There are always things
that we want to talk about...
there are always things
that we want to keep to ourselves...
there are always fragments
of the past that return
and then are gone again
in the snap of a finger...
there are always people
who you want to forget about
but who come to mind
whenever we are alone
and wondering about life.
Within every moment of time
we all experience something
different and personal...
within every relationship
we all experience things that are both
wonderful and yet temporary...
within every day of our lives
we all learn from what came before -
even though we are still capable
of repeating the same mistakes of the past...
within every voice that we hear,
within every gaze that we share,
within every touch that we feel,
we all experience a transference
of understanding that may
take some time to fully
integrate itself into our psyche.
So much of life is remembered,
so much of life is forgotten...
only so much of who people are,
who people were,
can be captured physically
by using words and art -
because other people always want
to add their own ideas
of what made something
and what made someone
what they were...
so much of the world
has been remade
by humanity and by Earth itself
that there is no longer
an accurate representation
of what and how things used to be...
only so much can be retained -
but that is the sort of challenge
an artist lives for:
to make something
captured by their senses
endure long into the future,
to make something
that people genuinely love...
everything that we all live through
leaves a trace of itself -
just as everyone and everything
that once served as a source of inspiration
lives on within a writer's blood.
Author: Mark Hastings
My Poem “An Artist At Their Best”
An artist is always a storm of emotions...
an artist is never just inspired
by one source of inspiration...
an artist is always looking
to create something for a reason -
because their instincts
tell them that they must...
an artist is never bound
by a blueprint or a roadmap,
because what they want to say,
what they want to share,
and what they want to show
may ultimately become something
that can not be displayed upon one wall
nor contained within the confines
of a single canvas.
An artist is always finding
new energy to inspire new art...
an artist never forgets
what it was, or who it was,
that gave them the first link
of an idea that would
grow into becoming a chain -
sometimes made of a substance
as strong as steel
or as fragile as glass...
an artist always sees the world,
the universe, as if it were one, big,
limitless, gallery of infinite beauty
and infinite possibilities...
an artist never explains
why their creations are
the way that they are,
because, after their creation,
everything starts a new life
and becomes something different
to everyone who finds it.
An artist uses every colour, every word,
every sound, every sensation,
every taste, every aroma,
to create what they make...
an artist sometimes returns
to something that others
might have long-since left behind -
ncluding their so-called "mistakes"...
an artist, like a child, knows
what they are saying when they speak -
but because, sometimes, some things
need a little more time given
by their observers and admirers
in order to interpret the secrets of their meaning,
some creations reveal what they are
and why they are created
a long time after the passing
of the artist who took the time
to bestow them with
a splinter of who they will always be...
an artist has been capturing
the life around them
and the life within them
since the first human
watched their first bolt of lightning
streak across a dark sky
and create the sound of thunder
that echoed with the sound
of their heart beating in their chest...
an artist is able to show
all who discover their art
what humanity is capable of,
and also what is possible
when humanity unites -
and that is when an artist
is truly at their best.
I’ll Meet You At The Lighthouse – September 10, 2024
Hi, everyone!
So, I have another book coming out on September 10th, 2024, called “I’ll Meet You At The Lighthouse”.
This book and its story has been in the works for almost 10 years – in fact, this story, at least Chapter One, was the first short story I ever wrote. So, why did it take me almost 10 years to finish it? Well, because I thought I had finished it. However, after I returned to this story and its characters, I was compelled to follow the story to a new conclusion and destination that I had not anticipated before.
I will most likely go into further detail closer to the publication date as to what I’ll Meet You At The Lighthouse is about – but, for now, I wanted to share my new book’s synopsis and the link to where you can pre-order your copy of the ebook from Amazon.
Both the paperback and hardback versions will be available to order on September 10, 2024 – so watch this space for links to where you can purchase my book physically on Amazon in the coming weeks.
Synopsis:
“The story of two best friends and soulmates, whose love for one another is tested to its limits, and whose one of a kind connection ultimately takes them both on a journey to somewhere beyond the horizon. However, nothing and no one can stop them both from fulfilling their life-long promise to one another: to meet each other at The Lighthouse.”
Pre-order your copy of the ebook version of I’ll Meet You At The Lighthouse here: https://amzn.eu/d/05vxwyBB
-Mark
I’ll Meet You At The Lighthouse – pre-order
My Poem “Square One”
Just like in the game of Monopoly
when everybody first arrives in this world
they start with the word “Go”,
and then they roll the dice
that will decide for them
where the game they are
involved in will take them –
and the rules of life
are similar to the rules of a game:
each of us start somewhere,
each of us are given a name,
each of us are given choices,
and as we learn more about
who we are and what motivates us
we find ourselves being pulled
down particular paths,
by particular things,
by particular people,
into making decisions
that will effect the rest of our lives.
No one in this life
is immune to influence –
because our brains are driven
by stimulation and information,
even from a young age…
no one can stop themselves
from making the “wrong choice” –
because up until a choice or a move
has been played to its conclusion
there is no way of knowing
the outcome of anything…
everybody dreams of becoming
something or someone when they are a child –
something or someone
who they see and want to emulate;
but I wonder how many people
actually became who they wanted to be
when they grew up,
if they did what they wanted to do,
and if they became who they wanted to be
when they were a kid?
Life has a way of making certain things happen,
while other things never get off the drawing-board…
people have a way of changing
their minds more frequently than they would think under certain circumstances…
the terrain that people think
will always stay the same
has a way of being remade
that cannot simply be returned
to how it used to be –
because nothing, no one,
and nowhere stays untouched
by outside influences.
From the moment that
the necessary components of our planet
coalesced and began to slowly
but surely evolve into
the wild testbed of experimentation
that it will always be,
even before humanity entered
the mix and started effecting
the world by any and all means,
Earth has been visited from space
many times by its fellow
celestial cousins
and it has continued to
thrive and go with the flow
of whatever course
plays out upon its surface.
Everything and everybody
begins their journey with
whatever and whomever
they have at their disposal,
and then, before long,
everything and everyone
finds themselves being
taken to places that they
do not choose to be –
but places where others want them to be;
and that is when the seeds
of rebellion are first sowen,
that is when the first ideas
of defiance start to get louder and louder –
until every individual decides to do something for them
and for no one else,
and that is when it starts:
that is when the power of chance
can start to change the map
of the world within our mind
and start to alter our opinion
of what we are here to do
and who we are supposed to be.
We all think that we will not
make the mistakes that similar people in our shoes have made in the past…
we all think that we can somehow
be different from other people
if we have “more” of something
than someone else…
we all think that we might get to see
something that no one else has ever seen,
or experience something
that no one has ever done before;
but each of us discover
that we are all constantly stuck
in a loop of repetition
that is hard to break free of –
especially when we find out that
there are powers in the world
that wish to control others
into thinking and believing
that one way is the only way
and supercedes all others…
we all think that there is a way
to see something before it happens,
and perhaps prevent the inevitable –
but time and time again
each of us are given a wake up call
that reminds us that some things
will always happen
because they were always meant to happen:
including proceeding down a path
for as long and for as far as we can
before realizing that we have
actually returned to where we were
and have to start over again
from Square One.
My Poem “A Meeting of Minds”
Whether I am on holiday,
in the countryside,
or dashing through
the streets of a city,
I am always on the move
physically, mentally,
emotionally, temporally -
and as I move through space,
I also experience the sensation
of moving through time...
whether I am looking out across the sea
as the sun rises on the horizon,
or while watching the ripples
of the raindrops upon a pond,
I can remember instances
of insight from the past,
as well as feel this instinct
about what awaits to reveal itself
at a point in the future.
Whether I know it, or not,
every time a burst of sunlight
touches my face,
I believe that a message
from another reality of the universe
arrives and instills within me
a fragment of knowledge,
or perhaps a question to be answered
that I had not yet thought to ask...
whether I am looking out my bedroom window at the sky,
or whether I am looking down at the ground
far above the clouds
from my seat as a passenger on a plane,
I find myself able to connect
with something beyond me -
something extraordinary
that feels different from everything
and everyone else around me -
which makes me smile,
remain hopeful,
and never afraid.
Whenever I am using my imagination,
or whenever I am walking around
and I find myself somewhere
I did expect to be,
I am always aware that what
I am drawn to I arrive at
for a reason that I may not
immediately be able to explain -
but one that can definitely be explored...
whenever, wherever,
whatever I have learned about
something, someone, somewhere,
I always retain the most important,
the most inspiring,
the most poetically
meaningful impression of,
and whenever and wherever
I find myself with the luxury
of having the means and the moments
to interpret with words
what came to me originally
like a flash of light
made up of layers of colour,
I always take the time gifted to me
to share the details of what see,
what I know, and what has always
symbolised the one thing
that I have been certain of
since I first watched the sun become eclipsed and then shine once again.
Everything in life has a beginning,
everything in life has an end,
everything is what it is
so that everything and everyone
can remain synchronsly
and symbiotically linked -
more than anything or anyone
could possibly imagine,
or could ever see with their own eyes,
nor without a vision of something
that defies all that we think
we know about life;
however, there are moments when
stars and planets align,
and when those who are attuned
to a higher frequency of perception
are allowed to have a meeting of minds
with whatever, or whomever,
made everything that we know
and so much more than
could ever be dreamed.
The Pathfinder: The Pathfinder
The Pathfinder: There is no tomorrow
My Poem “Bedtime Stories”
It is always great to be able
to interact with a child...
it is always fascinating listening and communicating with a child...
it is always wonderful watching
a child explore, discover,
and play without being told
that they are doing
something right or they are
doing something wrong in any way...
it is always touching and telling
when you see a child look into
the eyes of those closest to them
and you can feel -
even from a distance -
the love emanating
from them by observing
the smile upon their face.
Children love stories...
Children will watch the same thing
over and over again...
Children are sensitive to more
than even their parents might realize...
Children have the most amazing
superpower of them all:
their unfiltered and seemingly infinite
one of a kind imagination.
The mind of a child is a fertile garden
where all forms of thoughts and ideas
interact with one another
without the barrier, or the fear,
that what they believe is true
does not make sense -
because to them everything
is as it appears to be...
the more that a child is told
and shown how much they are loved
the more that they will keep
within them the same
unmistakable spark of innocence
and tenderness to others
that is always beautiful to see.
Introducing a child to new things
can sometimes be harder to do
than it might appear -
because children,
especially as they get older,
start to develop their own
individual personalities, perspectives,
as well as likes and dislikes...
what I think is one of
the most wonderful things to see
has to be watching parents
and family members
reading to their children,
fueling the imagination of their children,
while spending the best time
there is with their children -
whether while sitting in a garden
with them on a sunny day;
or while they are lying in bed,
teetering on the edge
of drifting off to sleep,
and listening intently
to the voice of their
favourite storyteller,
as they are told the tale
of one of their favourite
bedtime stories.
markthepoet.me 