When you know you have
found a kindred spirit -
someone who likes
the same things as you,
someone who speaks
the same language as you,
someone who knows
a part of you that no others do,
nor could ever understand -
the recognition is almost instant...
when you meet someone
and from the moment that you
share something about yourself with them -
that perhaps defines the most
important part of what makes you -
you know that what you say
will mean more to them
than it might to someone
whose interests are more
divergent from yours...
when you have a shared experience
with people whom you may have only known
for a relatively short amount of time -
but who you feel already have an instinct
about something that will always
remain a fundamental principle
that keeps alive the spark of hope within you -
then you will naturally gravitate back to them
time and time again -
because each and every one of us
never stop looking for something
or for someone who gets
why we are the way that we are
and why we do what we do...
when you can communicate
an entire universe of stories,
characters, adventure,
and the universal phenomenon
that something has become,
with a simple, yet infinitely powerful,
phrase, a gesture, a look
that can encapsulate and symbolize
why it is as special as people believe it to be,
then you know that what you
and many others have in common
is worth every second
that you have put into it...
when you find joy in the art
of becoming someone else -
just like an actor who transitions
and transforms themselves into a character -
you know that what comes with
that overwhelming feeling of happiness
is a tangible connection
with others that makes you feel seen
and not judged in any way,
and that experience can mean
so much to so many people
more that they could say...
when you come to believe
that there is no limit
to what you can achieve
as long as you hold on
to what empowers you
like an enduring gift -
and then you recognize
the same look in the eye
of others who also know
that they have a responsibility
to do something with that which
continuously gives them
the same enlightened lift -
that is when you know
you have found a fellow
kindred spirit.
inspiration
My Poem “The Golden Rule”
If there is one rule to life
that I believe in, that I live by,
that I have seen the results of time after time,
it would have to be the so-called
"The Golden Rule" -
the same principle as that which
was spoken by Jesus in his
Sermon on the Mount in The Bible -
essentially: "Do unto others
as you would have them do unto you";
and, to me, "The Golden Rule" is important
because it simply explains
why we should be selfless,
and why we should all think
about others first before ourselves -
and if you believe in karma
then you will know that actions
have consequences,
and what we do comes back to us;
and that is why we should
all always be mindful
of what we put out into the world.
My Poem “Multitude”
This morning, I saw a distant light
shining from afar in the sky -
which was not the sun,
which was definitely not a plane,
and did not appear to be a drone;
however, the seemingly stationary light
that I saw from perhaps a mile away,
was enough to make me wonder
within my mind what it could be...
this morning, I also saw a white swan
and their cygnet swimming in a nearby pond;
and, as I watched the white swan
gracefully swim towards me,
almost immediately, I knew
that me seeing the swan,
and the swan seeing me,
was a sign of something significant,
a sign of something extraordinary
that has never been lost on me.
This morning, the sky is bright blue...
this morning, the light shines
unfiltered upon everything...
this morning, the chorus of caws
of the crows on the branches of their trees
are loud and distinctive,
just as the chirps of the robins
in the hedgerows are always
something sweet to hear
when they pay me a visit
as I proceed upon my path...
this morning, like every morning,
people carry out their daily rituals -
whether that is shopping,
reading, watching, or perhaps listening,
visiting one another,
doing what they must,
as well as being there for those
who need help the most.
This morning, every morning, even as a child,
I am awoken with a mind of dreams,
thoughts, feelings, inspiration,
and, of course, poetry...
this morning, every morning,
looks the same as those
that have come before -
but I always know that something is different,
I always know that something,
somehow, somewhere, has changed...
this morning, every morning,
I love being up early to see
the last lights of the night,
the first light of the day,
and be witness to the moment
when silence becomes filled
with the sounds of a symphony...
this morning, every morning,
I know more than I am told
about life, the world, the universe,
and I instinctively feel the peaceful
harmony of the natural world
and the beginning of another wave
of that which binds everything -
both living and departed -
together beyond the limits
of the divine, eternal, and constant message
that is seen and interpreted
by everybody, everywhere, every day
in a multitude of ways.
Short story: “The Man in Green” (2018) by Mark Hastings
My Poem “Sometimes words are unnecessary”
Sometimes, what we see,
what we hear, what we feel,
what we think, what we imagine
cannot always be put into words...
language is not always what we think it is...
sometimes, a picture is worth
more than a thousand words -
because an image can be what
reminds us of where we were,
with whom, and why:
a photograph taken when times were good
can be wonderful to see,
and yet bittersweet at the same time -
because pictures are like time capsules
of captured moments that are special
because they are instances
that will never happen again...
in this world, at this time,
it is rare that even family members
gather together and celebrate with one another -
because, these days, so many people
live disparate existences from each other -
even though the physical distance
between them may not be as fa
as they would like to believe...
sometimes, the most resonate sound
in the universe is silence -
because even in the vacuum of space
there lies an unheard secret
that speaks volumes about
why things are the way that they are,
and who people are
as well as who they think they are...
so many people feel out of place,
so many people feel out of touch,
so many people feel as if they have
nothing left to do and nothing left to offer -
until they have a moment
when they discover that they are not alone,
when they discover that they
have more to do,
when they discover that they might have,
perhaps, been seeing the world
through a shaded lens for far too long
and that when they see something spectacular:
a life-changing event -
like a sacred sunrise, or a sunset,
that opens their eyes and gives them
a vision of something that, perhaps,
they once thought was an impossibility;
however, in this universe of improbability, and finality,
everything is meant to be -
but sometimes, when we search
for the words to describe something
or someone with the gift of poetry,
even a poet would agree that
sometimes words are unnecessary.
My Poem “Interlinked”
Nothing and no one can prepare
for that moment of instant connection
that happens when two people
fall in love with one another...
so much can happen internally,
so much can be communicated
when two people see each other
for the first time...
nothing and no one can stop
the tidal wave of energy
that rises and then floods the air
around two people when they feel
as if their heart has been enlivened
and their soul has found
a match like no other...
so much can change when two people,
when two strangers,
realize that they have found
someone who they had no idea
they were searching for -
perhaps their entire life...
nothing and no one can feel,
nor could anyone else ever describe,
what two people who experience
this simultaneous, and sometimes supernatural,
love goes through when they find themselves
having to ask who the person
they have met is and why they
feel as if they already know them, somehow...
so much makes sense,
so much is expressed,
so much goes through
a person's mind, and so fast,
that no one could ever truly
realise everything that happens
when the look of love that is shared
by two people, within the time
that it takes for them both to blink,
inextricably creates a bond between them
that forever makes them consciously,
as well as unconsciously,
interlinked.
Short story: “The Man in Blue” (2018) by Mark Hastings
My Poem “The Lesson”
It was always going to be this way...
it was always going to be me
finding myself back where it all began...
it was always going to be me
returning to the same place I started -
like restarting the performance of a play...
it was always going to be
a long and eventful road that I took
before I found myself, once again,
doing what I do, what I always do,
filled with memories and inspiration,
and, as always, without anything
that might resemble a plan.
It was always going to be me,
with an open notebook in front of me,
with my silver pen in my hand,
still with a hopeful smile on my face,
writing, thinking,
remembering, recalling,
watching, observing, looking
and finding more than might meet
the eye of everyone else but me...
it was always going to be me
back writing my poetry,
within my own bubble of imagination,
as the world, the universe,
the reality of life on this planet
carries on regardless around me.
It was always going to be me;
it was always going to be
who it was when things were
how they used to be;
it was always going to be
unlike what I, or anyone,
would ever have expected -
because everything that turned out
the way that it did
seems to have conformed
to a pattern that was always meant to happen.
It was always going to be me
who would teach myself
that no matter how things
sometimes do change,
and how people sometimes
do take much-needed detours,
there is always a lesson to be learned
taught by time and by our own
inner shadow, like only they can.
Short story: “The Man in the Mirror” (2018) by Mark Hastings
My Poem “Nocturnal”
Some people, some things,
some animals, some creatures
are nocturnal by nature -
they are more active after dark
and they thrive upon
the particular pursuits
that can only be undertaken
during the time of twilight.
Under the shroud of darkness
is when some individuals live
more so than they would
under the light of day,
because their instincts are
more attuned, accentuated,
and heightened when
the senses that they were born with
can be used to their maximum capability.
From owls to bats,
from badgers to whales,
from turtles to fireflies,
from people who work as firefighters
to people who work
in a bar or in a nightclub -
so many prefer performing
and engaging in professional
and personal activities
when there is not as much
exposure as there is when
everything can clearly be seen.
As some people get older,
they find that they are unable
to stay up as late as they used
to be able to in their youth...
when some people have children
they find themselves having to
attend to those in their care
at times when it is not convenient -
including when others are
fast asleep and tucked up in their bed...
for some people, it is
what makes the night-time so special and so magical
which keeps them awake -
in particular, those who like to look up
to the sky and marvel at the wonders
that can be seen with the naked eye
that have been the stuff
of dreams and fireside stories
since the first of humanity
discovered that it is
sometimes essential
to be nocturnal.
markthepoet.me 