
of all the birds of the world,
who are capable of doing things
that no other bird would even
think of doing, and who definitely
like to be heard whenever there is
a gathering of them, that is as if
they acting out a scene from a play
for all to hear that is called:
“A Murder of Crows”.

My Poem “B.T.W.”

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

Going back to doing something –
even something that you used to
be able to do as if in your sleep –
is not always easy, especially after
a considerable amount of time has passed…
even resuming doing something
that you used to consider routine
can take a while to click
back into place and does not
automatically return to your memory without difficultly, nor fast…
after you have spent some time
out of a particular loop
you can sometimes make mistakes
as you try to slip back into
performing and repeating a cycle
just as if you were attempting
to put on an old pair of shoes…
putting on clothes that you know
you only wear when and where
you are clocking in to return to work
does help someone in finding the right
mind-set to go where they need to go
so that they can once again do
what they need to do…
when you see businesses closing,
when you see people struggling,
when you see a world in chaos
then you appreciate the fact
that you still have what you have,
you still have who you have,
and you can still do some of the things
that give a person a sense of identity
and routine in some way –
and though most people often gripe
about their job while they are doing it,
when people think back on a time
when they did not have something
to wake up for and somewhere to go to
then they begin to count their blessings
and thank God for still having a job
to do each and every day.

My book “The Rambler” is Out Now!

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

“The Rambler” has arrived!

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

IT’S HERE!!! My copies of my new book “The Rambler” have arrived!!! My new book is filled with poems that chronicle the walks that I have taken, the inspiration that I have been gifted, and the profound beauty of nature that I have witnessed as I have rambled down the many paths, as I have rambled over the many green fields, and as I have rambled through the many wonderful woodlands that we are blessed with on our planet and which I am lucky enough to have been brought up near and which I live near to still! I hope everybody picks up a copy, reads my poems, and enjoys my poetry as much as I enjoyed writing my poems! Let me know if you want a signed copy and I will get one to you! 😊😎🚶‍♂️🏞🌍

-Mark

My Poem “Decennium”

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

Time goes by so fast…
life goes by like a flash…
one minute you are
starting down upon a path
and the next thing you know
an entire decade of years has passed –
and when you look back
you see now what you could not see
back then all the things that would
not work out, as well as all the things
that would grow beyond
your ability to truly grasp.

It’s been ten years since
I declared loud and clear
that I was a Poet and that
I was going to write from the heart
and let my poetic gift
dictate where I would go
and what I would write…
ten years since people from far
and wide started to read what I wrote
and began to tell me that I should
collect what I had written together
and publish all my hopes, all my dreams,
and all my feelings within a book
that could be held, read,
and which could be a source
of inspiration for people seeking out
a literary ray of light.

Over the last ten years
I have written hundreds of poems,
I have written and I have compiled
ten books of poetry and stories
that were creations of my own
imagination, as well as inquiries
into the heart, the mind, and the soul
of humanity through multi-layered
characters, supernatural tales,
and of course through poems
that were often both questions
and answers that spontaneously
came to me when I began
every verse of my poetry.

Over the last ten years
I can honestly say that I have
learned so much about the world,
about people, about myself,
about writing, about publishing,
and if I knew ten years ago
what I know now then I would hope
that I would not change too much
about what I wrote and why –
even the many mistakes that I have made –
because if I had not done what I did
then I would not have learned
why some things matter
and why some things do not,
and why some things are a matter of
being there at the right place
and why some things are a matter of
being where you are at the right time
to sit down, to open up, to write,
and to leave your mark in some way.

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My New Book “The Rambler” is OUT NOW!

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via My New Book “The Rambler” is OUT NOW!