Life never ceases to amaze me
and to surprise me in so many ways…
I have been aware for a while now
that life is not always going to be,
nor meant to be, a straightforward path
that connects point A to point B…
life never stops inspiring me
and making me think…
I have always known that sometimes
things happen because they are meant to happen -
both the good and the bad,
both the expected and the unexpected;
however, life is constantly reminding me
that there is a lattice of interconnected
strands that bind us all to one another -
especially those of us who have worked together,
those of us who have worked alongside one another,
and those of us who worked as a team
and accomplished something because we knew
we could count on each other
no matter what had to be faced.
No one can know what is going to happen
whenever once parallel and intersectional paths
diverge after a choice is made and a decision is taken
to make a change for a reason
that makes perfect sense at a particular moment in time…
no one can truly predict what will happen in the future,
because life is not always the product
of what we want and what we think it will be…
no one is in a position to control what will happen,
nor when, because none of us have the omnipotent power
to change the course of events that may have
been set into motion decades earlier
because of the fact that the universe wishes
things to happen in a certain fashion;
however, sometimes something happens -
like meeting someone who you haven’t seen for many years,
and it is like no time has passed
because who they are
and who they have always been hasn’t changed -
and you find yourself looking at the world,
as well as at yourself and others,
and thinking to yourself that there has to be
something more to why things happen than we
could ever truly know or understand.
It is sometimes hard to believe what has happened
and how long it has been since
you were someone, somewhere, doing something,
because sometimes, somehow,
you can realise that so much has happened,
so much has changed, and so much is happening
all around us, as well as because of us and others -
which is why when you happen to be
in the same place and at the same time
as someone who you know, but someone who
you may not have seen nor heard from in a long time,
it can be such a great feeling and such a wonderful experience;
especially if you and the person you have
crossed paths with were once friends or colleagues
who share a history of memories with one another.
So much of life and time is still mysterious
to a great many of people,
because so many of the intricacies of why things happen
are not blatant and obvious unless you know
what to look for, as well as when and where;
however, I am always looking for those details
and those strands of connection that I have seen
and I feel all around me like a web -
and I am always cogent of my own perception of life
and my ability to be able to leap back in time
to where and when I used to be, and with whom I am with,
and I have had countless experiences
when I have seen someone again,
or found something again,
or I have been somewhere again,
and I have been immediately reminded
and transported back to “the good old days”.
healing
My Poem “Give Back”
The creation of anything, or anyone,
is not always as simple as it sounds…
art doesn’t spontaneously
emerge from out of nothing…
everything evolves because of experience -
what works, what’s compatible,
what makes it across the line,
what doesn’t work, what falls through the cracks,
for whatever reason;
however, sometimes there is no predicting
why one thing will endure over another…
the reason why something
becomes a trend to follow,
and why something else does not
leave as much of an impression and an impact,
sometimes has nothing to do
with anything other than time…
sometimes some things are not meant to be
appreciated at the time of their release
into the wider world and they are
only recognised for what they are long after
their voice has become an echo -
and sometimes, miraculously, something
can be given a new lease of life
and be rediscovered and rewarded
with what they were always entitled to…
there is more to life than what
could ever be read in a book,
and there is more to life than
anyone could ever know
from being told by someone else -
because life and people are complex,
and things such as a dreams,
or the spark of creativity,
are necessary to making life and people
what they are supposed to be…
in order to be able to make something
that wasn’t there before
you have got to be willing to go to the edge
of your understanding and allow yourself
to be carried away by the ideas
that capture your imagination
and can grow in strength to become
so powerful that they can seem to rival reality
and feel like magic…
every word of every spell and incantation
ever uttered by any storyteller and gatekeeper
is able to open more doors and more opportunities
for more things to come through
and make their presence known;
but in order to get something
sometimes you need to give beforehand,
and then the cycle of reciprocity continues,
over and over again, as life and people
repeatedly receive and then give back.
My Poem “Grieve for Them”
What can be said… what can be done…
what can be read… what can be known
about how somebody is going to act,
how somebody is going to think,
how powerless somebody is going
to feel after they lose someone
who they have known all their life –
someone who they may not have seen every day,
someone who they may not have talked
to on a regular basis,
but someone who was always there
as a source of stability and faith,
and someone who they always loved.
Words can’t describe what certain
people go through after someone
they cared for unexpectedly dies…
some people feel numb, some people feel lost,
some people feel like they have misplaced
a part of themselves immediately after
they hear the tragic news that they
will never see someone again –
and sometimes the pain that is felt is so extreme
that it overpowers a person’s
natural ability to show their sorrow
with the tears of a cry.
It’s so sad to see people suffering
from profound grief to the degree
that they recede within themselves
both physically and psychologically –
not even wanting to leave
the coccoon of their bed to eat, to drink,
to wash their face, to dress themselves
how they normally would,
nor unable to convey the hurt
that they constantly feel in their chest
as their heart attempts to heal itself
after seemingly breaking into a million pieces.
It’s a long road back to normality
after you lose someone who always made
you feel special passes away –
there isn’t anything that anybody can do for you
other than to give you the time that you need
to come to terms with the hard reality
that death is the part of life
which nobody can do anything about,
but what each and every one of us can do
is to never forget all those people
who may have left us physically
but who will always be with us in spirit,
who may have seen something in us
that we may never have seen
and who may have known us
better than we could ever truly know ourselves
and who every day we will think of,
who will love always, who we will always honour,
who we will always remember,
who we will always be grateful for the gift of,
and who not a day will go by
when we will not grieve for them.
My Poem ‘Mourning in Paris’
It’s morning in Paris;
people from all over the world
are in mourning;
the city of love
has a shadow hanging over it;
the free world was rocked during the night
by the actions of the agents of darkness;
and when I close my eyes now,
I listen and I can hear
the sound of Paris’ calling.
There is a golden silence;
the smell of burning
still lingers in the air;
kisses are still being shared
on the bridge of sighs;
people are praying for peace
while standing at the feet of the Eiffel Tower;
all eyes are looking for the answer
to the question: why?
eyes still sting with pain
at the thought of all the innocent people
who last night lost their lives.
All violence is needless;
every loss of life is an open-wound;
taking the life of another makes no sense;
the day when all of humanity
wakes up to the truth
that all life is sacred
is long over-due and cannot come too soon.
Fear can be paralyzing;
hope is a way and the road to healing;
the only answer to anger and hate
is to carry on shining
like a search-light in the dark
and be a constant beacon of peace;
standing together in solidarity
and extending a hand to those who are in need
is the only way to accept
and to get past a tragedy –
and that is why it is important
in the morning to remember
those who we have lost…
and this morning,
I am in mourning
and I stand shoulder to shoulder
and hopeful for peace
for the people of the city of Paris.
Mark The Poet 