caring

My Poem “To my Mum”

Mark Hastings life, me, Poetry , , , , , , , , , , ,

To the woman who from the day that
I was born has given me the gift
of unconditional love…
to the woman who carried me,
who has held me, who has thought about me,
and who has been there for me my entire life –
no matter what you have have been going through:
I have always felt blessed that
you are my kind and caring Mum
and I am your adoring son.

To the woman whose smile
has made me smile more times
throughout my life than I can count:
you have been the best example
of who and what a mother should be,
and those of us who are your children
every day consider ourselves lucky
to have a part of you in us
and to have a part of us in you-
because you are a role-model
for being a mother like nobody else…
to the woman who has sent her children
off to sleep every night with
a blessing of sweet dreams:
you do not know how much
what you do matters, nor what your
effortless love has always meant
and what your love will always mean.

To the woman who gave birth to me…
to the woman who has always
accepted me for who I am and who has
always praised me for what I do…
to the woman who has always given me what I needed more than anything in the world…
to the woman who I could not thank enough
for being amazing in every way –
this poem is dedicated to you:
Bernadette Marie Christine Hastings,
my one and only, my one of a kind,
the best in the world, Mum.

Happy Mother’s Day! 🙂

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My Poem ‘Experimentation’

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

Everything begins with experimentation…
most of the things that we love the most
once began as something unknown…
most things we seemingly
stumble upon at random…
most of the things that we take with us wherever we go
are the things that remind us of the wonders
that we remember of our childhood home…
we grow up with certain things…
we grow up with people who we know, and who know us…
we lose things… we have to look in more than one direction
in order to find our focus.

When we start looking beyond our comfort-zone,
when we start following a voice
that calls to us like an S.O.S,
when we start caring about a people
and a world that is not our own,
when we start finding others who bring out our best…
a chain-reaction of events without-end forms…
a new thing is born…
a new way of exploring
the infinite possibilities of the universe is launched…
a new sword to defend you from the dark of the world is forged.

Everything is a continuation…
everybody is a DJ – and every day we all remix what we see,
what we hear, what we feel, in our mind and in our imagination…
when we look around, when we want to journey to somewhere
with a definitive-destination, and we stop to think
about why any of us are here and what should be
our new source of motivation…
when we want a bit of the old and a bit of the new,
when we want both the contemporary and the retro,
then it doesn’t hurt to spin the wheel of inspiration
and dabble in a bit of artistic experimentation.

My Poem ‘A Gift of My Heart’

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

My Angel, my world, my love, my light,
my heart, my soul, my day, my night,
the muse of my poetry, the magic of my dreams,
the best thing that has ever happened to me,
the one person in the entire world
who gives my life meaning,
my sun, my moon, my obsession,
my addiction, my best-friend,
I truly, madly, and deeply love you
more than you could ever know, Melissa.

I spend every minute of every day thinking about you,
imagining the perfection of your beautiful face,
looking into your eyes, holding your hands,
kissing your lips, feeling your heart beating with mine,
living and breathing as-one, forever and always,
loving each-other, making memories,
holding each-other and never letting go,
giving one-another all that we have to give.

You care so much, you love so deeply,
you make me smile and you make me so happy,
and every day with you in my life
has been the best days of my life,
and I never want to be without you,
because I see, I know, I feel,
that within you the divine light of heaven shines bright,
and every day I cherish you
and I want to give you gifts of my heart-
as if every day were Valentines day,
Christmas day, or your birthday,
from night until day and from day until night.

My Poem ‘Festive Flavours’

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

Like the smile of a sunny day…
like the cold of a Winter morning…
like the festive feeling that you see
and feel around the holiday
and Christmas season…
like the Spring flowers of the month of May…
like the anticipation that a child experiences
the night before Christmas morning…
it is at those times when things happen
that are once in a life-time,
when people come together in celebration,
when people are extra caring, sharing, and kind,
when every moment makes every day worth living,
and when joy can sometimes be a welcome contagion.

The morning light is bright…
the morning sky is unbroken blue…
the morning air has a bite…
the morning mood of everybody fills the streets,
and everywhere you go you can hear festive tunes.

There is ice under-foot…
there are people and there are things
that need to be thought of now more than ever…
there are memories from years gone by
that drift into your mind
like a flurry of snow that comes from above…
there are things that we do but once a year, perhaps,
that we should do all year-around –
however, for some reason it is at times like right now,
and it is the season, when every action that we take
resounds like the sound of a ringing bell…
now is the time for festive songs,
for festive food, for festive colours,
and for festive flavours.

My Poem ‘D.W.G.H.’

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

My Dad is the most caring
the most loving,
the most hard-working,
the most passionate,
the most incredible
and the most amazing man,
father, hero, Dad,
in the entire world!
My Dad has seen things,
my Dad has experienced things,
my Dad knows things
that I could never know,
or ever truly describe or put into words.
My Dad is a man of impeccable instincts;
my Dad is a man who is infinitely gifted;
my Dad is a man with the biggest
and the most open heart;
my Dad has a smile, a face,
and the bluest eyes I have ever seen in my life –
and within his eyes, many times,
I have seen a spirit and a light
that ever since I was a boy
has kept me from being afraid of the dark.

My Dad has been my greatest
inspiration and motivation
to never give up, to never stop hoping,
and to never stop working hard
at keeping what matters the most;
my Dad is not like any-other father in the world –
not only does he have a one-of-a-kind mind,
and an endless devotion and love for my Mum,
but he is also an amazing cook
and he is a master of a Sunday roast.

My Dad has taught me many things,
but I know that I could never match-up
to his shining example
of what it takes to be a great man;
my Dad has shed blood, sweat,
and tears for his family –
however, no matter all that he has been through,
he can still wear a smile
and can be to all who meet him
a wonderful and shining inspiration.

If it were not for my Dad
then I do not know who I,
nor anybody in my immediate family, would be;
if it were not for my Dad
then I would not be here –
I am the best of my father,
and my father is who brings out the best in me;
my Dad’s voice, my Dad’s laugh, brings me joy,
and my Dad’s strength is unbelievably inspiring;
my Dad has never given up
and would never give up on anything
that fills his life with happiness and joy –
and I too have been blessed with the same spark
within my soul, that flashes brighter than lightning.

There is so much more
that I could say about my amazing Dad –
but, for now, I just want to say
that I love him very much, and I want to wish
a very happy father’s day to him,
to my Dad – David William George Hastings.

DWGH-fathersdaypoem

My Poem ‘Never Rest’

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

Everybody has their own outlet;
everybody has their own place of worship;
everybody has their own way of sharing;
everybody has their own way of caring;
everybody has their own time
when they feel their most alive;
everybody has their own favourite way
of passing the time:
if I could be anywhere at this very moment,
I would love to be in a Jeep Cherokee
traveling down I-75 with the one I love
all the way to Tennessee-
listening to music from the 1980s and the 1990s,
as we enjoy every second of our drive
and the perfection of our ride.

We can all feel young as long as we want to;
we can all do the seemingly impossible;
we can all marvel at the brand new;
we can all make that life-changing call;
we can all be seen, we can all be heard,
we can all be free, we can all be
all that we say so easily with words;
we all remember, we all forget;
we all have felt a rush,
like the feeling of uplifting air
underneath the wings of a bird’s feathers;
we all at one time or another
have had to pass a test.

Life is a series of borders to be crossed;
everybody everyday wants to be happy;
a life in which ever day there are things
that you can have any second at no cost
is the one that we would all always want;
everybody has expectations
of how they would like something to be,
and then when life surprises you
from time to time in ways
that completely eclipse anything that you thought
you realize why it is important
that some things only happen once.

A great journey is made up of small
but important steps;
a happy life should be measured on smiles
and memories, not by miles or kilometers per hour;
a beautiful vision is both soul- and solar-powered;
an imagination like no other
is one that can go all day and all night
while harnessing a single powerful idea –
and at no point, until that idea has evolved
to the next level of its existence,
does the powerful mind of a dreamer ever rest.

My Poem ‘The Changeling’

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

Everybody changes;
everyone has been changing
into someone else
since the day that they were born;
everybody goes through a myriad
of different faces;
everyone is a brand new dawn.

Everybody loves;
everyone cries;
everybody sometimes finds life tough;
everyone dies;
everybody has their moment to shine;
everyone sees the world slightly differently;
everybody sometimes has to cross a line;
everyone will never be you,
as you will never be everybody.

Changing is remaking;
knowledge is an endless forest;
thinking is daydreaming;
trust is a test;
interactions are fascinations;
some hello’s are also goodbyes;
reflections are misdirections;
everything is worth a try.

To care should never be thought of as a crime;
to feel should be thought of as a miracle;
to take your time should never be
thought of as a waste of time;
to miss something or someone
so much that your whole body hurts
is both hard and beautiful.

Memories replace other memories;
some people fall into shadow,
as others step into the light;
vision changes depending on the way
that you use your eyes;
stars can be blinding
when you are standing close to them,
and sometimes they are more beautiful
to look at, and to be comfortable with,
when seen from far away –
like the stars of the sky
that shine and arc through the veil
of the atmosphere at night.

Life is busy;
life can sometimes make you feel
like you are going crazy;
everyone lives different lives;
everybody has their own mind;
people should always strive
to find the thing that in all the world
to them has the power
to set off a chain-reaction
that will never stop being rejuvenating;
life is a puzzle in the making
that is amazing to those who understand
that everyone and everybody is a changeling.

My Poem ‘Bless You’

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

Saying “bless you” when someone sneezes;
holding a door open for someone;
saying “thank you”, saying please;
doing and making simple acts of kindness
and thoughtfulness that do not cost a thing
are wonderful things,
and to someone in need of a smile,
or of a bit of happiness,
you can make a person’s day that much more positive
and not as bad – especially if they are having a day
in which they are feeling down and glum.
Giving a stranger a song that you love to listen to;
giving a friend an idea they have been looking for for days;
giving a few minutes of you time to talk to someone,
and to listen to someone;
giving a couple of pounds to someone who asks you for it,
and who looks like they need it,
and not asking why they need it,
but giving what you have so that they can use it
to have what they want.
A thought, a touch, a smile, a look,
a light, a shade, a promise,
assistance in finding a way;
giving advice, giving someone tips,
saving a life, telling someone that you give a spit;
saying “I’m sorry”;
opening up about your own worries and troubles;
being there for someone when everything that could happen
has happened and seems to have all come
at once for someone, like a funnel;
telling someone that you love them;
doing something for someone out of the blue;
lending someone a pen;
giving someone a glance in their direction,
and a second thought of their health and happiness,
by saying when they sneeze “bless you”.

My Poem ‘The Volunteer’

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

Giving blood; giving life;
giving food; giving time;
giving heart; giving insight;
giving a smile that makes someone laugh;
giving someone something
that you know they will like.

Making an effort; creating an effect;
making people look; creating a self-sustaining project;
making a plan; creating a solution;
making someone a fan; creating a revolution.

Believing in a cause; taking the initiative;
saying just what someone needs to hear
to find a hidden and important door;
seeing the truth of the world:
that everything is relative.

Acting for the benefit of others;
thinking first about the future;
treating a stranger like a sister or a brother;
being the one who will do what needs to be done
to keep things going and people together.

A true volunteer has a heart the size of the Grand Canyon;
a true volunteer is someone who instantly replies to a request
and an S.O.S. for help with a loud and resounding YES!;
a true volunteer does not think too much
about what will happen to themselves,
because they are too busy thinking about others
and about quieting the tears of fears;
a true volunteer is a person who wants what is best
for all of humanity-
and that is what makes them the great, amazing, true,
wonderful, world-changing, indispensable,
and vital, volunteer.