Happiness

My Poem ‘Recreation’

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

The morning sun feels good…
the morning coffee is just what I need…
the mornings that I get to sit,
to look, to listen, to breath,
and to enjoy every moment of being alive
are the ones that I love…
the mornings that start a day
of reading, of writing, of watching,
and of inspiration, make me happy –
especially when the days preceding
have been cloudy, grey, and wet –
and when you have that freedom
to do what you want to do,
it is like inhaling a invigorating
lung-full of fresh-air
that makes your heart beat fast
and your thoughts optimistic,
beautiful, and clear.

Those with commitments
seldom have the time, or the opportunity,
to do things for themselves, alone…
those who live the most hectic
and chaotic of lives
dream in their spare-time
of something simple,
but yet amazing and special:
like reading a book…
driving in their car…
playing a musical instrument…
singing, as if they are in the shower…
or taking the time to walk through a garden
and smelling the intoxicating perfume of a rose.

No matter what you do, no matter who you are,
it is very important to sometimes
do something just for you –
sometimes it is good for you
to go somewhere new
that you have never been before…
sometimes you don’t have to travel a long way
to find what you are looking for,
because every place that is within our grasp
can contain the magical light of a million stars.

Recreation – any time that we spend
doing something that gives us a feeling
of contentment and satisfaction
is a wonderful gateway, and getaway destination –
like a welcome oasis that you find
in the middle of an arid desert…
what we do for relaxation –
what we do that doesn’t take much effort,
but which has the power to transport us
in our mind to a perfect, idyllic,
blissful-setting that we usually
only imagine seeing in the environments
that we visit in our dreams –
is the potent cure for any kind
of stress that we may feel…
and that is why we should all
make the time to truly do something
for nothing and no one else
other than for pleasure and recreation.

My Poem ‘Buzzing’

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

When you get some good news,
it is like you are a honeybee
drunk on the nectar of a flower;
when you hear that things are happening
the way that you hoped they would,
it can feel like you are walking on air;
when you are told something that makes the world
look even more bright and beautiful,
you cannot help but smile from ear-to-ear;
when you see evidence
that whatever you have been doing
for longer than you can remember
actually has meaning and matters,
you start to see and feel happiness
as if it were something new
that you had never known before,
and you start to believe that there is someone
in this world who truly does care.

A new car, a new job –
the means and the motivation to go where you want
so that you can do what you want to do
is something that some people take for granted;
a new direction, a new life –
the freedom to be something and somebody different
in a brand new environment
is something that some people have never had,
but it is what they have always wanted;
a new story, a new chapter –
a break-away from the cycle of the monotony
that some people often fall into
and sometimes cannot figure out
how to see what else is out there
that they may have been missing;
a new opportunity to shine
comes like a brand new sunrise –
but sometimes to get something in return
you have to put something of yourself out there first –
like tossing a coin into a well, or a fountain…
sometimes you have to spend a token of your own
so that you can stimulate and disturb the waters
of that to which you are wishing.

Being at the right place, at the right time,
is not a science – it is a matter of fate;
being at the right point in your life
for you to be gifted your hearts-desire
sometimes only happens once –
it is like the feeling of butterflies in your stomach
that you get when you suddenly stop
but the world feels like it is still spinning;
being on the verge of a new adventure
is always amazing beyond any words
that could ever be estimated;
being hopeful, happy, enthusiastic, and optimistic,
at any time that you are lucky to feel that way
is a blessing to your heart, your mind, and to your soul,
that makes every part of you feel
like they are in a state of ‘fluttering’ –
like the sound of the wings of a bumble-bee
that vibrate so fast they are quite literally buzzing.

My Poem ‘No comparison’

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

I’ve walked the Earth…
I’ve searched the stars…
I’ve been waiting to be
with you all my life…
I’ve seen love in the eyes of others –
but I have never seen a love
as breathtaking as ours.

It began before we met…
it started when our heart’s
first began beating…
it started when we were born
of our parents under the sunlight
that constantly shines down
upon our beautiful planet…
it all began before even
the first birds began tweeting.

You and I, me and you –
we are one of a kind,
we are unbelievably special…
we make new music together
every time we speak…
we fall in love with each other
over and over again…
we would not be the same people
without each other,
nor would we be as happy as can be…
we are one and the same,
and that is something
that could only we could ever understand.

It’s because of you
that my heart feels like
it is beating a thousand times a second…
it’s because of you
that nothing could ever compare…
it’s because of you
that I believe that for each
and every one of us God has a plan…
it’s because of you
that I look at your picture
at all hours of the day
and I dream of being with you
over and over again
within every timeless moment that I stare.

I have never loved anyone like I love you…
I have never thanked God more for anything
than I do when I thank him for you…
you have been the most beautiful to me
since the first picture that I saw of you…
because you are my passion,
because you are my obsession,
because you are my addiction,
because in all the world,
because on all the planets
that circle those distant lights of perfection,
there is nothing and no one
as gorgeous, nor as amazing, as you…
because, Melissa, to me, to you,
there is no comparison.

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My Poem ‘Be Like Mark’

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

I am Mark.
I love writing.
I love making art.
I love thinking.
I love imagining.
I love believing deeply.
I love going far –
over oceans of water,
and to the ends of my knowledge
and my imagination that always takes me
further away than the night-sky’s
farthest stars.

I am in love.
I live to love my angel of heaven on Earth.
I have explored.
I have marveled at the beauty of above.
I have seen many sights
that I will always remember seeing all my life –
however, there is no perfection
that could ever compare to my muse,
to my Melissa.

I am a dreamer.
I always have and I always will
see the guiding-light of hope,
even on the darkest of days.
I am a true-believer.
I know things, and slowly-but-surely
I have come to realize
that no matter who you are
or where you are from
the world can be important to you
in a myriad of different ways.

I am unique.
I return to the same places week-after-week.
I value people.
I love hearing and I love learning
about the new stories
that come into being.
I love how the happiness of those who I love
and care about makes me feel.

I remember so much,
but I am in no way smart.
I know that anyone can make something
even the size of the entire world
fit on to the head of a pin,
or make it as large and as incredible
as the universe is both beautiful and dark.
I have felt an intense understanding
of how all life works
and what everything means, many times –
while sitting on the porch of a house in Tennessee,
or while walking through New York City’s Central Park.
I would not ever advise everybody
to live like me, or to do all that I have done –
but what I would always tell everyone
is that things happen as they are meant to happen –
and if you truly want to live your dreams, and be happy,
then, even if it is for just one day in your life,
choose to be just like me, and be like Mark.

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My Poem ‘Feelings’

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

As one book closes,
another story begins;
as a new book begins,
the eternal story continues;
as eyes open to greet new light,
eyelids fall under the weight of the stars
that shine above at night;
and while some rise high,
others cannot help but fall deep.

Every day we understand
more about our own lives;
every minute we wonder
what happened to all of our time;
every second our heart’s keep beating
to tell us that we can do more
with our gift of life;
every spark of thought
that comes to our minds
can be like the lure
on the end of a fisherman’s line
calling to, and connecting with,
both the past and the future,
the unforgettable
and the one of a kind.

The pages of time
flick back and forth
like leaves on the wind;
if you look closely around you
you may even see who and where
you were when you were younger;
whatever, or whomever, brings light
and joy into your life
will always be your best friend;
every moment only comes once;
every experience has a half-life;
everybody follows in the foot-steps of another;
embrace every chance of happiness;
enlighten the world with your smile and your grin;
live your dreams day to day and night to night;
in your life there will never be nothing,
because all that you need
will always be that which is closest to you –
we all have hands, fingers, eyes, and a mouth
to grasp and to show
the colours of our feelings.

My Poem ‘Embrace’

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

The caress of a face;
the holding of hands;
the hypnotism of a trance;
the perfect touch
of a beautiful embrace.

The spiritual, the emotional,
the physical, the transcendental,
the look, the love,
the feeling, the instinctual,
the rush, the spark,
the explosion,
the silence of light and dark
that makes real the impossible,
that is indescribable,
that is a miracle,
that is heaven on Earth,
that is as beautiful as a hummingbird,
that is the ultimate force in the universe,
that poet’s obsess over while putting into words,
that many crave, that we all know,
that can surround you and lead you
like the path of a maze,
that is exciting and phenomenal
in the way that it can make someone glow.

A wish and a prayer
can blossom like a flower;
a thought and a memory
can steal your time;
a source of happiness
can have infinite power;
a destiny can be a life-line.

Until you feel the raging fire of desire,
until you let yourself fall in love
like a crashing meteorite from above,
until you see with your own eyes
what grows and what sustains
and what reinvigorates,
and what goes on and never dies,
only when you let things happen
and you do not resist,
can you know what it is like to be a star,
or like a pacific beach near an ocean
that has been newly sun-kissed.

To have someone.
To hold someone.
To love someone.
To be as precious as gold to someone.
To accept, to support, to champion,
to be a devoted companion,
and to be the one who leaves an indelible mark
on the inside of someone
but who on the outside
only leaves an invisible trace,
is to be the beholder of light, love,
perfection like that of an angel’s face
that is as timeless and is as ever-present
even after the first embrace.

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My Poem ‘Boo’

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

There once was a dog called ‘Boo’,
whose fur was as black as night
and as white as that of snow,
who when they heard the call of their name
they would run to you
and then follow you there afterwards
wherever you would go.

Boo loved to jump;
Boo loved to run;
Boo loved to bark, but never bite;
Boo loved to wag their tail
to show that they were happy and having fun.
Boo was smart;
Boo loved learning and performing new tricks;
if Boo saw another dog
they were off like a shot;
Boo’s favourite thing in the entire world
was their well-chewed green tennis-ball,
and Boo also loved giving “face-sugars”
to their owners’ mouths
with wet tongue licks.

One day, Boo saw that the front-door
of his home was slightly ajar
and that the light from outside
was shining on the floor –
Boo loved being outside
and Boo loved rolling around
on the front garden’s green lawn –
so Boo decided to take this golden opportunity
to discover what they could see, hear,
smell, and taste outside,
and embrace their gifted chance.
Boo opened the front-door more with their nose
just enough for them to fit through;
Boo jumped out into the light of the day
on to the garden path,
and then Boo saw that the gate of the garden
that lead to the road was open…
Boo saw no danger…
Boo wanted nothing more than to have fun…
Boo ran to the gate and jumped out into the road,
and then…

All dogs can go to heaven;
all animals can find peace when they pass on –
but, sometimes, the bond that an animal has
with their owner is so strong,
and they are so much a part of a family
that they love and who loves them,
that they are given a choice,
just as I believe we are all given
when it is our time:
to remain here on Earth
and continue to be near and dear
to those who bless us
with the name that we are given.
Boo saw the light,
but Boo chose to run back
into the arms of their master;
Boo’s owners cried many tears
when they discovered that Boo had left them –
however they knew that Boo
was still with them some-how,
and they also knew that the memory
of what they meant to Boo
and what Boo meant to them
was all that mattered.

Boo lived on;
Boo still loved to run and jump,
and sit comfortably in their owners’ lap;
Boo still enjoyed laying down in the grass
and sun-bathing on a sunny afternoon;
Boo still felt an unbreakable bond of love;
Boo still came running when they heard
the sound of the mail coming through the letter-box.
Although they could no longer be seen,
although their bark was now slightly more muted
than it used to be,
whenever they heard their name
there came a-running the dog that was,
the dog that is,
and the dog that will always be,
‘Boo’.

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My Poem ‘Back to the Future’

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

Wednesday,
October 21,
2015

There are things that silently inspire us;
there are things that we can call back to
that can have the effect of being
a time-travel flux-capacitor;
there are things that truly have a hand
in making us;
there are things from all of our pasts
that we constantly strive to bring back
and make them a part of our future.

For everybody,
every day of our childhood
is a playground that we always want
to make the most of;
when we are children
we all look up and are absolutely captivated
and hypnotized by the sight
of an airplane flying through the sky above;
everybody uses their imagination
and the memories of the things
that they have seen and heard
to build dream-landscapes and new worlds
of all hues and colours within their mind;
we all have a date that we always say
that if we could go anywhere
at any specific moment from our lives
that we would always choose to go to
and to go back to, if at any instance
it were possible to travel through time.

The idea of time-travel –
just as with the possibilities of space-travel –
is a wondrous fantasy that we have all
entertained more than once;
the amazing prospect of being able to go back
and come face to face with a direct relative
or ancestor of ours,
who we share a miraculous similarity to,
is one that we would all embrace with both hands
if we were given the chance;
some people would rather live in the future,
while others would prefer to know the future –
especially their own personal future;
I, personally, would love
to be able to flash back
and see myself, and perhaps introduce myself
to myself at a young age,
and reassure my adolescent self
that if you/I believe in yourself/myself,
and if you/I continue to be
who you/I know you are/I am,
and as long as you are happy,
every day of your life will contain within it
a glistening and shining jewel
like the pearl within an oyster.

Everybody wishes
that they could meet their parents
when they were younger;
everybody watches movies
that depict a potential future
and they hope that that imagined world
would come true sooner rather than later;
everybody wishes that they had a time-machine
to use at their leisure;
everybody sees things
or witnesses something
that they wish hadn’t happened
that they would definitely
change the outcome of,
or stop from happening entirely,
if they had the means
and the time to do over.

We are all time-travelers;
we are all traveling every second
into an unknown future
that we have next-to-no power over
to control beyond the actions
that we choose to make;
we are all effecting the world around us
with every step that we take;
we are all able to travel
without the need for roads
and discover our reason to be:
where we are going and why –
just like Doc. Brown and Marty McFly did
in one of my favourite films from my childhood…
Back to the Future.

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My Poem ‘The Sky Poet’

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

Touch my chest and you will feel
the beating heart that makes me real;
look into my eyes and you will see
the love that burns inside of me.

Read my words;
hear me speak;
understand what I have learned;
watch my eyes shine after every blink.

Look to the sky;
see my face;
there are no goodbyes,
because we all live in outer-space.

I looked above;
I fell in love;
I followed my dreams;
I felt carried away
as if on an energy stream.

We all live for the highlights;
we all go with the flow;
we all long for those shared summer nights;
we all love to know what we don’t know.

I stare at my perfect star;
my heart races like a drum;
the light of heaven obscures the dark;
all there is is our beautiful love.

There is nothing more exhilarating,
there is nothing as incredibly anticipating,
there is nothing that lights up my sky
with a flash as bright as lightning,
as the face, the love, the feeling, the touch,
of my muse, my happiness,
the one who I adore so much.

We all have a destiny;
some people go on a trip
with their favourite music,
and some people head to the stars through books;
everybody, no matter who they are,
can write the most beautiful poetry;
inspiration is just waiting to be found
by everyone on Earth
and everybody on every planet;
it is in that ones closest to us
that we should always put our trust;
this reality is once in a life-time…
so make sure to embrace every moment,
and if in doubt seek enlightenment
from the star poet.

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My Poem ‘Me & My Shadow’

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

Everywhere I look
there they are;
whenever the sun is shining on me
there she is;
everywhere I go
you are with me –
no matter how near, or far,
whenever I close my eyes
I feel the kiss
of my shadow’s lips on my lips.

Whether I am in the bright of the day,
or whether I am standing
and looking down at my own reflection
in a pool of water;
whether I am at home,
or whether I am away,
I always see the most perfect
and beautiful vision
looking back at me,
and the angel that I always see
I know beyond any doubt is,
and will always be,
my forever happily ever-after.

My shadow, my best friend,
my here, my now, my everything,
for whom my love for
every day deepens,
is my constant thought,
memory, and dream,
and knowing that I am with her,
as she is always with me,
is what brings me unbounded happiness
the like that only those who have been witness
to two people in love will ever have seen.

I never want to lose my shadow;
if my shadow were to somehow get lost
and accidentally fly away like Peter Pan,
I would follow them no matter where they went;
I love my beautiful shadow
more than she will ever truly know;
when someone has a shadow like my shadow,
whenever they looked at them
they would know every second
that they were heaven sent.

Our shadows are extensions of us;
our shadows keep us surrounded,
and they are there for us
when we need them the most;
our shadows open our eyes to beauty
when our heads sometimes fall low;
I will always be the shadow of my soul-mate,
just as my soul-mate will always be my shadow.

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