humanity
My Poem “A Summer Like No Other”
The Summer season is usually
a time that most people
look forward to and plan for…
the Summer is usually when
people have once in a lifetime
experiences that they
have never had before…
the Summer season is usually
when people spend most of
their time outdoors…
the Summer is usually when
everybody is smiling
from ear to ear and embracing
the rays of the sun
that seem to shine a light
on certain aspects of life
that inspire moments of awe.
The Summer season is supposed to be
when people enjoy certain examples
of beauty as they come into bloom…
the Summer is usually when people
like to take their time
when talking to one another,
face to face, instead of feeling
like every interaction is just one long zoom…
the Summer season is supposed to be
when people feel optimistic,
and they are generally in a good mood…
the Summer is supposed to be
when most people are singing with joy
and not crying because they had got
a bad case of the blues.
This Summer has already been filled
with so many examples of good news,
as well as the ultimate example
of bad news which we all know about
which in truth has felt like
one long, continuous, and engulfing
cloud that has been the epitome
of a bad dream that has
unfortunately come true…
this Summer has been one that
will forever be etched upon
the psyche of everybody
far into the future…
this Summer has been a time
in the lives of everybody alive
that will be something spoken about,
chronicled, and remembered as a
Summer when the whole world
had to do what they had to do
to protect the most vulnerable
and to preserve as much as possible
for the next generation…
the events of this year
will haunt humanity like a spectre,
because this year has felt like
a Summer like no other, and memorable
in most cases for all the wrong reasons.
My Poem “We Can’t Go On Like This”
We can’t go on like this forever…
we can’t go on staying away from places,
wearing masks, and being socially
distant from one another…
we can’t go on living in insulated bubbles –
because if we do then we must
expect ourselves to over time
become suffocated from real life
and traumatised emotionally
as well as psychologically as if were
we prisoners who had committed a crime…
we can’t go on living a life as if one
that parallels those of the past –
because the destiny of humanity
is to be interconnected both emotionally
as well as physically, and if we are not
then I believe that we may one day
find ourselves regressing as a species and over time aggressively devolving
into even smaller tribes.
We can’t go on not exploring new things
and not finding ourselves somewhere
that we never expected ourselves to be…
we can’t go on not sharing new
personal experiences –
even those made under
the most extreme and
stressful of circumstances…
we can’t go on not living like
we need to live for our further development
so as to ensure that we live to see
the day when the entire world faces
all the threats that present themselves
together
rather than individually and country by country.
People can’t go on not working,
people can’t go on not providing,
people can’t go on as they are
and as they have had to
for far too long as it is –
however I know that everybody
around the world can collectively
agree that no matter what happens
humanity will survive what is going on now,
but in the long term we cannot go on like this.
My Poem “The Misunderstood”
Everybody always looks to their peers
for a familiar face to trust…
everybody always looks to
who they seek out on a regular basis
for guidance about what to think,
what to believe, what to do,
and what is the truth…
everybody always looks to the images
that they see being presented
in newspapers, in magazines,
on television, in movies,
and on the screens that they use to
access the infinite streams of the internet –
and everybody sees some things
and everyone sees some people
slightly differently depending upon
their own personal opinions, attitudes,
experiences, and past relationships.
I believe that some things are not open
to interpretation, for example:
we are all human beings,
we all live on the same planet,
we all breathe the same air,
we all have the same colour blood
coursing through our veins –
and though we are not all the same
physically, psychologically,
or emotionally, we are all people,
we all need the same vital things
to survive, to grow, and to thrive,
and the fact is that some people
in this world have had it worse than
other people could ever truly imagine.
I think everybody needs to focus
more on what we all have in common
rather than on what divides us
and we all need to treat one another
with all the respect that we are due
through acts of selflessness,
mentoring, sharing, and coming to
an understanding that hopes to help
heal the scars of the past
so that everybody can one day
be defended and represented
by those who chose to rise above
the use of violence to settle their
problems and instead decided
to reach out and find a dialogue
of words and actions that they
hoped over time would help
to right some of the many wrongs
that have been wrought upon
the innocent, the forgotten,
the lost, and the misunderstood.
My Poem “Infinity”
There is nothing
that draws peoples’ eyes
than that of the dragon-like fire
of a rocket as it blasts off from Earth,
like a falcon that pierces the blue sky,
until it reaches the eternal darkness
of space where it is always night
and adorned with distant starlight –
and it is always a feat of human
ingenuity, teamwork, and dreams
that makes such a leap into the unknown
one of many small steps that
will always be recorded in great
detail for generations to come
what inspired and intelligent
people can do when they work together
with a mission of peace
and space exploration
and see them return safely
with stories of what was,
what is, and what will be
the more that humanity reaches out
towards the stars with unity
as we continue to explore
the depths of infinity.
My Poem “Nightingales”
Walking out into the morning light,
as the sound of the Nightingale’s song
can be heard heralding a new day,
men and women seamlessly
cross paths and exchange
distinct and yet unique calls
of mutual and reciprocal
strength, solidarity
and understanding
to one another in order to help
sustain those continuing
to give care to those in need
as well as to give those returning home
something to aid their sleep
as they prepare to say goodnight.
The care of patients in hospitals
is a round the clock necessity…
the care of people struggling
to breathe these days is among
the highest of priorities…
the attention given to people
unable to fully realize what
is happening to them is done delicately…
now is the time when we see –
almost every hour of every day –
so many examples of people
exhibiting the best traits of humanity.
The daily lives of countless people
have been effected and disrupted,
and everybody in one way
or another has had to adapt to
different ways of behaving that may
have seemed alien before the world
was seemingly turned upside-down…
we are all trying to be there for
those who are in lockdown
and those who are sheltering within
their homes because they are among
our society’s most fragile.
Being caring and thoughtful
in the service and in memory of others
is always a powerful way of thwarting
any and all inner demons and doubts…
being there when and where we are needed
and never ceasing to make our
calls of hope resonate as loud as possible
is what we can all do every moment
of every day and in turn use
the power of our voices in such a way
that may be heard and remembered
to be just as distinctive and joyous
as that of the sound of
a nightingale’s chorus.
My Poem “We’re All In This Together”
The sound of pots and pans
being banged together
ring out at 7 o’clock every evening
from roof tops, from open windows,
from the doorsteps of houses
and apartment blocks
all across New York City,
and in many parts of
the United States of America –
and it is an amazing, humbling,
and emotional thing to behold.
The sound of clapping hands
echoes from street to street
all over the United Kingdom
every Thursday at 8 o’clock at night,
as people of all ages recognise
the hard work and the sacrifice
being undertaken by healthcare
professionals and “key-workers” –
from nurses to doctors,
from grocery store workers to bank clerks –
who turn up every day to their respective
places of work and who do their best
for those in the most need
at this time of great anguish –
and the sound that is produced
always generates a wave of emotion
that is, in my opinion, an example
of the best of humanity.
Every day the world loses people
who are irreplaceable…
every day we all mourn the loss
of our fallen brothers and sisters…
every day humanity loses
a member of its family…
every day we all have to keep
our distance from our loved ones
and from those people who
we may not know but who
we would not want to suffer
at the hands of the virus
that we all want to see the end of
as swiftly as possible so that
we can attempt to reevaluate
our lives and the reality
in which we find ourselves
that often feels as if
it has been shattered
like the shards of a broken mirror.
Life is not as it was,
and nothing will ever be the same again…
each and every death of everybody
who has lost their lives
is a scar upon the heart of us all,
and I hope that when this virus
has been finally subdued
from doing any more harm
each of us who are blessed
to still be alive and have reached
the other side of this massacre
will be able to find peace
and a deeper connection
between ourselves and all of humanity –
and especially when people are finally
able to overcome their fear
of keeping their distance
and physically interacting
with one another.
What is essential to life
is sometimes invisible to the eye…
what makes life worth fighting for
and worth living for is present
in the heart of every family member
who loves one another…
one of the most important things
in life is to be kind
and whenever we all find ourselves
presented with an opportunity
to show the depths of our humanity
there is no greater way than to
show a sign of hope –
in the form of a painted rainbow
or within the resonance of a sound
for all the world to see and to hear –
that is a clear and present example
of how everybody in this world
is bound to one another,
and no matter what we have to go through
we can get through anything and everything
just as long as we remember that
when it comes to staying alive
we are all in this together.
My Poem “Sacrifice”
These are crazy times…
these are the days that we hoped would never come…
these are the times when people are
acting on their survival instincts… these are the days that we will hopefully
one day look back upon and marvel at
humanity’s collective ability
and each of our own individual capacity
to do all that we feel like we need to do
when faced with a crisis that we cannot control
but which we can play our part in finding
a way through the thick fog
of what we do not understand.
Each of us recognise that the time
we are living through now
most of the time feels like a struggle…
each of us know that feeling of distress,
of disappointment, of depression
that rears its ugly head and rises
to the surface of our minds
when we are hindered from doing
what we want to do, going where
we want to go, being with who
we want to be with –
there are people staring out their windows within the safety of their home,
there are doctors, nurses, patient care techs
who are working long shifts in hospitals
who wish that they did not have to be so far away from their loved ones,
but who are all choosing to do
what they feel they need to do
to beat the threat that feels like
it has engulfed the world
and which is praying on people
young and old from every walk of life.
As Winston Churchill once said:
“This is not the end.
It is not even the beginning of the end.
But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning” –
and it is this quote that has been
carrying me through these times,
and I am sure that these words
I will continue to repeat to myself
as the chaotic times of our present predicament
continue to change and ask of us
to be strong, to be safe, to be mindful,
and to be the best version of ourselves
and to not choose to give in to fear
and to the dark side of human nature
that some people dwell upon
and act upon because they cannot help themselves…
the human race will survive
what we are all going through…
the human race has had to deal with
and live through atrocities
of our own making because of human action
or inaction before and we will one day
get the chance to reflect upon these times, these days, this real-life nightmare
and find a way to live with our own sacrifice.
My Poem “The Defiant”
Small things can become big things,
big things can become small things…
the invisible can sometimes be
more influential than the tangible…
some of the things with the most power
to sway the actions and the intentions
of a wider society of people
are those that do not have a face to look to,
are those that do not have a voice to hear
other than that of what they are
capable of meterializing
as a result of the wake that they
are able to generate.
Small things – like atoms, microbes, even whispers –
can exist and can be found thriving for
varying periods of time
around every living thing
and in the time that they can do
what they can do they attempt
to invade and to override the defenses
of those trying to stay alive
in many places around the world.
Big things – like life, stars, galaxies, the universe –
all once began smaller that eye of a needle
and yet when given the right environment
to grow some things are capable
of accomplishing infinitely complex,
incredible, unimaginable,
astounding and astonishing actions
that at times defy expectations
and clear explanations.
At this moment people all around the world
are being asked to live in bubbles
of physical solitude
while still connected to a greater bubble
of reality that encompasses all the other
varying bubbles of life that people
have had to adapt to and to adjust to living within –
because we are all a part of a world,
because we are all a part of a species,
because we are all a part of a family,
because we are all a part of a consciousness
that will not allow itself to be beaten
by the small, or by the big,
and we will defend ourselves in every way that we can –
socially, hermetically, and responsibly –
because though Earth and humanity
may be small in comparison to
the infinite vastness of the universe
we are a planet that has always been
and will continue to be one
of survivors who will live on,
because everything and everybody is,
always has been, and will continue to be,
unequivocally and unapologetically defiant
through all that we have to face.
Mark The Poet 