beauty
My Poem “One Day”
One day to return to life... One day to once again walk in the sunlight... One day to feel the wind upon my face... One day to hear the music that traverses and connects all the spheres that dance through the blackness of space... One day to smell the ever-present perfume of the flowers of the world's garden... One day to feel the sensation of raindrops upon my skin... One day to look in the mirror and see the face of the person I used to be recognised as... One day to look through faded photos of forgotten memories from the past... One day to go to a beach and write my name in the sand before it and I are once again washed away by the tide... One day to look at a clock and wonder why people are so obsessed with time... One day to visit the places that I remember going to... One day to roll a dice and find out what fate's hand will choose... One day to laugh... One day to cry... One day to fall backwards and then look up at the clouds of the sky... one to smile and then say: life is the gift that you don't realize you have been given until it is taken away - but when things end sometimes you get a chance to revisit the world you knew and revel in its beauty, but when that time comes make the most of it because you may only get one day.
My Poem “Frozen Tears”
The snow fell slowly…
the snow fell deep…
the snow fell quietly…
the snow fell so peacefully
that while I was watching it
I drifted off to sleep.
In the morning, as I looked out
at the blue sky above
and at the white snow below,
I felt like I was a child
and I wanted to go outside
and walk in the snow –
and that is exactly what I did:
I put on my walking boots,
my coat, my scarf, and I threw
my rucksack on to my back
and I set out, one step at a time,
to explore the frozen beauty of nature
and the wonderful sights
that most of the time remain hid
before it was too late –
because even in nature things
are not always meant to last.
The sound of the snow cracking beneath
the soles of my boots was invigorating –
most likely because the sound of my own
footsteps was all that I could hear…
the way that the crystallised snow
sparkled and glistened as the sun
shined upon the pure white path
before me was dreamlike –
untouched, vast, like being within
a moment of time in which
there was no beginning and no end:
like staring at an eternal representation
of life and nature and feeling so moved
by this overwhelming and profound landscape;
and yet, even though I wanted to cry,
I was unable to conjure any tears –
I instead choose to close my eyes,
to breathe in and to breathe out,
to smile from ear to ear,
and to feel more blessed
that I had felt for years.
My Poem “Heaven on Earth”
I have never loved anyone
like I love you and from the moment
that I saw you I knew that I
wanted to be with you every moment of my life,
while I am still here on Earth
and for an entire eternity into the afterlife…
from the instant that I stared
into your beautiful eyes I saw
the most perfect dream of beauty in existence,
and from that moment
and every moment that we
have shared afterwards –
like a firework exploding in the
night sky on the Fourth of July –
you have brought true love into my life
that eclipses any and every other
light of the universe there has ever been…
every day you inspire me,
every day you invigorate me,
and every day you give me
all that I could ever want or ever need:
you, my perfect angel, my beautiful muse –
the one who never stops saving my life…
I love you with all my heart and all my soul
and to me you are and you always will be
the personification of heaven on Earth.
My Poem “The Dark Horse”
In the breeze of the early morning air,
I walked to a place where I knew
something majestic would be
waiting for me there –
and as I got closer to them
I could almost feel the power of their stare,
and before I knew it I was looking
into the dark eyes of a horse
the colour of midnight Black,
who seemed to recognise me,
as I recognised them
as if they were a ghost from my past.
As I stood and stared at the physical
embodiment of “Black Beauty”,
from Anna Sewell’s novel,
a feeling of peace overcame me
and I felt an instant sense of calm –
as if I were a child, as if the horse
before me looked at me
as if I were a young foal.
To some people horses are approached
cautiously because their behaviour
can sometimes be temperamental;
however, to me a horse is one of
the most beautiful and intelligent
animals on Earth who has a heart
and a soul that is as complex
as they are magical.
From Stallions to Thoroughbreds,
from Arabians to Shires –
horses have a way about them
that is uniquely individual to them,
and in many ways horses are like people
because they feel, they think, they dream,
and they love to show and to be shown
affection;
and horses, like most complicated
creatures who people share a connection with,
also have a phenomenonal memory
and they may not actually require
being whipped while racing on a racecourse –
and that is one of the reasons why
I never feel any trepidation,
and why I did not feel nervous at all,
when I caught my first glimpse
of the statuesque presence of
the dark horse.
My Poem “Nature and Me”
There are some mornings
when I walk out into
the bright light of a new day
when I feel like I am being
compelled to walk in a particular
direction so that I may go somewhere
that my heart, my mind, my soul,
the path before me needs me to be –
and sometimes the place I am drawn to
is somewhere I find myself returning to:
a place where I felt an awakening within me.
A place of tall trees that has always
felt like a natural cathedral, a church,
a temple, a place of worship
that has always meant so much to me…
a sacred place that I have a connection to
since the moment I walked under
the sun-drenched summer leaves
of its canopy and since I first
walked upon and through the
glowing green grass that in
the summer time carpets
the forest floor before me.
A place of beauty seemingly far away
from the rest of the world
that has inspired countless inhales
of intoxication of the pine laced air
that has always been the cure
and the spark to bring alive
and bring together every thought,
every instinct, every hope,
every beat of my heart in unison
with one another.
When I am walking on my own
I always feel like I have been gifted
and I am following the path
that I need to take to bring
everything into focus, to give me clarity,
to see the poetry that explains
things so simply and yet so profoundly
without the need for an audible
explanation to be heard.
A spirit, a joy, a presence
has on numerous occasions
made me close my eyes and open
my arms wide as I take in every moment
that I feel directly connected
to the source of all life in the universe
that I feel is my greatest gift
and which I believe is that
inexplicable perception of reality
that people for a long time have had
many names for but which is commonly
known as their “sixth sense” –
that is what I feel and that is what I see
when there is no one else around
and it is just nature and me.
My Poem “Nature’s Poetry”
Every day when I walk
I feel like I am genuinely
hearing the voice of nature
talk and converse with me…
every day when I walk
and I see trees with green,
gold, brown, and red leaves
I am always fascinated to know
the story of how they came to be
and what the landscape looked like
before there was this impressive
oasis of forestry and home to so many
types of animals and their families.
Every day when I walk
I feel a deep connection with nature,
and even though I am always by myself
I admit that I never feel alone…
every day when I walk
I stand upon hillsides
and I look all around at countryside
and I feel so much inspiration
and power beating from this place
that I call my home.
Every day when I walk
I leave my footsteps
in grassy embankments
alongside those of the impressions
left behind by animals like
rabbits, foxes, deer, birds –
and while I follow the trail
left by others before me
I always stop momentarily
to inhale all the aromas of nature
being carried on the wind
that swirl all around me.
Every day when I walk
something that cannot be described
releases within me and just like that
I feel like I am a child again
and running without a care
through a field as green as could be,
as if I have walked back through time
and returned to being an earlier
version of me, as I used to be,
and there is always this amazing
feeling of belonging that I feel
accompanying me whenever
I take a walk and I draw upon
the inspiration of nature’s poetry.
My Poem “Memory Lane”
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 “02022020”
Today is the second of February, 2020 –
meaning that if you were to write it down
then today’s date would be read as “02022020”,
which of course is a palidrome:
meaning that no matter in which order
that you read it it can be read in exactly the same way,
forwards or backwards,
which I consider as being symbolic
of the beautiful symmetry of life, of people,
of the universe that everybody finds themselves
a vital member of when they look up,
when they look down,
when they look in every direction possible,
in order to find their place in this
amazing hive of activity that is constantly
creating new gifts of love, energy, and inspiration
that we can only hope will fuel
that which is responsible for helping
each and everyone of us –
especially those of us here on Earth –
find our way and our purpose in life.
In Punxsutawney, PA, this morning
the Groundhog spoke
and Punxsutawney Phil himself
informed all in attendance that
he did not see his shadow –
which of course means that
there will be an early Spring,
which means that everything
and everyone can look forward
to the early start of a brand new season
of light and beauty
and all the blessings
that it will bring.
Happy Groundhog Day! 😊
Mark The Poet 