My Poem “Wonderful World”

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

Black crows flying against
a bright blue sky,
as butterflies dance in the air
seemingly joyously
as if they had just emerged
from their cocoons
and were learning how to fly,
as daisies, dandelions,
and the leaves of every tree
gently sway in the breeze.

There is the welcome sight
of many different types of life
that has been absent for some time –
including what must be
one of the busiest insects
on planet Earth:
the always buzzing,
the always working,
the vibrant and the unmistakable
black and yellow bumblebees
who are all out and about
collecting nectar and pollinating
as they hover from flower to flower.

Life is resilient…
nature has it’s own cycles…
sometimes the most defeaning
of sounds is silence…
change is often the hardest thing
for people to deal with –
especially those changes
that leave echoes and reverberations
that can last for a good long while…
nothing complicated can be rushed,
nothing simple is as uncomplicated
as it at first appears.

Sunrises, sunsets, birdsong,
language, communication
between two separate
and yet connected sources
is ever-present and ongoing,
no matter the time of the day,
the day of the month,
or the month of the year,
the past, the present, the future
of everything and everyone
is contained within our pristine
crystal ball of a planet
that is the most beautiful of them all
because of the compelling complexity
that binds every form of life
of this wonderful world.

My Poem “Pool of Contemplation”

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

As I sit looking at the ripples
upon this pool that I have been
familiar with since I was a child,
I contemplate so much about what I know,
about what I don’t know,
about what has happened, about life,
and about what will happen
when all is said and done
and when the world feels like it has been
put back together after such a long
period of feeling as is if
the seams that held everything together
were beginning to become undone.

I know this place…
I have stared into this water
more times than I can remember…
I have a connection to this place…
I once sat down and painted this very pond
long ago when I was a child –
and then, just as now, I felt compelled
to see and to find shimmering
sources of inspiration, of connection,
of that something about nature
that feels indefinable, magical,
wonderful, and phenomenal.

There has always been something
calming to me about staring
into a pool of water…
there has always been something
ethereal about the thought of
what may be found within the depths
a puddle, a pool, a pond, a river,
a sea, an ocean –
beyond the surface, below the waves –
where nobody can venture to
without external oxygen
or without an imagination,
to explore things that have
a life of their own,
where things remain unseen
until they are explored,
and where things which always
spark into life
the fire of inspiration:
things that I always find
whenever I look
into a pool of reflection
and contemplation.

My Poem “Grounded”

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

One of the things that living
through times of uncertainty
teaches someone is to appreciate
all the things about a person’s life
that are the most essential…
one of the things that people
realize that they often take for granted,
especially when living through times of loss,
is the gift of knowing that
the friends and family members
are still managing to adapt
and to survive the best that they can.

One of the things that everybody
understands more acutely than they would
under normal circumstances
is why it is so important to tell people
how you feel about them, if you can,
when you can, how you can –
because sometimes things in life
do not always go to plan.

One of the things that people
have to deal with,
especially while learning how to deal with
the after-effects of a cataclysmic event,
is an unbelievable amount of stress
as well the sometimes difficult
endeavour of feeling under the weather,
trying to figure out how to live
when some connections
and when some avenues of stability
and serenity have been temporarily severed.

One of the things that the people
have to learn when they are travelling
down an unknown path
is the ability to course-correct,
to change how they think,
to change what they do,
and to remember what has always
kept them on the straight and narrow,
what their life revolves around,
and what it is in their life
that has always kept them grounded.

My Poem “Memory Lane”

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

Walking down and around
my old stomping grounds,
down the long and winding lanes
of the countryside near my home
that I know and could never forget –
especially now, while the world
feels like it has been turned upside down –
feels so rejuvenating, it feels so relaxing,
it feels like stepping back in time
and simultaneously being the man I am now
as well as the man I was back then
when I last walked this path,
as if I am in communication with myself
as I was five years ago in the past.

The grass looks just as green…
the budding trees look just as pretty…
the sky above looks to me to be
the brightest blue that I have ever seen…
the furrowed fields look just as
mesmerising as they always did –
in fact everything that I see, hear,
feel, and inhale of the nature that surrounds me
intoxicates me with its natural,
lush, and majestic beauty.

It is no wonder to me
that so many artists have attempted
to capture a view and the epic expanse
of a landscape within the confines
of the edges of a canvas –
because there is so much to be found,
because there is so much to take in,
because there is so many evocative
shapes, colours, textures, nuances,
wisps of language and meaning
that constantly jump out from
a green and pleasant environment
that has so much to say
and to convey about itself,
about who and what calls it home,
how it has changed and how it is
exactly the same as it was.

Quite often you find things out
about yourself that you recognize,
sometimes you might encounter
things about yourself that
you may have forgotten about,
and sometimes things can look different
when seen through the prism of time,
experience, memory,
and what we see can inform us
of exactly where we have been,
where we are going,
what we have been through,
and most important who we are –
and that is why one of the most amazing,
transformative, and rejuvenating things
that we can do from time to time,
especially when we feel like
our spirit needs a boost,
is to see beyond the frame of the present
and take a walk down “memory lane”.

My Poem “For Bake’s Sake”

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

Because of the current circumstances
that we all find ourselves within
so many people have been forced
to stay at home, to stay indoors,
and to stay away from
close friends and family members –
and, as a result, there has been
an increase in the necessity for
Internet bandwidth so that people
who are at home 24/7 can continue
to remain in contact with
the rest of the world,
so that they can continue
to be entertained
by all the content that the various
streaming services have to offer,
and so that people can continue to
engage with rest of the world
via all the forms and all the sites of
social media and social interaction
while the majority of the planet
continue to practice physical
social distancing between one another,
and there seems to be no more
popular activity than people
daily posting pictures, videos,
and even live streams of what they are doing,
what they are making,
and what they are baking behind closed doors
while they wait out the time of being
locked down from the outside world
which continues to progress at
the only pace that it is capable of taking.

We all have to do something
to pass the time when we are being
asked to do as little as possible,
to leave the house as sparingly as possible,
and to not interact with anyone
anywhere other than with those
who live under the same roof as we do –
and some people have chosen to
become home bakers, artists,
social media streamers,
book readers, television
and movie watchers,
and they have chosen to share
what they are doing with their
time of isolation more so
than they would if they were able
to leave their homes if
and when they wanted to.

Time goes by so slowly
when you have to look
for things to do
to distract you from the situation
that you find yourself in –
especially when you and everyone
you know is attempting to live
under a shield of quarantine
in an attempt to protect the lives
of their family members
and the world at large –
and which is why the allure
of making things and using your time
to create something and to share
the process and the end result
of doing something worthwhile
is what so many homebound people
have chosen to gravitate towards
and will no doubt continue to do:
because if this troubling time
is reminding all of us of anything
more profoundly that usual
is that time is precious, life is short,
and our human societies are fragile –
and that is why I think what people
are doing to pass the time while
they at home is important,
and whether watching, writing, reading,
making, or baking, what people are doing
is for all our sake and not just
baking for baking’s sake.

My Poem “Sacrifice”

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

These are crazy times…
these are the days that we hoped would never come…
these are the times when people are
acting on their survival instincts… these are the days that we will hopefully
one day look back upon and marvel at
humanity’s collective ability
and each of our own individual capacity
to do all that we feel like we need to do
when faced with a crisis that we cannot control
but which we can play our part in finding
a way through the thick fog
of what we do not understand.

Each of us recognise that the time
we are living through now
most of the time feels like a struggle…
each of us know that feeling of distress,
of disappointment, of depression
that rears its ugly head and rises
to the surface of our minds
when we are hindered from doing
what we want to do, going where
we want to go, being with who
we want to be with –
there are people staring out their windows within the safety of their home,
there are doctors, nurses, patient care techs
who are working long shifts in hospitals
who wish that they did not have to be so far away from their loved ones,
but who are all choosing to do
what they feel they need to do
to beat the threat that feels like
it has engulfed the world
and which is praying on people
young and old from every walk of life.

As Winston Churchill once said:
“This is not the end.
It is not even the beginning of the end.
But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning” –
and it is this quote that has been
carrying me through these times,
and I am sure that these words
I will continue to repeat to myself
as the chaotic times of our present predicament
continue to change and ask of us
to be strong, to be safe, to be mindful,
and to be the best version of ourselves
and to not choose to give in to fear
and to the dark side of human nature
that some people dwell upon
and act upon because they cannot help themselves…
the human race will survive
what we are all going through…
the human race has had to deal with
and live through atrocities
of our own making because of human action
or inaction before and we will one day
get the chance to reflect upon these times, these days, this real-life nightmare
and find a way to live with our own sacrifice.

My Poem “Emptiness”

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

Empty streets… empty buildings…
locked doors… isolated people…
fear and stress lingers in the air.
Why is this happening?
What is the reason for this
cursed pandemonia?
The entire world is trying
to keep its spirits up
while attempting to stay inside
and weather the storm of panic,
death, and uncertainty that has
gripped almost all of the countries
of the world.

Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why has this happened?
Why was this allowed to happen?
The people of the world have been
brought to their knees by an invisible enemy
that everybody is at war with
and is looking for any way possible
to find a cure for this rampant disease.

I am like so many others:
I am trying to keep smiling,
I am trying to stay calm,
I am trying to carry on the best that I can,
I am trying to stay hopeful –
but then I turn on the television
and I am reminded about
just how many people
this world has lost,
just how bad this deadly pandemic
that we are facing is,
and sometimes I find it hard
to find the words and the strength of composure
that I usually wear wherever I go.

There is nowhere to go…
there is nothing to do…
there is only silence,
there is only a void of space
where things used to be,
there is only this feeling of…
there is only this feeling of…
of… of… of… of emptiness
that I hope and pray
will soon come to an end.

My Poem “The Defiant”

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

Small things can become big things,
big things can become small things…
the invisible can sometimes be
more influential than the tangible…
some of the things with the most power
to sway the actions and the intentions
of a wider society of people
are those that do not have a face to look to,
are those that do not have a voice to hear
other than that of what they are
capable of meterializing
as a result of the wake that they
are able to generate.

Small things – like atoms, microbes, even whispers –
can exist and can be found thriving for
varying periods of time
around every living thing
and in the time that they can do
what they can do they attempt
to invade and to override the defenses
of those trying to stay alive
in many places around the world.

Big things – like life, stars, galaxies, the universe –
all once began smaller that eye of a needle
and yet when given the right environment
to grow some things are capable
of accomplishing infinitely complex,
incredible, unimaginable,
astounding and astonishing actions
that at times defy expectations
and clear explanations.

At this moment people all around the world
are being asked to live in bubbles
of physical solitude
while still connected to a greater bubble
of reality that encompasses all the other
varying bubbles of life that people
have had to adapt to and to adjust to living within –
because we are all a part of a world,
because we are all a part of a species,
because we are all a part of a family,
because we are all a part of a consciousness
that will not allow itself to be beaten
by the small, or by the big,
and we will defend ourselves in every way that we can –
socially, hermetically, and responsibly –
because though Earth and humanity
may be small in comparison to
the infinite vastness of the universe
we are a planet that has always been
and will continue to be one
of survivors who will live on,
because everything and everybody is,
always has been, and will continue to be,
unequivocally and unapologetically defiant
through all that we have to face.

My Poem “Contactless”

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

We are currently living
in an increasing contactless world…
we are currently being forced
to keep at a distance away from
our family members, our friends,
our places of work, our purpose,
and we are being told that we may
all have to adjust to living in
this new and contactless life –
at least in a physical way of speaking –
for the foreseeable future…
we are all now living in a world
and at a time when seeing people
walking around wearing face-masks,
plastic gloves, and while consistently
administering hand-sanitizer
to themselves is an every-day thing…
we are all now living in the here
and in the now of having to
become sedentary individuals
who cannot congregate and be seen
to be socializing in public…
we are all now living, breathing,
and having to force ourselves
into the realization that what we used
to take for granted so much –
our own individual freedom
to be able to choose our own actions
and our own destinations –
has been temporarily impaired and curtailed
and the governments of our particular countries
are calling all the shots and telling us
what we need to be doing in order
to maintain some kind of wellbeing
for the people of the present
as well as those yet to be born…
we may all need to self-isolate
ourselves physically,
but that does not mean that we need
to self-isolate ourselves
from the rest of the world –
in fact, I would say that it is more
vital and necessary than ever
to stay connected to our network
of family, friends, and acquaintances
who live around the globe who
know exactly what each and every one of us
are all going through
for each of our own personal mental health;
because if what we must refrain
from touching and showing
physical forms of affection
that does not mean that we have to be
anti-social and stay contactless
in every sense of the word.

My Poem “I Live In Hope”

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

At this very moment,
as I look outside my window,
all is quiet, all is still;
however, when I turn on my television,
it feels like the whole world
has been quarantined,
because so many people
have been stricken by an invisible contagion –
while those who have not yet been infected
are asking themselves if they,
or a member of their family,
will soon be forced into isolation
because they are the most likely
to be taken ill.

It is an unfortunate time of fear,
of single-mindedness, and of selfishness –
because some people are acting as if
the end of the world was on the horizon,
and though this newly discovered and fast-
spreading virus is definitely something
to be taken seriously,
I think that we should all be worrying
more about the most vulnerable
and the least immobile of the people
of the world rather than just bunkering
ourselves away and hoping that
people who can’t help themselves will be ok.

The Coronavirus, Covid-19,
has effected the entire world,
and so many countries and people
have been cut off from the rest of the world
until the worst of this world wide crisis
has passed;
however, the worst thing about all that is happening,
all that has happened, and the constantly
rising count of how many people
are now infected and how many people
have died as a result of the Coronavirus,
is that most of us are powerless
in our ability to effect the course of this crisis
and all that we can do is wash our hands,
be mindful of our own potential symptoms,
and to keep physical interactions
with other people at a minimum –
but I cannot help but think that all of this
could have been avoided if when
this new virus started to become more
prevalent and virulent
certain people had chosen to inform
everybody around the world
as to the severity of what was rising,
the potential of what was spreading,
and what should have been contained
at its initial source of detection.

I hope everybody is safe…
I hope the majority of people
will be well again soon
and they will be able the fight
their way through this new threat…
I hope that this disastrous new virus
can be stopped in its tracks
before even more people die
as a result of being infected by it…
I hope people continue to be mindful
of themselves and of the needs
of others who are the most at need…
I hope that the whole world can
come together, to be with one another
via all the means that we have they days
so that we can all help one another
to ride out the tumultuous waves of the day
and find a way through this troubling
time of isolation, of contraction,
to a place of eventual recovery,
that this time of pandemic pandemonium
has forced us all into…
as always, I live in hope.