illumination

My Poem “The Blackout”

Mark Hastings life, lost, me, Poetry , , , , , , , , ,

One second there was light
and the next there was darkness…
One second all was bright
and the next I couldn’t see
my hand in front of my face…
One second I was looking at
my phones illuminated screen
and the next I was using the torch
of my phone to guide my way…
One second the sun was shining
and the next it had completely
disappeared below the horizon
heralding the end of the day.

I still remember those days
and those nights when I was a child
when the power used to go out
every now and again –
but whenever it happens now
it is always a complete and utter surprise
to the degree that some people
still attempt to flick light-switches
on and off multiple times
perhaps believing that they can cause
somekind of electrical reset.

It’s strange looking out of the window
at night and seeing all the streetlights off…
it’s odd having no power, no light,
and no heat for a short amount of time –
but such an experience does make you truly appreciate how much we all
do sometimes take for granted
the gift of instant electricity,
and how much when we do not have it
at out disposal some of us feel immediately lost.

When the lights come on again,
when the TV screens flicker back to life,
and when we no longer have any further need
for the torches and the candles that we
had lit as temporary sources of light,
we all feel thankful to be able
to see clearly and to feel comfortable
once again in our world of modern enlightenment
that for a time had been taken away from us
by the inconvenience of a brief
but significant neigbourhood blackout.

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My Poem “Out of the darkness cometh the light”

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

Out of the darkness cometh the light…
when we move past moments
of pain and despair it is possible to find
exactly who and what we had been hoping
and praying would come into our life…
after we overcome periods of chaos and confusion
we can encounter signs and reasons
to not give up –
and when things can seem too much to handle,
and when you feel like no matter what you do
you can’t do anything right,
there always follows flashes of insight
that show you the way that you need to go
to bring order back to the world
and the torch of illumination
that you need to see
that no matter how black
the clouds that appear to be swirling
above your head might seem
out of the darkness
will one day cometh a light
that will make all that happened to you
feel like it needed to happen
so that you could once again
rest your head at night
and dream dreams of the beautiful,
the hopeful, the best, and the bright.

My Poem “Orb”

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

Orb of light, Orb of life,
Orb shining brightly in the sky…
Orb of wonder, Orb of power,
Orb that makes the world go round…
we dare not stare directly at you…
Orb of worship, Orb of beauty,
Orb of warmth –
even from far away
your dominance over all of us
will forever be unmatched…
Orb of blessings, Orb of day,
Orb of celestial fire,
we who live under your glare
are here because of you –
but we know that even you
will one day see the moment of your death
when the cauldron at your heart
has burned its last
and you will be reborn anew,
and consume this blue and green planet
that has never ceased to orbit you,
and you will take all that has ever been with you –
and the cycle of life will begin again
when a new light begins to shine
and light up the darkness like a match…
Orb of morning, Orb of afternoon, Orb of evening,
Orb of every colour of the rainbow
that colours our world in all its beautiful ways…
Orb of seasons, Orb of phases,
Orb of reasons, Orb of storms,
Orb that we are forever bound to,
who we are all grateful for
and who we respect and adore –
we, the human race, are a part of you,
just as you are a part of us,
and no matter if one day our ancestors
reach out into the great unknown of space
and make a new home for themselves
upon a planet circling a star
far away from here, in another part of the galaxy,
you can rest assured that within the soul
and the dreams of humanity
there will only be one light guiding our way:
and that light will be you –
our sun, our beacon, our sphere of illumination,
our perfect and indomitable Orb.

My Poem ‘All Kinds’

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

It’s nice to find a place
where you feel accepted…
it’s nice to find somewhere
to connect to and to feel connected…
it’s nice to find a place
where you can do anything,
say almost anything,
wear anything without fear
of being judged or isolated…
it’s nice to find somewhere
you can sit down, talk,
listen, work, write, share,
and perhaps even discover
and explore something unexpected.

So many different kinds of people
are drawn and find themselves
in the same place at the same time…
so many people from all walks of life
seemingly-randomly find themselves
interacting with other people every day
who serve as lamp-posts, signposts,
and talismans illuminating the path
that they must follow next…
so many different followers
of so many different ideologies,
customs, beliefs, tastes, and accents
can for a short period find themselves
walking or standing behind one-another
in the same line…
so many different ranges of ages
can find themselves within touching-distance
of those who are at ease with those
who are preoccupied by something on their mind –
and also by those who seemingly are
in their own infinite world of one and many,
but who are also at their best.

There is a reason why some flowers
and some plants need to be planted
in the right soil and in the right Earth
for them to grow and in the way
that they are meant to…
there is a reason why certain places
appeal to some people and not all –
sometimes the place where you want to be
can be somewhere that puts you
in the right place you want to be emotionally,
spiritually, psychologically,
within your own body and mind…
there is a reason why you go to things
and why things come to you…
there is a reason why when daylight
passes through a prism
it scatters into its spectral-components…
humanity, like light, is invisible when seen as-one –
however, when you look closer and deeper
you realize that for the world to be
the way that it is and the way that
it is supposed to be
it takes all kinds.