earth

My Poem “The Sounds of Earth”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 
If looked down upon from space
our planet, Earth, would be seen
to be a shining blue sphere
teaming with possibilities
and full of potential;
however, you would never be able
to see everything and everyone
that exists on our beautiful world from orbit
because you would be too removed -
but if you were able to listen to what humanity
broadcasts, transmits, and has shared
every moment of every day,
for over half a century now,
then you might find it hard to understand
everything that everyone is saying to one another;
however, if you were to travel farther from Earth -
say fifty light-years away -
then you would be able to receive
the transmissions of humanity
that left our planet fifty years ago,
and it would be like
discovering a message in a bottle,
or an audio signal of an era in time,
that travelled at the speed of light from its source
to be heard by anyone or anything that
was listening in Earth’s direction.

Earth has always been a world full of stories,
of civilisations, of beliefs, and our ideas
about why things are the way that they are,
and Earth has always been a world of invention
and of dreamers who hope to be given the answer
to the question of whether we are alone in the universe…
for all of human existence, groups of individuals -
such as scientists, artists, musicians,
and believers in a particular religion -
have sought to reach out their grasp
and touch the face of the unknown,
and reveal the truth about the meaning of life
and why we are here;
and since we have had the means and the resources
to send living beings into space to relay back
what awaits us far beyond the clouds -
from dogs, to chimpanzees, to humans -
as well as robotic sojourners capable
of sending back images of the planets
and the moons of our solar system,
as well as photographs of the extraordinary
phenomenon of our galaxy,
humanity has been uncovering
the history of the universe
as well as the possibilities of reality.

In 1977, two gold disks were launched
along with their respective Voyager spacecraft
containing a greeting from the people of Earth,
as well as images and depictions of
human anatomy and the building blocks of life,
the location of the sun and our solar system,
and also recordings of some of the sounds
that can be found and heard on our planet -
such as the sound of waves crashing,
birdsong, whale song, and a selection of
some of the human languages that our species
has evolved to use for communication
between one another for centuries…
even now, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 -
not to mention all the other probes
we have sent out into space -
continue their mission and their journey
into the great unknown,
hopefully to be one day found
by another, similar, space-faring, intelligent,
innovative, and inquisitive race of beings
who might wish to see whom it was that
chose to take a leap of faith and send
an invitation to a fellow member
of the galactic community to visit a beautiful planet
that is full of people, plants, animals,
and other things that need to be seen and heard
to be truly believed and understood;
however, it’s entirely possible that
we have already been visited by an intelligent
interplanetary extraterrestrial species of explorers,
who were drawn to our world a long time ago
and who have already bore witness
to the wonders of our planet,
and who have long since become obsessed
with the infinite number of the sounds of Earth.

My Poem “Work Together”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , 
Like most people in this life,
at many points throughout my life,
I have had to choose between
one direction and another…
like most people in this world,
there have been several moments,
as an adult and still while I was a child,
when I have had to take my options into account,
and make a decision about,
what path my future could look like…
like most people living on this planet -
this spinning sphere of change,
orbiting around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour -
while growing up my imagination was filled with
sights and sounds of infinite and amazing possibilities
which I might want to explore further;
however, as reality becomes more complex,
and as we are all faced with the dilemma
of having to deal with making a living,
as well as finding a source of happiness
that we can return to time and again
to sustain us through the years of struggle,
each of us has to overcome the fact
that sometimes none of us has total control
over everything that happens,
nor how fast things happen -
because, though we have plans,
the universe has a more complicated lattice
of interconnected relationships and realities
constantly interacting with one another
that it must endeavour to keep in balance.

I have been working on the concept
and the project that is me since I was a kid -
and there have been many times
when I actually thought I had figured out
what my life was supposed to be
and what it was supposed to look like;
however, like everyone who has ever lived,
every time I believed that I had found
meaning, reason, and balance in my life,
the universe would always find a way
of telling me or showing me that I was wrong
and that I should think again…
I have had times when I have been riding high
and as happy and content as could be,
and then I have been reminded that nothing
lasts longer than it is supposed to
and what remains afterwards are only
shadows and reflections of what was
that can never be repeated -
but we don’t learn the heavy truths of
why we should embrace every single moment
with every single person we meet
until we lose contact with them
and we are forced to continue
our lives without them.

Like most of the people who have searched
their entire life for their own calling,
and who want to know what they should do
when they are presented with an opportunity
to influence the outcome of their own life,
I have continuously had to make
adjustments to my perspective
on certain things, on certain people,
and on certain assumptions that I might have had -
because I am, and I have always considered myself to be,
open and empathetic to others who live
a life similar, but different, to my own -
and I have never been afraid of
seeing the other side of an argument
and trying to find a solution based up
listening, learning, and understanding,
as much as I can, about
why people do what they do.

Like most people of my generation,
I have never been more disappointed
by anything than the fact that
some people seemingly cannot find a way
to put aside all that divides them
and come to a peaceful compromise
which benefits everybody and everything -
but the problem is no matter how much
some people have they always want more;
however, I cannot help myself from hoping
that one day everyone will come to their senses
and once and for all realise that the fate
of this world of ours is not for us to decide,
nor is the destiny of the life on this planet,
because we are all just the ones who
are currently doing the best we can
and living as we see fit;
however, several tribes, families, groups, gangs,
empires, dynasties, have thought
that they had dominion over all other peoples
and life on Earth for a fraction of time
in this life of this world -
which is why, in my opinion,
we should be grateful for what we have now
but never forget that change is inevitable
and the most important thing to remember
is that we are not alone in this universe
and that our journey as a planet
will only be allowed to continue as it is,
or evolve as it must,
if it is meant to, and if we once again
do not accept that the only way
to get the best out of everything
and everyone is to live and to work together.

My Poem “Life Will Always Find A Way”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 
Earth - our planet, our world, our home -
was once unlike what it is now:
it was barren, it was dry, it was lifeless;
however, then celestial snowballs
fell from above with the gift of frozen water
that eventually melted and gave rise to
the first droplets of water that would
ultimately lead to the first oceans,
and over billions of years our world
slowly became the oasis of life that it is today.

Earth was once like so many of the other planets
that still orbit around their stars
all across the galaxy and the universe -
just waiting for that spark of energy
and outside inspiration that is sometimes needed
to transform something, somewhere,
into a version of itself that it could not have been
had fate not decided to lend a divine hand
and alter the way of life of an entire world
in more ways than could ever be known.

Earth has always been a testbed
and a natural laboratory for the many
and varied possibilities of life
that may develop upon a planet
if the conditions are just right,
and if a species does not choose
the road of mutual self-annihilation
instead of the road of mutual cooperation.

Earth has always been in a state of constant of change
since birth of the universe –
when its individual components
were still disparate from one another,
and before the coalescence of gas and energy
that eventually ignited and became the star
at the centre of our solar system
that we call The Sun,
and before the gravity of the brightest light in our sky
influenced its surroundings in such a way
that spheres of gas and rock grew over time -
and over the course of time that
the universe has existed and has continued to expand
beyond the biggest of bangs there has ever been,
nothing has happened that could ever have been predicted:
including life itself, because for there to be life
there must also be chance,
there must be the roll of a cosmic dice,
there must be things both seen and unseen,
and there must be chemistry and experimentation.

Earth has no master, no ruler, nothing and no one
who can claim it as their own,
because Earth is a living organism in its own right
as well as a welcome habitat for those who respect it
as well as see and understand
that it is more than a spinning ball of rock -
because Earth has a history
and still has a story to tell about itself
from a time before life began upon it.

Earth has naturally been visited
by other galactic neighbours of ours,
and perhaps humanity is the end result of
someone or something who wanted to see
what might happen to a world
if a species were given the building blocks
to slow evolve and develop themselves
and their environment in such a way that one day,
when their creator returned to see what they did
with the epic gift of life that they were given,
they might have an idea and an answer
to the question of meaning that drives
so many to believe in things
and to do things that could not have been
envisioned by those who were there
in the beginning.

Earth has harboured many secrets since its formation,
and since the inception of mankind
Earth and humanity have lived
in harmony with each other, for the most part;
however people have done harm
as well as good to our world over the centuries,
and I believe that we have only
just scratched the surface of what we need to do
and who we as a partner to our planet need to be
in order for us to continue to live and thrive
as we have been for so long now –
and even though our connection
and our integration with the technology
that we have developed has gotten closer,
and will no doubt continue to,
over time there will always be
those of us who will always believe
and will always know that
there will never be a more symbiotic relationship
between anything and anyone
than humanities unbreakable tether to Earth
and Earth’s unending privilege to be
where life began,
where life was given everything
it could ever want
or need to become anything,
and where, no matter what,
life will always finds a way.

My Poem “The Other Side of The World”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 
So many people are looking
for a new beginning...
so many people are in need
of a direction...
so many people wish that they
had something in their lives
that would give them a feeling of belonging...
so many people have friends
and family members who they love -
but they know that what they want
lies beyond what and where they have always known...
so many people have felt this insatiable
draw to get on a plane and jet off
to somewhere over the horizon...
so many people have this instinct
that compels them to go somewhere
they have never been before,
because the place they are going to
may feel so much like paradise
it could easily be a place within a dream...
so many people are just waiting
for something or someone
to give them the push they need
to take a life-changing leap...
so many people look around at their lives
and they feel that they need more...
so many people do not know
that they have been imprisoned by something,
someone, somewhere, for some time,
until they are looking up
at an unbroken blue sky
and they know what it feels like
to be truly free...
so many people have chosen
to do something profoundly special
and adventurous in the pursuit
of finding their life's purpose,
and so many people have found themselves
choosing to start a new life
thousands of miles away
from the country of their birth
in places that lie far away
on the other side of the world.

A Poem A Day #393: Our Earth Hour

Mark Hastings Podcast, Poetry , , , , , , , , ,
“Our Earth Hour” by Mark Hastings was taken from Mark’s poetry collection ‘The Dreamer and The Dream’ which was published in 2015 by Zeloo Media. Check out more of Mark’s poetry online @ http://MarkThePoet.Me – all poems © Mark Hastings ● Buy Me a coffee @ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MarkThePoet ● Check out the merch store on Redbubble: https://rdbl.co/3xWa4Rw

A Poem A Day #137: Earth Day

Mark Hastings Podcast, Poetry , , , , , , , , , ,
“Earth Day” by Mark Hastings was taken from Mark’s poetry collection ‘The Sound of Mark’ which was published in 2014 by Zeloo Media. Check out more of Mark’s poetry online @ http://MarkThePoet.Me – all poems © Mark Hastings

My Poem “Perseverance”

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

The perseverance of imagination
is what gives an artist their muse…
the perseverance of an extraordinary idea
is what inspired the first philosophers,
the first explorers, the first inventors,
the first daredevils, the first pilots,
the first men to set foot on the moon…
the perseverance of a team of dreamers
is what has propelled all the man-made
exploratory robots launched into space
to get close up eye-views of the planets
of our solar system and has led to trails
of human built wheels to leave their mark
upon the dusty copper coloured
surface of the planet Mars.

Perseverance is having the strength
of mind to decide to not give up
no matter the distance that has to be crossed…
perseverance is moving forwards despite
others having reservations about your plan
because you know with all that you are
that not following your heart
would be a sacrifice with too high of a cost…
perseverance is finding answers to questions
that were once thought to be irrevocably lost…
perseverance is thinking about the potential
future of everyone on Earth instead of anchoring
yourself to the ideals of the distant past.

The perseverance of life is why there
is so much diversity of species
that is unique to this beautiful planet…
the perseverance of light is why
stars continue to shine long after
their life-span has come to an end…
the perseverance of spirit is why
singers continue to sing,
why painters continue to paint,
why actors continue to act,
why dancers continue to dance,
why people listen to music, fall in love,
and often find themselves living in a trance.

The secret source of success
is not achieving more of something
than somebody else –
the secret of true success is realising
what it takes to do what has to be done,
what it takes to make it through the hard times,
why it is important to believe in yourself,
why it is important to believe in others:
because it is remarkable what extraordinary
feats can be achieved by people
when they are inspired and they are compelled
by the power of perseverance.

My Poem “We Have It All”

Mark Hastings life, Podcast, Poetry , , , , , , , , , , ,

I am different…
you are different…
everybody is different –
and yet we are all the same,
which I think is absolutely amazing!
I am on a different path,
you are in a different lane –
and yet so many people
find themselves at the same
moment of crossroads
when and where there is a vital
transference of knowledge and energy,
which can feel electrifying!
I am experiencing what I see
and what I feel around me personally,
you are interpreting everything
like only you can –
and yet when there is the discovery
of a breakthrough of life-changing proportions
people from all around the world
can gather together and herald
the arrival of yet another game-changer
in how we all live our lives.

I have never stopped being
in awe of the power and the poetry
of the universe that we can see
and measure with our own eyes
and with some of the instruments
that we have invented;
however, I know that all the secrets of existence
may never be known –
which is fine by me,
because there is more to be gained
by investigating the source of a riddle
than the eventual reveal of a mystery.

I understand the draw to explore…
I agree that we need to colonize
other worlds in order to know
more about the diversity of life
throughout the universe of galaxies…
I do not dispute that there are
other planets with other civilizations
living and thriving on them…
I would gladly take a ticket to ride
upon a rocket into orbit
or aboard a starship at warp-speed
to another part of the Milky Way galaxy –
but I do think that we all need to
look around at this world
that we live upon once in a while,
our home, and realize that right now
this is all that we have, this is who we are,
and if we could all just choose
to stop making so much of our
societies revolve around
corruption and greed
then everybody could have it all
because here on Earth
we have everything that
we could possibly need.

Mark The Poet – The Podcast #36

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

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.