Decisions

My Poem “All the difference”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , 
Even after all this time,
even after all those tears,
even after all the lies,
even after all the fears -
there it is: that which has always
been there for me to return to...
even after all the moments of heartbreak,
even after all the love that has been wasted,
even after all the lying faces,
even after all the secrets -
there they are: they who
know who and what they are,
no matter what facades
they currently choose to use...
even after all my heart has been through,
even after all the avenues of thought
my mind has gone down,
even after all the answers that I found
about what made others who they were -
there, more and more than ever before,
I see people who I used to know
showing me that I was once so
foolish to give them the gift of my trust,
and even though to them the past
is the past
I still have the same means to
access the memories of long ago
and remember what was said,
when, why, and with whom...
even after we all walk away
from something, someone, somewhere,
we always leave something behind,
we always leave an impression,
we always leave a shadow,
we always leave clues that can be used
to retrace our steps -
even those we thought had long since been erased;
we always return to what we knew,
we always return to who we knew,
we always return to where we knew -
however, when we ultimately do,
we always have an opportunity
to choose,
even if it is only retrospectively,
whether we would make the same
decisions again, and though
there is no definitive way to know
what would have happened
if different choices had been made,
it is still fascinating to wonder
how life would have panned out
if we had found something
we were looking for
when we were originally looking for it,
and we were able to say outloud:
"There it is" -
because one thing can always
make all the difference.

My Poem “The things that we will do”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , 
Sometimes it is amazing
the lengths that people will go to...
sometimes it is amazing
the things that people will do
for a friend, for a family member,
for a companion, for a complete stranger
in order to help them out
and give them support in some way...
sometimes people will do things
for the people who mean the most to them
that they would not dream of doing for anyone else;
however when the time arrives
and when the need arises
for someone to step up
and do something extraordinary
some people always manage
to go the extra mile, to pull out all the stops,
in order to make sure that their devotion
for someone is in full display...
sometimes the things people will do
for love are the most extreme -
some people have been known
to act in such a manner
and to accomplish such feats of inspiration
and endurance that they might rival
those with the greatest intellectual
or physical prowess...
sometimes the things that people can accomplish
when the clock is ticking
and when time is running out
and when a decisive decision needs to be made
speak volumes about the capability
and the capacity of people -
especially when they are under duress...
sometimes life tests us all,
because sometimes something or someone
wants to see what we're all made of
and to what tune our heart rings true...
sometimes it amazes me what things
people, including myself,
depending on the time and the place we find ourselves,
will ultimately be compelled to do.