humanity

My Poem “Train of Thought”

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

It’s never too late
to start doing something…
it’s never too late in the game
to change what you are already doing…
it’s never too late
to start behaving differently…
it’s never too late
to learn from your mistakes
and to make use of what you have learned –
because it is the act of being
transformed by what you may have seen,
felt, heard, and experienced
that is at the heart
of all forms of poetry.

There is no way to know everything,
there is no way to see everything,
there is no way to go everywhere –
but there is always a way and a time
to try your hand, to use your mind,
to feel with your heart
and with your soul at doing something
and give it all that you can,
if you are willing to live your life
as if by the roll of a dice
and choose to do as you dare.

It is in our nature as human beings
to want to learn and to explore…
it is an intrinsic motivation of many
to seek out, to share, to live,
and to implore others to follow
their lead and attempt to find
an outlet to drive the reasons
for all the choices that they make…
it is in all of our nature
to want what is best for ourselves
as well as for those around us
and to communicate our true intentions
to those who matter the most to us
before it is too late…
it is in the collective psyche
of humanity to want to be
free of judgement, anguish, and pain.

It is by following that voice,
that draw, that gravity, that call
that awakes us sometimes
in the middle of the night
that compels so many people
to make real and personify
their dreams in order to prove
to ourselves and the world
that though we may not all
think the same way all the time
we all have so much to gain
from occasionally switching lanes
in the way that we believe things are
and sometimes taking a chance
on a stream of consciousness
and stepping outside
of the frame of confinement
and by leaving the carriage
of the ordinary and the every
train of thought.

My Poem “Say No To Dystopia”

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

When I woke up this morning,
in my mind I felt like I had travelled
back in time to the year 1989 –
over thirty years in the past –
to a time in my life
when I began to become absolutely fascinated
by films and TV shows that depicted
what life would look like thirty years,
a hundred years, a thousand years in the future;
and this morning, while watching
a film called ‘Millennium’ –
a movie that centred around
the prospect and the concept
of time travellers travelling
back and forth in time
to save people before they died
and transporting them into the future –
I realized that almost thirty years before,
as a child, I was most likely watching
the same film that I was watching now on DVD
back then on VHS tape,
and while just as completely
enthralled now as I was by
what I saw depicted back then
I realise now that at the time
I did not fully understand what
the film trying to say.

Every film, every TV show, every book
whose story takes place
in a future setting and at a future time
always attempts to predict an accurate
depiction of how the world of tomorrow
will look, sound, feel,
and what the life of our descendants
will be like based upon an extrapolation
of the direction that some things
seem to be logically taking –
such as technology, fashion,
and the way that people treat one another –
and sometimes the world to come
is predicted to be one of hope, optimism,
universal understanding
and peaceful coexistence,
while some cautionary tales
predict that we may all be slowly
but surely spiralling into a world
that can only be described as being
dystopian
in which the children of tomorrow
have to live a hard and painful life
because of the short term actions
and mistakes of our present
which to them would be perceived
as their past.

Science Fiction writers and futurists
have been trying to warn people
what the future might be like,
and what the future world might
look like, if we – humanity –
do not stop and take a good, long,
and deep look at ourselves
while asking ourselves
where we are going wrong
and what we can do to build a better
world to leave for future generations
to be thankful for.

At this moment in time,
it sometimes feels like the world
is teetering on the edge of a precipice
from which there will be no coming back from:
a potential future that has been prophesied about
in science fiction tales for almost
a hundred years –
from H.G. Wells’ ‘The Time Machine’
to films like ‘Waterworld’ ‘Mad Max’,
‘The Matrix’, ‘Blade runner’,
and ‘The Terminator’ movies,
which all depict possible versions of our world
and a dark vision of the future
in which Earth’s natural resources
are in short supply or have been completely depleted entirely
and humanity is mostly living a day to day existence of not always knowing
how they are going to survive
and if it is possible for them to leave
a legacy going forwards that generations
to come will be proud of.

Humanity always has a choice
about which direction they want to go
in terms of technological interdependency,
the destruction of the natural world,
and the way they we take
what we have for granted –
and time will definitely tell
whether the predictions of those who either predict a positive version of the future
or those who predict a negative version of the future will ultimately be judged to be right;
however, what is as clear as a crystal ball
is that whatever happens in the future
to humanity and to the world around us,
every one of us are all the architects
of what has yet to come
and by influencing the people
in a position of power now
to want to give the gift of optimism
for the children of the future –
some who might not even be born yet –
we can be a part of making a potential
utopia by promising to keep
the predictions already made
of a potential world-wide armageddon
or an inevitable dystopia
tales of science fiction
that will never become a reality.

My Poem “Maelstrom”

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

Nature is always showing
its utter dominance
and its powerful influence over humanity…
the nature of the world
is constantly acting independent to,
and without any thought of,
how the after effects of its actions
will impact upon all of its inhabitants –
however, some inhabitants of the world
sometimes seemingly act
with just as much disregard
and impunity for how their actions
will ultimately impact upon nature.

When a huge storm rages
there always follows intolerable
damage, destruction, and loss,
and it can sometimes be hard
to pick up the pieces and recover
from what no one and nothing
has any control over –
namely the ever changing weather
and the cocktail of elelments
that all build up to such high levels
of instability and volatility
that they naturally have to create
and generate that which must be
expelled in order to once regain
a sense of order and stability.

Severe storms can literally
change the face of nature –
and so many meteorological phenomenon
have been observed and have
been carried out by nature
since the weather patterns of Earth
began to take shape,
and a long time before humanity
in any form rose to become a vital
and influential voice in the future
of our home planet
and how nature will treat
humanity as a response.

The influence that we have on nature,
the way that nature can influence us,
the equilibrium that we must have with nature
if we are to survive,
is fundamental and it must be recognised
and respected for being what it is:
namely the greatest example
of symbiosis that has ever been observed –
which is why we should all do
everything that we can to think about
why things are the way that they,
how humanity collectively effects
itself and the world that it is
lucky to call home
and all the gifts and the opportunities
that our little blue sphere affords
every form of life on this planet.

We all need to be more concerned
with where we are all going and why
before it is too late
to turn back the clock entirely,
and we must all do our part
to attempt to heal the wounds
that we have scarred nature with
before the high tides of the seas
that have been littered for years
with the fragments of lasting modernity
return to humanity a maelstrom
of their own making.

My Poem “Under the influence”

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

Everybody is always
under the influence of something
or someone – however, sometimes
the strings of influence are so
faint that they almost look
invisible to the eye
even though, within our minds,
our thoughts and our feelings
are unquestionably being coaxed
into changing how we see the world,
how we think about the world,
how we interpret the world,
how we interact with the world –
and the reason why we are who we are
and why the world is the way that is it
can all be traced back to the power
that certain things, certain people,
certain circumstances, certain environments,
perhaps to certain opportunities when, where,
and how a small group of individuals
were inspired and influenced
to think something that
no one had ever thought before,
to believe something that
no one had ever believed before,
and to do something that
no one had ever done before,
and fundamentally change
and effect everything;
and the reason that we know
everybody who has ever lived
has been influenced by something,

at some time or another,
is because previous generations
always like to leave testaments
and echoes of themselves
for future generations to follow,
analyze, and interpret,
but without the true intention
of the creator in front of them
to compare the constantly evolving
product and result thereof.

Sometimes influences can easily
be seen, felt, and experienced –
because they are intentional…
sometimes influences are accidental…
sometimes influences can be like
a positive push by someone who
thinks that you have within you
the potential for something
that needs to be realized…
sometimes some influences can be bad,
counter-productive, or potentially dangerous –
especially those influences
that make you feel confused, angry,
or sad immediately after you
have been influenced by them.

Every day everybody is bombarded
by influences of every kind –
from the sun shining in the sky
to the sight of someone’s beautiful smile
that always fills you with love
at the same time that it makes you want to cry,
from a song on the radio that
compels you to sing-a-long
to an advertisement on television
trying to sell you something –
and that along the lines of how things have been,
that is how things will always be,
who the human race is as a species
and that is who we will always be, in some way:
under the influence.

My Poem “Dear John Lennon (2011)”

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

Back in 2011, I wrote a poem called “Dear John Lennon” about the one and the only John Lennon and since today is the 39th Anniversary of his ultimately passing I just wanted to share it again as my tribute to one of the most amazing and influential artists of our time whose influence over the people of the world continues in so many ways will never be forgotten. If you have read it before I hope you will enjoy it again! 😌

“Dear John Lennon”

One of the most phenomenal,
inspiring, magnetic, influential,
and amazing men, musicians,
and poets, of the 20th Century –
you have had a remarkable impact
on my life, my Dad’s life,
and on the lives of millions of people
all around the world,
because you were the epitome of humanity,
and you always will be.

Your music has filled the homes,
the hearts, and the minds,
of my family, since before I was born –
in fact, the first Christmas present
that my Mum brought my Dad
was a copy of your album ‘Double Fantasy’,
and the album that I know my Dad
thinks about when he thinks of you
and he wishes to mourn.

I would have loved to have known you,
to have met you,
and to have talked to you, John;
even if it were only for a minute –
after listening to every one of your songs,
and the songs of The Beatles,
I have felt many times that you were
talking directly to me, to everyone-
and to this day, and beyond,
I feel as if your voice,
and your message has no limit.

You wrote and created some of
the most incredible, moving,
amazing, and true, songs
that I have ever heard –
every song is like
an amplifier of my own
thoughts, memories, troubles,
and hopes, and I am inspired
and enlightened by every word.

You are, were, will always be,
us, all, me, and everyone;
you believed, and you saw,
that the best of life, and the world,
can be achieved through peace, love,
and through striving to be
the best that we can become.

To me, you are one of
the greatest men to have ever lived,
and everyday I mourn you
like I would a brother;
you changed the world during
your short time on Earth
for the better, and forever;
and who you were, and what you
and your music mean to people,
is a star so bright it will
never be eclipsed by another.

Everyday your music reaches out
to people so profoundly
that they can not imagine a world
in which you were not a part of it;
everyday the love that you had within you,
and the love that people
will always feel for you,
manifests all over the world,
and enlighten’s your spirit.

You will live forever,
your voice will echo for all-time
through the minds and the hearts
of all who hear your voice –
tomorrow, a century from now,
and especially today,
the 8th of December, 2011;
I believe the world will one day
live in peace with one another, as one,
and fulfill your dream:
the dream of dear John Lennon.

RIP John 😢

My Poem “The Question that drives us”

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

Everybody has a question
that drives them which influences
every choice that they make
and every action that they take…
everybody has a question
that they need answered
in order to give their life meaning…
everybody has a question
that reflects what they hope
will be their ultimate fate…
everybody has a question
that is answered multiple times
throughout their life
which, for so many reasons,
some people sometimes find it hard
to accept and to believe
because they often find it hard
to imagine what they cannot see.

Answers are not always what people
find at the end of a journey…
possibilities are what most people
dwell upon when they reach
the end of a particular story…
most things in life that we commit
ourselves to are a matter of trust…
revelations are always powerful –
but almost always, in reflection,
no matter what we are doing
and where we are going,
it is the questions that we have,
the questions that we ponder upon,
and the questions that we are
consistently awoken by
over and over again
which are the source within our life
of what truly drives us.

My Poem “Outlaws”

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

When I was a kid
I was always fascinated by
legendary heroes and characters
such as Dick Turpin, Robin Hood,
Sinbad, Zorro, and many other
renowned outlaws of their
respected times and societies,
who rebelled against what
they saw as a dictatorial
state of being that people
were being forced to live in,
who decided to rob from the rich,
deliver to the poor, and fight
for the right of the innocent
to live free and happy
and content in the knowledge
that there was someone
looking out for their interests
and watching over them.

Heroes of conscience
who live every day of their life
fueled by the hope that they can
make a difference and right
the wrongs of tyranny
have been featured in so many
of the tales that humanity
has been telling itself for centuries,
and even in our modern age
those same characters still
embody and have associated with them
a symbolism and an enduring example
of just how powerful the human spirit
can be when it finds itself facing off against injustice.

There will always be injustice in this world
and there will always be a place
in the stories that we all tell ourselves
for extraordinary individuals
who have the courage of their convictions
to put the needs of the many
before the needs of the few
and commit to enacting
their own form of rebellion
by staying true to a code of behaviour that in their eyes of the oppressor
might be considered
the actions of an outlaw.

My Poem “Personal Collective”

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

There is nothing like
being around like-minded
people who all share
the same appreciation
and the same optimistic
outlook about something,
about someone, about life,
about the future,
about the importance of humanity
working together and respecting
one another for a common purpose
to maintain the ever growing,
changing, and evolving experiment
that is the human race
that will only truly begin to
show its potential when
the collective members
of our species ventures away
from Earth, seeks out,
and sees with their own eyes
all the wonders of
the rest of the universe.

It is so great being around people
who feel free and able to express
themselves in any and every way
that they can imagine…
it is so great to be around people
who do not require any kind of
explanation as to who you are,
what you are, and why you choose
to look then way that you do,
because you are instantly
and automatically accepted
as being a member of their collective.

When you are around people
who immediately understand you –
a fellow convention attendee,
a fellow concert-goer,
a fellow fan and enthusiast
of the same TV show, film, music,
group, artist, author –
then there is always a silent connection,
a mutual wave of empathy, an excitement,
and when the shared feeling
of a group of people culminates
into a rush of adrenaline
when they get to live out
a dream and meet a star
who symbolizes and embodies
that which they have invested
countless hours and energy into –
like meeting an actor who you admire,
or a rock star whose music always
makes your heart beat fast,
or an author whose words
have touched your heart –
then follows a perhaps
once in a life-time moment
that becomes a seed of joy
that grows, blooms,
and flourishes within you
so much so that it seeps out
and spreads to other people,
and sometimes to people
who you may slowly but surely
convert and assimilate
into your very own
personal collective.

My Poem “Apollo XI”

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

Fifty years ago today,
a man took one small step,
one giant leap for all mankind,
and imprinted the first footprints
of exploration of The Moon,
while capturing the attention
of every nation of planet Earth
and inspiring the imagination
of an entire generation.

The 20th of July, 1969,
was the tip of an arrow,
the culmination of an idea,
the realization of a dream,
the answer to a call to rise above
our human divisiveness
and bring people together
to achieve something truly astounding
and incredible by working together
for a common purpose
to give humanity a vision
of a prosperous future
in which everybody could live
in peace with one another.

Fifty years ago,
three astronauts of NASA,
three men of planet Earth,
three space adventurers,
three space explorers,
three dreamers escaped this planet’s
gravity and journeyed across
the expanse of space
and arrived in orbit of The Moon…
fifty years ago, Michael Collins,
Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong
did what nobody before them
had ever done before,
and with the entire world watching
them intently, and yet from afar,
they redefined who we are,
who we should be,
what we should be doing,
and what we should never stop striving for.

The human race is at its best
when we are all thinking
about what is best for everybody,
when we are reaching for the stars
and believing that things
can and will get better for all
if we all choose to be
who we were born to be:
a people with a shared destiny
who need one another to
live to our full potential,
so that the next generations
can one day look back
and think well upon the choices
that were made to realize
the never-ending dream
of imagination, ingenuity,
and interstellar enlightenment
beyond those first imagined
by the dreamers, the scientists,
the engineers, the families,
and the astronauts
that breathed life into the missions
to put the first men on The Moon –
which came to fruition
with the success of Apollo 11,
when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
made history when they walked on The Moon
and then triumphantly returned to Earth.

My Poem “Synchronicity”

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

Hope for the best…
be the best at what you do…
look for the best in everything…
make the best of what comes to you.

Every day is a test…
every day is a puzzle…
every day is both simple and complex…
every day is one of an infinite number
in the age of the universe –
and yet every day is special in some way,
shape, or form, because every day is not
the same as any other…
every day is as precious
and as ephemeral and as transient
as a dream or a bubble.

In this life, you have to be prepared
for the unexpected – but, at the same time,
be flexible and mindful that whatever plans
you make may need some slight adjustments
along the way in order to make them
come to fruition…
in this life, you sometimes have to use
your intuition about something
in order to give you the much needed
motivation to not be disheartened
by the negative voices
that are sometimes directed
in your direction.

Being a dreamer does not mean
that you live in a fantasy –
every idea that ever became
a reality was once the dream
and the wish of someone with a vision
of a world that they could one day
influence and leave their mark upon.

Being human means that you sometimes
have to see the end before the beginning,
you have to leap before you look,
you have to let your mind wander
and let your thoughts influence your actions,
you have to fall on your face,
get back up, and never stop
believing in the good that can come
from following and using your inner
search engine of inspiration –
filled with a life-time of moments,
images, sounds, and feelings –
that is your life and has the power
to influence the course of your life
far into the future and give you
the answer, the truth, the path,
the direction that will one day
synchronize and symbolize
every moment of your life.