I am alive… I am awake…
I have been revived…
I have stepped through the gate…
I have heard a voice
call to me from the dark…
last night I easily
slipped beneath the covers of twilight…
I slept… I dreamed,
and in my dreams I saw trees, I saw stars…
I saw huge flowers and enormous honeybees…
I looked through a galactic-window
while standing upon the red
sandy-surface of the planet Mars –
but now my eyes are open,
now I see the light
that emanates from within everybody…
now I hear the unspoken,
now I write the poetry
that I see all around me…
an awakening… a rejuvenation…
a rebirth… a rainbow and a spectrum of colour –
like that which follows the raindrops of a downpour –
is something that some people take for granted,
while others who are able to see true beauty
when it is right in front of them
feel empowered to see and to believe in more…
a restoration… a resurrection…
an after-life… a resurgence…
a renewal of life
can follow any and every choice that you make
to look above, to look within, to reach-out
with more that just your fingertips…
to open your heart and your hands
is to grasp the power of your own soul
and it is the means for you to bring about
a spiritual and beautiful revival.
inspiration
My Poem ‘In view of the Trocadero’
You can’t beat a great seat
near a window with a great view –
whether it be a panoramic-view in Italy
that features the epic and awe-inspiring sight
of a volcano called “Mount Vesuvius”,
or the watery-splendor of the majestic fountains
of the Palais de Chaillot in France,
or standing on the rocky-top of Tennessee…
there are some sights and some places
that irrevocably stay with you.
So much art has been created…
so many poems have been written…
so many stories have been generated…
so many songs have been christened
with the identity and the inspiration
that they will always be known for…
so many things cannot be captured
with a photograph, or with words –
because no matter what is seen or said
about a place in particular
there is always so much more…
memories from childhood of a place
that we visited mean so much
because they were the first time
that we went there,
and nobody ever forgets
their first time going somewhere…
legends are built upon
the retelling of tales
and the experiences of people
who wanted the history of the world
to never forget what it is
and what it was about a place
that gave people a reason to say
why it is that they care
and what is the most important thing
about a place that they want to share.
When you are looking out the window of an airplane
you feel like you are within
touching-distance of heaven…
when you are sitting on a bench in Golden Gate Park
and marveling at the oasis
of spell-binding beauty that you see
at the very heart of the city of San Francisco…
when you are standing on a seaside boardwalk
and you become intoxicated
by all that stimulates your senses
as you become hypnotized by the sight
of the bright sunlight
shimmering on the ocean waves below…
when you are somewhere that instantly
becomes somewhere that means the world to you,
you will take that place with wherever you go…
just like the view that I have now of The Trocadero –
a small reminder of a place with the same name,
that lives on even though it is far from home.
My Poem ‘The Wilder Tower’
I will never forget the first time I saw
and the first that I climbed the steps
of the “Wilder Tower” – the lightning tower…
I will never forget the silence that I heard
and the feeling of peace that I felt
when I stood atop the stone-built tower
that stands as a monument in a former battlefield
in Chickamauga, Georgia…
I will never forget and I could never truly describe
what I was thinking and what it meant to me
to be where I was and with whom I was with…
I will never forget what came over me,
nor how fast my heart was beating,
as we were standing and looking below and beyond
to the green-grass and to the trees
that stretch to the horizon in almost every direction…
I felt as if I had always been meant to be there,
and as if the tower itself had been calling to me
and beckoning to me all my life.
The Wilder Tower stands tall and steady,
and over the years since its construction first began
it has literally weathered everything:
from a delay in its building,
to being hit during a thunder-storm
by a bolt of blue-lightning…
the Wilder Tower is magnetic
and it is a place that draws people to it…
the Wilder Tower is somewhere anybody can go
to climb, to stop, to think,
and to call out for an answer
from whomever may be listening…
the Wilder Tower is a powerful place
to find inspiration if you are romantic
or artistically-inclined,
especially if you a young-lover,
an artist, and a poet.
To some people, a building is just a building …
to some people, a tower is just a tower…
to some people, a memorial to a battle
is just a reminder of a violent past –
however, to me, certain places have great meaning
and they have the draw and the gravity
that they do for reasons
that are sometimes spiritual in nature…
our planet – the world that gives us
all that we could ever possibly want or need –
has many places on it that will forever have a memory
imbued and associated with it
that will always make them places
that are meaningful and special…
I have stood atop skyscrapers –
from the towering Empire State Building
to the beautiful Rockefeller Center in New York City –
and though those buildings and the skylines
that I saw will stay with me forever
in my memories that I will always remember,
nothing and nowhere could compare
to the first time that I stood looking at,
climbing the stairs of,
and then standing atop of
and high-above the ground,
with my heart in my hands,
while smiling and in-awe
of the 85-foot tall
Wilder Tower.
My Poem ‘Experimentation’
Everything begins with experimentation…
most of the things that we love the most
once began as something unknown…
most things we seemingly
stumble upon at random…
most of the things that we take with us wherever we go
are the things that remind us of the wonders
that we remember of our childhood home…
we grow up with certain things…
we grow up with people who we know, and who know us…
we lose things… we have to look in more than one direction
in order to find our focus.
When we start looking beyond our comfort-zone,
when we start following a voice
that calls to us like an S.O.S,
when we start caring about a people
and a world that is not our own,
when we start finding others who bring out our best…
a chain-reaction of events without-end forms…
a new thing is born…
a new way of exploring
the infinite possibilities of the universe is launched…
a new sword to defend you from the dark of the world is forged.
Everything is a continuation…
everybody is a DJ – and every day we all remix what we see,
what we hear, what we feel, in our mind and in our imagination…
when we look around, when we want to journey to somewhere
with a definitive-destination, and we stop to think
about why any of us are here and what should be
our new source of motivation…
when we want a bit of the old and a bit of the new,
when we want both the contemporary and the retro,
then it doesn’t hurt to spin the wheel of inspiration
and dabble in a bit of artistic experimentation.
My Poem ‘Trailblazer’
Very few of us are the first
to do something…
most of us are following
in the footsteps of other people…
there are some people who can see things
that are beyond what they have always been taught
to believe in…
sometimes a one of a kind idea
can be enough to light
the touch-paper of consciousness
and reveal something so powerful
that in the wrong hands
could be truly lethal.
We are all the still pulsating and emanating light
of an epic spark – the moment of miracle
that began reality, a long time ago,
somewhere far-away…
orbs of fire, light, energy, and hope
shine every second in a dark-sky
all around us…
there are always signs,
there are always recommendations,
steering and influencing us all
to follow a certain path –
however, sometimes those paths
can be shrouded with the shadow of uncertainty…
the stars of the universe tell their own stories,
they have a life, and they burn brightly,
and they are secret keepers and teachers of all life –
and the most important lesson that they teach us is:
when life is as good as can possibly get,
then why would you rush any moment of it?
We follow others, others will follow us…
some roads are long and a clear-run
to a specific destination,
while others are bumpy and rough…
I have always wanted to be a pathfinder –
someone who knows how amazing
and intoxicating it can be
to be the discoverer of a thing
or a place of wonder…
it is always hard for anyone
to come up with a truly original idea –
however, I believe that in our own way,
and in our own fields of exploration,
with each step that we take
we become one of life’s true trailblazers.
My Poem ‘Be Poetic’
Write what you see…
write what you feel…
write what you believe…
write about your dreams…
write about what is real…
wake up early,
walk towards the eastern horizon
and watch the sun rising every morning…
stay up late at night
until the hours of twilight
and watch the stars shine brightly
and feel their light get inside you…
and what you see… and what you feel…
and what you believe, and what you dream
will fill your mind with wonder
and spark your imagination
when you put pen to paper, or finger to key,
and will become a part of your art
and your writing, and it will change you
and bring into your heart a muse of inspiration
that is amazing and beautiful.
Poetry is not just words…
poetry is not just something that can be written…
if you really want to write or make anything poetic
then all you have to do is open your eyes,
open your heart, look around yourself,
look within yourself, and draw on everything
that your instincts and your senses cannot deny,
and then pick up whatever you use to express yourself
and share what it is that you feel and care about.
Write about anything –
no matter if it’s light, or dark, funny, or sad,
whether it makes you cry, or if it makes you laugh…
write today… write right now…
look around you… look inside you…
think… feel… don’t be afraid… don’t hesitate…
close your eyes… breath in, breath out…
open your eyes, and write like there is no tomorrow…
because today is the day for all poets
to show what they are made of…
be poetic, because today is World Poetry Day!
Happy World Poetry Day! 🙂
My Poem ‘Good morning, sunshine’
I’m not a song-writer,
I’m a story-teller…
I’m a believer,
but I’m not a fortune-teller…
I have been doing what I do
for longer than I can remember,
doing what I do is both a curse
and a life-saver…
if I could talk to God
I would ask him a favour:
help me, help you,
inspire the world
and give hope to the sick,
the needy, and the poor –
because that is what I want to do
and that is who I want to be…
I want to have the words within me
to change the world
and make everybody understand
that every day is like a new song
that has never been played or heard before,
and every conversation in every language
that is spoken is pure unfiltered poetry.
We all have an oasis in this world…
we all have a place on this Earth
that for us has this lure…
we all have reasons for doing
what we do between sunrise and sunset…
we all have reasons for feeling
happiness and for getting upset –
we are all thinking and feeling human-beings,
we are not unfeeling machines…
we care and we worry about personal things…
we all know what is in our heart
and we all think about “what could have been”.
We don’t have long to figure out
what we are meant to do…
growing up, sometimes we all have to go
with the flow of a tune that we don’t really know…
most of the time, if you don’t have someone else
holding you up and pushing you forward
then you can feel like you are walking
and wavering on a tight-rope
between two tent-poles.
I have been around the world…
I have met people both evil and kind…
I have been on occasion lost for words –
but since the day I met the angel,
my angel, Melissa, all I see
is true heavenly-beauty
every time I look at her face
and she says to me:
“good morning, sunshine”.
My novelette ‘The Man In Black’ is out now!
Click the link above and get your copy of my new ebook for Amazon Kindle!
“I began writing this short-story in the summer of 2016, following the untimely death of one of our greatest and most gifted artists, icons, musicians, and inspirations, David Bowie – who died on the 10th of January, 2016. After he died I was so shocked to hear of his passing, and like most people I sort-out his music and I listened to everything he had ever made and created – and I also saw countless artists and musicians paying their own personal and heart-felt tributes to “David Bowie” in any way that they could: through music, through art – and I too wanted to contribute something. I wrote a poem dedicated and in honour of David Bowie after he died, called “Always the Starman“, and I shared it for other people to read. However, I was itching to write a new poem or a new short-story that spoke about things that I wanted to say… and that was when the initial idea for my story “The Man in Black” came to life and I began writing it. “David Bowie” walked into this story all by himself, just like the “Man in Black” does, and he naturally made himself at home in it – and in my story he will always be. Throughout my writing of my short-story I listened to David Bowie’s music continuously, and I hope that I have captured a part of his spirit. This is not a story about “David Bowie” per se, but it is a story inspired by him. I hope you enjoy it!” -Mark
My Poem ‘Where did you come from? I wasn’t expecting you?’
Within the blink of an eye,
within the flash of a burst of sunlight,
within an instant of time,
within a single simple impression
that touches you
when you see something
or someone at first-sight…
have you ever considered
what that moment is made up of
and where it comes from?
Have you ever thought about
what all the world
and all life is built upon?
There is always a before,
and there is always an after…
there is always energy,
and there is always matter…
there are always things
that you can’t understand
until you go through them…
there are always realities
that you can’t imagine
until you see them…
the most undeniable thing about life
is that you can never know everything
about it, about everyone who makes it,
about the depths and the secrets
of the universe beyond the sky
and our galaxy’s periphery outer-limit –
because every sphere has its own world…
every place has its own laws of nature…
every planet, every region of space,
has its own history, creation, story,
leaps in evolution, and future.
There is a reason for everything…
there is a reason we are all here…
there is a reason why nothing
can suddenly turn into something…
there is a reason for hope…
there is a reason for fear…
there is a reason for why
there are things that we need to know,
and there is a reason and a meaning
behind what makes us smile
and what brings us to tears.
Some things in life we hope for,
we plan for, we expect,
and we need to happen
to give our life the drive
and the spark to fill the world
with all that we were born to give…
sometimes when you are not expecting
to find paradise or perfection
you can stumble upon an oasis
or someone who to you is the most beautiful…
some things are so precious and meaningful,
and in every way they must be held
close to your heart as a gift…
sometimes life can become so simple,
especially when you look up
and you see something new
and you say to yourself loud and clear:
where did you come from?
I wasn’t expecting you?
Happy World Book Day!
Happy World Book Day! Get a copy of one and all my books, Poet of the Sphere, The Sound of Mark, The Eternal Boy, The Dreamer and The Dream, Truly Madly Deeply, Too Close To The Sun, online from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, The Book Depository, and many other places! Search “Mark Hastings Poet”! I hope you enjoy reading my poetry and my short-stories! P.s. New book on the way! 👍😊📚
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