There was no one like my Dad... there is no one like my Dad, and there never will be anyone like him... my Dad was the kindest, my Dad was the most giving, my Dad was the most generous, my Dad was the most loving man there ever was, and because of who he was those who were fortunate to know him and to have met him could never forget him... my Dad was one of a kind... my Dad was always thinking about others and doing things for others... my Dad had the most amazing smile and he had the most hynotizing and the most beautiful bright-blue eyes... my Dad woke up every morning, he looked out his bedroom window as the sun began to rise, and though at times it was a struggle for him because of what life had put him through, he got up and put one foot in front of the other and he effortlessly was the best friend, the best brother, the best husband, the best father the world has ever known... my Dad was there for me all my life... my Dad will always be my greatest source of inspiration, strength, and he will always be my hero... my Dad and I shared so much together - but I would give anything to have more time with him, to do more things with him, to talk to him and to hear him say to me: "Do your best" - which was something that he used to say to me and which will always stay with me every day from morning till night... life will never be the same again, but not a day will go by when I will not think of my Dad, when I will not miss my Dad, when I will not love my Dad, when I will not do my best for my Dad; but, to be honest, I know, and I can feel, that he is still with me, that he is still with us - because he was the best man there ever was and I am the luckiest son ever to have had the world's best Dad.
hero
A Poem A Day #415: Always the Starman
A Poem A Day #212: Hero
My Poem “David Bowie”
Over the course of his life he excited, he electrified, he entertained, and he enriched the world through his gift of creating art and music that instantly struck and stayed in the heart and in the mind of people, like a bolt of lightning from the sky, that made people feel, think, and imagine things that they may never have felt, thought, nor dreamt of before. He had a voice, he had a spirit, he had a charm, a charisma, a presence that could immediately captivate crowds of fans and make them want to sing and dance and lift up their eyes and their hands, because he was able to make people feel as if they could reach out and touch the energy of a star that could inspire them with a purpose that was able to show just how varied and full of colour each of us are - and to this day he and his music makes us consider a variety of possibilities, including whether there really is Life on Mars. He was a man who was not afraid of change, nor of changing his identity and how he was perceived... he was a man who was not afraid of experimentation nor of collaboration with fellow artists who he jived with and felt as if they understood him and also spoke the language of magic, imagination and inspiration that he did. He was a hero, and he still is... he was, he is, and he always will be an icon and a god of music in the eyes of millions of people around the world - and who he was and what he did was all that he ever wanted to be: a man who transcended but who was also connected to the world, a man who left an indelible legacy, a man who gave us all a part of his soul to remember him by, a man who had he not died would today have celebrated turning 75, a man whose face we will forever see, a man whose songs will be listened to by generation after generation on repeat: the man, the legend, the one and the only David Bowie.
My Poem “My God Father”
Forget Zeus, forget Odin –
because no other father in history,
nor within the pages of mythology,
could ever compare to my father
because my Dad will always be
one of the most inspiring, influential,
and important forces over me,
because all his life my Dad has given
the gift of his presence and he has
been there in so many ways for me
and for our entire family.
My Dad has worked all his life,
he has given back,
and he has helped others
through so many selfless acts
that embody who my Dad is,
what my Dad stands for,
where my Dad comes from,
and what has always been
important to my Dad:
his family, his friends, his humility,
his enduring spirit, and his strength
of character that is incomparable
and which is the reason why no one
ever forgets my Dad nor
all the amazing things that he
has done throughout his life.
My Dad is a hero – just ask anybody
who knows him and his name…
my Dad has been through so much –
but never do you ever hear him complain…
my Dad is the personification
and the example of the person
who you would hope and pray
to arrive – with his distinctive
blue eyes and his magnetic smile –
to save the day while using
all the power at their disposal
to bring about a miracle –
and that is why when I look at my Dad
I never see just a man,
because when I look at my Dad
I always see my father: the God.
Two years on, I’m still “Playing God”
It has been exactly two years since my book “Playing God” was published – and over that time, since writing the stories within, I have been thinking a lot about The Man in Black/The Man in White who is the protagonist of the book and the stories that I wrote.
I will admit that when I first began writing the character of “The Man in Black” in the first story of the collection I did not entirely know who he was, what he was, nor where he came from – however, the more stories that I wrote the more I discovered who he was, what he was, and where he came from, and when I was touched by the hand of inspiration and I found out who he was/what he was everything just fell into place and that realization echoed through and influenced every story that features him.
It’s weird, but I discover something new about the protagonist of the stories and the book I wrote every day – things that I must have included subconsciously while I was writing them – and when I think about who the “Man in Black” is and who he used to be before the stories that I told of him are set, I realize how much of his hidden identity/who he used to be continues to inspire everything that he does, the acts that he chooses to take, and the interactions that he has with the other characters of the stories… an identity that he is trying to run away from and be the antithesis of.
I have come to think of the seven stories of “Playing God” as three act plays, of a sort – something that was not initially intended, but something that delights me was the final outcome by accident… or was it? In any case, “Playing God” is and always will be a special book to me and one that includes so much of me within its pages and within the main protagonist. So, I just want to say a Happy 2nd Birthday to my book “Playing God”and happy birthday to “The Man In Black” who inspired me so much.
I drew this sketch back in February in anticipation for the two year anniversary of the publication of my book “Playing God” and it is essentially a brainstorm of things that the “Man in Black” might have had racing through his head at any given moment of every one of the seven stories within the collection that he features.
Writing all the stories of “Playing God”was a journey of discovery for me just as it was for the “Man in Black/Man in White” whom I wrote about, and I will always think of those stories and that character fondly, and perhaps one day I will find another tale to tell about the mercurious “Man in Black” who looks like David Bowie but who is not David Bowie.
-Mark
“We Can Be Heroes”
“The Man In Black” from my book ‘Playing God’ just dropped me a line and wanted me to tell everybody what he always says to me and what he always reminds me: Stay safe! Stay positive! Stay hopeful! And, of course, always be like David Bowie and remember “We can be heroes”… and I really do hope and pray that with the help and the support of everyone – both medical professionals and everybody on Earth – we can all get through this crisis and all help to beat the Coronavirus by working together and by supporting one another. Take care, my friends! Be a hero in any way that you can! 😊🌠
Rest In Peace, David Bowie
“The truth is, of course, that there is no journey. We are arriving and departing all at the same time.”
-David Bowie
1947-2016
My Poem “My Hero”
Family has always meant
everything to my Dad
and my Dad will always mean
everything to our family…
my Dad is the heart of our family,
the one that we take
all of our strength, our love,
and our inspiration from,
and he means more to all of us
than could ever be expressed…
my Dad has often had to suffer
the scars of all the battles
that he has found himself drawn into –
both physical and emotional;
however, my Dad has never given up,
my Dad has always put
everyone else’s thoughts, feelings,
and needs before his own,
and my Dad has always been there
for his children when they
needed him the most…
my Dad is such a phenomenal
role-model, a beacon hope,
and his natural blue eyes
and his magnetic smile
is always reason enough
to smile in return and believe
that even the darkest of days
can be turned around with a ray
of sunshine in the form
of someone selfless and special…
the gift that is my Dad
is the one that I have been blessed
to have in my life all my life,
and I would not be anything
without the super-human man
who will forever be an inspiration
to me in so many ways:
the one who first taught me
the meaning of working hard
for whatever it is that you desire,
and the one who daily shows me
that nothing is ever impossible,
because my Dad –
David William George Hastings –
is and always will be my hero.
markthepoet.me 