art

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 “Deus ex Poetica”

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

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 “The Modern Mythology”

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

Every mythology has stories of heroes and villains…
every tale ever told that has survived through the ages
lives on because they have a moral truth at their heart…
every religion that has attracted followers to its teachings
has fundamental rules that are expected to be adhered to by,
and which are staples in the life of,
any person with faith in what their
religion’s holy texts tell them is essential…
every mythology is filled with individuals
with super-human abilities that allow them
to change the world around them…
every mythology has an origin story
that explains where the world
and everything in it came from…
every mythology has a creator as its figure-head
who is prayed to and worshiped so that they
might bless their believers
with miracles and gifts of good fortune…
every country has their own cultures
who have their own individual mythologies…
every era of history has intertwined with it
modern interpretations of old tales
that fit into the events playing out
all around the world that are documented
in so many modern ways…
even in this day and age,
there are stories being documented –
on T.V., in films, in newspapers, in literature –
in the posts that people share on social media –
of people endowed with power who don’t know
how to wield the influence at their fingertips,
as well as tales of heroism
and rebellion against oppression…
creators create mythologies every day –
in comic books, in novels, in urban legends,
in technology, on television, in art,
in architecture, in structures built
with a specific purpose that are meant
to be draw people to them so that they can admire them –
that slowly enter the lexicon of our society…
our world was built upon, and continues to thrive,
because of the stories that combine together
to make the tapestry of life
that is our modern mythology.

My Poem “Always be a rebel”

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

Inspiration is the lightning,
thunder is the art…
writers and creators are constantly playing god,
creating new worlds, creating new people,
and giving reason and meaning to people
looking for an answer at a time
when they are willing to do anything,
to leap into anything, to experience everything,
no matter the cost…
every artist should be a rebel…
every artist should not fear going
where they have never been before…
every artist should take any and every idea
that comes to them and run, shape,
and make something with that idea
that burns within them like a flame…
that first idea is but the start, the spark,
the initial flash of light in the dark,
and it takes the passion of the beating heart
of a true artist to not be afraid
to watch that idea grow and change,
find its own identity and its own voice…
knowing where to begin with anything is never easy –
but the most important thing to do
is to make a start of any kind
that is significant and sets up
what came before, what is to come,
and why you decided to create something in the first place…
rebels are artists, and artists should always be rebels.

My Poem “Connecting…”

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

So much of life is about finding connections…
so much of life involves beginning from somewhere new…
so much of life is about making choices and decisions…
so much of life involves everybody having to dig deeper
and further discover more about something that they never knew…
so much awaits those who do not listen too intently
to the voices who vehemently proclaim
that something cannot be done…
so much can be attained by those who choose
to look beyond the horizon for the answers that they seek…
so much music becomes un-muted to our ears
when we listen to the hopes and the dreams
of those who love what they do
because they do what they love…
so much can be expressed when we no longer surround
ourselves with the walls and the barriers
that can sometimes make us feel claustrophobic
and like a Goldfish in a fish-bowl…
so much needs to be seen… so much needs to be said…
so much happens instantaneously and beyond our control…
so much comes easy to us when we put our faith and our trust
into that which calls out from within us to be allowed to shine…
so many people do not have the confidence in their own voice
and they shy away from any and all opportunities
when and where they can open up their soul
like a flower that becomes their most alive when they are blooming…
everyone in this world is a work of art in the making –
and like the sometimes hidden meaning of a piece of art,
the only way to see what is ever-present
is to reach out with all of your senses
and embrace every moment with which you are connecting…

My Poem “Transmute”

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

The essence of all art is to transmute…
the art of being an artist
is having the gift to be inspired by something,
to be transformed by something,
and to create something that elevates something
to a new level of understanding…
the spirit of everything changes as it grows
and as it interacts with all that nature creates
when it endeavors to carve out a brand new groove…
the one thing that is irrefutable about life
is that it is changeable, sometimes unpredictable,
and everybody’s short time to shine
is something that is mutual…
as everything and everybody grows
their voice changes, the biology changes,
their psychology changes, the spirituality changes –
because life, in a nutshell, is all about change
in so many ways – even the sky above changes twice a day
from black to blue, and from blue to black…
the universe is not the same as it was when it began,
and neither is anybody the same person
their whole life through –
and that is a good thing, because what would a universe,
a world, a seed, an insect, a flower, an animal,
a person be if they were unable to transmute?

My Poem “Some Gifts”

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

Some gifts we are born with…
some gifts we slowly find
as we look, listen, think, breathe,
and as we feel the song of the world
synchronize with our heart beats…
some gifts come to us in our dreams…
some gifts are such a part of us
that every day is a journey of discovery
to discover what our gifts mean…
some gifts leave us for a short time
before rising to the surface again
to take a breath and to take a look around
so that they can restart their fire of desire
like a phoenix’s flaming tail that never stops burning…
some gifts just need time to go to new places
in order for them to express themselves like never before.

Every gift has the power to renew itself –
as long as there is solid ground beneath them
to take off from and a sky of infinite possibilities
above them to keep the constellations of stars turning…
all gifts are doorways, however some gifts
are able to create things that nobody has ever experienced,
heard, felt, nor seen before.

Some days ideas come like a trickle of interconnected thoughts
and some days some gifts manifest themselves
like a tidal wave of inspiration,
or like a storm that ultimately reaches its climax
when ideas rise and fall
like the raindrops of a downpour.