life

My Poem ‘Too Close To The Sun’

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

Just like Icarus’ wings of wax,
everybody has something precious
that keeps them flying;
just like Achilles,
nobody is completely invulnerable –
even if they believe themselves
to be blessed by immortality;
just like Adam and Eve in the Bible,
there is nobody who has not looked
at something and has not been tempted
by the prospect of tasting and trying;
just as our eyes can only see
the light reflected back at us,
nobody should ever mistakenly believe
that they know or may have seen
everything that there is –
because just one step beyond the horizon,
above the clouds,
past the silver crescent of the moon,
there lies knowledge and wonders
that number into the realm of infinity,
improbability, and endless possibility.

There are times when our minds
can feel like a cave of echoes;
there are times when our memories
flash-back to life
like the lightning of a thunder-storm;
there are times when a brand new song
can be composed and heard
as the leaves of trees rustle
and as every-day objects
become instruments as the wind blows;
there are times when a heart
can be broken and then remade again
in an instant –
it is a moment that many mothers and fathers
have felt simultaneously
when they heard the first out-cry of life
from their newborn.

It is better to risk and fail
than to fail by not ever taking a risk;
it is better to take a chance
than to have your chance
at something taken away;
it is better to see what happens
than to live a life
as if ticking off things
on a check-list;
it is better to grasp
and fill a moment of time,
even if with a world of silence,
or music, than to watch a clock
tick down to the last second of the day.

Most great discoveries
are those that you have to dig for;
most great adventures began
by taking a running-jump;
most great relationships came to be
because the feelings and the connection
that you instantly felt
eclipsed all those that had come before;
most great myths were written,
and most great stories were inspired,
by those who chose to throw caution to the wing
and consciously flew too close to the sun.

image

My Poem ‘The Green Day’

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

Today is the day
that we celebrate
the man, the legend,
and Ireland’s favourite saint…
today is the day
when we all want to be Irish,
even if it is just for 24-hours,
and when we all have an excuse,
if we need one,
to wear something green…
today is the day
when I am sure that even from space
the entire planet glows with an emerald light…
today is the day
that may only be remembered by some
through a haze of memory
as if it were just all a part of a dream.

Shamrocks are on show;
Irish beer flows;
everywhere you look green is all that see;
everybody from morning ’til night
raises their glasses
and feels their spirits rise
and fly free.

Green, to me, has always represented life,
abundance, growth, and energy;
today on Saint Patrick’s day
we can all know and see the face divinity;
green, to me, has always felt ethereal
and magical in some way;
today on Saint Patrick’s day
we can all be filled with a strength
to get through anything in life,
come what may.

God has always had his messengers on Earth,
and for centuries they have spread
the meaning of life throughout the world
through his teachings;
the meaning of life is to love and be loved,
however learning how to do so
comes in a variety of different ways;
living your life to its fullest is important
because life is precious
and the time that we have to live is fleeting;
it is a great thing
to be able to share the joy of life,
and there is no better time or way
to be our most human of selves
than on the day of green
that is Saint Patrick’s day.

The Green Day-poem

My Poem ‘My Loving Parents’

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

My Mum and Dad’s love for each-other
is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen;
my Mum and Dad’s bond is the strongest
that has ever been;
my Mum and Dad would do anything for each other,
no matter what;
my Mum and Dad were always meant to be together,
and you can tell that fact
any time that you are with them
and you see them together –
they are not only each-other’s soulmates,
they are each other’s best friends,
who have both been through a lot.

Throughout my entire life,
I have been a witness to magic;
since I was a child,
every day I have seen my Mum and my Dad
go above and beyond for their children;
in my opinion, no other two people
who have ever been in love with each other
have given as much for one-another
as my parents have –
it is in both of their DNA to give;
to have parents who are as amazing
and as incredible in every way as mine are,
I know with all that I am
that there has never been a more blessed
or a more fortunate son.

I am the best of two hearts
eternally bound to each-other;
I am the art of two artists
whose life and love still lives
and will forever continue
to course through my veins;
I am in constant awe
at what my mother would do for my father,
and what my father would do for my mother;
I am sometimes lost for words
when trying to describe
the truly wonderful and heroic two people
who I am proud and so lucky
to be able to call my loving parents.

20160314_142106

My Poem ‘The Angel’s Wings’

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

‘Where do you keep your wings?’
Asked the Blessed to the Angel;
‘I don’t see any wings on your back?’

‘Well, I keep mine in my wallet,
or sometimes folded up in my back-pack –
but not all angel’s have wings,
as a matter of fact:
some are artists, some are teachers,
some are hair-stylists, some are preachers,’
said the Angel with a smile
as they sat down next to the Blessed
on the park bench.

‘Oh, really?’ Replied the Blessed with a grin,
as they slowly opened the fingers of their hands
from how they had been clenched.

‘Really!’ Replied the Angel
as they looked at the Blessed
and could see that they were now feeling
and appearing as if they now were more relaxed.
A few minutes before, however,
the Blessed had collapsed to the ground
as if they had suffered a heart-attack.

‘Why don’t angel’s just walk around
with their wings on-show?’
Asked the Blessed, ‘Or turn on the light
above their head to tell everybody who they are?
Why don’t they illuminate their halo?’

‘Because, in this day-and-age,
if they did that then everyone would want a ‘selfie’
with them, wouldn’t they?’ Said the angel with a smile
and a chuckled laugh.
‘Most Angel’s keep a low-profile until they are needed.
That didn’t used to be the case a long time ago,
a couple of thousand years ago in the past.
Most of us Angel’s only truly stretch out our wings
when we are trying to get them dry
after we have taken a bath.’

‘Angel’s take baths?’ Asked the Blessed,
‘why don’t you just go for a fly?
I’m sure that a quick flap
would get in no time get them dry?’

‘Good point!’ Replied the Angel
with a sparkle in their eyes;
‘thing is though, the feathers of our wings
‘poof-up’ so badly after they get wet –
or maybe that could just be mine?’

‘Wow!’ Exclaimed the Blessed with a laugh,
‘I had no idea that angel’s could be so funny?’

‘You would be amazed at how many Angel’s
were also comedians when they are on Earth.
Me? I learned all my best one-liners
from Bill Murray on the set of Groundhog Day!
You know, considering that it is a movie
about a man repeating himself over-and-over again,
until he discovers that being a selfless person
is the only way break the endless-cycle,
it wasn’t as boring as you may think in any way.’

‘That is one of my favourite films, actually!
I must have seen it a million times.’

‘Mine too!’ Said the Angel;
‘that film is a classic!
And it is also a wonderful
modern-day parable, in my opinion.
To me, like all great art,
it is one of a kind.’

‘I feel so much better now!’ Said the Blessed.
‘I still can’t remember a thing
about what happened,
but thanks again for helping me!’

‘My pleasure!’ Replied the Angel
as he stood up from his seat
and helped steady the Blessed to their feet.

‘I better be going now.
Thank you so much!
You are my hero! You are my angel!’
Said the Blessed with a smile
before walking away, and looking around
at the beauty of their surroundings,
and taking in every chirp and tweet
of the birds that they heard singing.

And as the Angel watched the Blessed walk away,
they sat down again on the bench,
they crossed their legs,
they closed their eyes,
and they smiled…
and as the sun shone brightly on them
they unfurled their hidden wings of pure-white –
and then with the grace of God
they returned to heaven
in a flash of golden sunlight.

My Poem ‘The Crimson Cardinal’

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

The bold red Cardinal;
the striking male;
the vibrant and the wonderful;
the one who does not shy away
and who knows that they are something special
from their beak to their tail.

Naturally energetic;
a lover of life;
happy to help others
if and when they can…
someone capable of generating
great vibrancy, warmth,
fire and passion.

Colour in nature is deliberate;
why things are coloured the way that they are
has a deeper meaning than some may think;
some colours are subtle;
some colours are loud;
some colours are unmistakable;
some colours are meant to stand out from the crowd;
some colours are spiritual;
some colours are essential signs
for the lost and for the found.

No matter who you are,
no matter what you do,
no matter where you go,
no matter if and when
the world feels calm and still…
there is more to what you feel,
there is more to what you see,
there is more to life
than even the beautiful sunlight can show us,
and sometimes the only way to know something
for sure is to use your heart and call out…
and then, perhaps, the answer
may reveal itself to you,
just as I believe that my path, my faith,
and my destiny became clear to me once again
when I looked out into the world
and I was visited by the vision
and the living manifestation
of my internal passion…
that came one morning, in Tennessee,
in the unforgettable form
of the Crimson Cardinal.

IMG_20160223_085641

My Poem ‘We are all one’

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

Joy may come in the morning for you
in more ways than you might expect –
someone with a passion
and a drive and a love for what they do
cannot wait to jump out of bed,
while someone who feels like
they do not have a purpose in life
might open their eyes
and then close them again quickly
and cover themselves up again
below the covers
like a bird putting their wing
over them as they rest
comfortably in their nest –
however, the truth is
that everybody has a role in life,
everybody is meant to be alive,
and everybody is born to be
just as they are –
everybody is a necessary source of experience,
knowledge, instinct, inspiration,
heat and light, like a candle burning in the dark.

We all go through a metamorphosis;
we all go through an identity-crisis;
we all go through doors to places
we do not always know where;
we all go through stages of re-evaluating
what our priorities in life are,
just as we all sometimes struggle
to pick-out what we want to wear;
we are all a creation
and made in the same guise as the divine;
we are all here to be something to someone;
we are all blessed from birth
with the gift of infinite possibilities,
even if we are not given an endless life of time;
we are all of our time
and no matter how you see yourself,
or how somebody else sees you,
never forget that we are all reflections,
we are all human, we are all
resonators of change and emotion;
life is a lesson in accepting the undeniable fact
that we are all one.

My Poem ‘You’re my world’

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

You are my world.
You are my star.
You are my every word.
You are my heart.
You are my love for life.
You are my day,
you are my night.
You are my faith,
you are my belief.
You are my soulmate.
You are my dream come true.
You are my sun
that makes all the flowers
of my garden bloom.
You are my favourite song.
You are my morning sunshine
who makes me smile.
You are my life,
and with you is where I belong.
You are my sparkling diamond.
You are my beautiful pearl.
You are my burning desire
who inflames my body and my mind.

You, Melissa…
you are my world.

image

My Poem ‘Cuddling’

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

Cuddling with my best-friend,
my soulmate, my love, my life,
to me, is heaven…
I love my angel, my shining-star,
my beautiful and perfect princess,
and being in her arms
and having her in mine
makes me feel like
I am flying and as light as a feather,
and as high as a sky of twinkling stars.

Holding her close,
holding her tight…
feeling her heart beating
with my heart in my chest…
falling even deeper in love with her
as I look into her beautiful eyes…
to me, she is perfect…
to me, she is like unlike any other…
to me, she is epic…
to me, she is my number one,
as well as my unbelievable lover.

Her kiss is like the touch of sunlight…
her skin feels as soft
and as smooth as silk…
her hair is like a beautiful
Tennessee summer breeze…
her freckles to me are incredible…
loving her is the meaning of my life…
for her I would trek up any mountain
and run up any hill…
there is nothing I would rather do
than hold my Melissa in my arms
and take my ease…
I love combing her golden
and beautiful blonde hair
with my fingers,
and I love breathing her in,
and I love running my fingertips
and my lips over her hands…
us being together means everything,
and there is nothing that I would
rather be doing than sitting
on the couch, or lying on the bed,
with the love of my life
kissing and cuddling.

20160216_092243

My Poem ‘El Transformador’

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

You haven’t lived,
in my opinion,
until you have seen and heard
the movie ‘Transformers’
dubbed in Spanish;
you haven’t lived
until you have traveled
4000 miles to be with
the one whom every day
makes real all that
you have ever wished;
you haven’t seen
true natural-beauty
until you have seen
the Great Smoky Mountains up-close
and you have breathed in
the clear fresh-air
that is in abundance;
you haven’t seen an angel,
in my opinion,
until you have laid your eyes upon
the woman who I adore and love –
because on a scale of perfection
there is no one who looks
and shines with as much
breathtaking and heavenly magnificence.

You haven’t lived
until you have walked the tracks of a rail-road,
under a perfectly-unbroken blue-sky,
that runs alongside the Nickajack Lake in Tennessee;
you haven’t known true-love, in my opinion,
until you have been loved in every way imaginable,
as much as I love Melissa,
as much as Melissa loves me;
you haven’t heard the heart-beat of life
until you have reached out and felt
the source of divine joy and happiness
that resides in the south of North America;
you haven’t heard the voice of your own soul
until you have been kissed and told
“I love you” by the light of your life
who is to you your life-defining shining-star.

You haven’t been given
a sign of the existence of God, in my opinion,
until you have taken a journey with your best-friend
and you have watched the book of life open up
and make sense of every-thing
that you have ever pondered,
and you find out that your best-friend
and your soulmate was put on Earth
to be with you forever;
you haven’t arrived at the true start
of your destined-path
until someone comes into your life
and without even having to try
reveals the true you
that you may at times keep under-cover.

You haven’t known a place of true-salvation,
in my opinion, until you have been
where I have been, and until you have heard
the song of your heart and spirit being performed;
you haven’t felt like
you have been to the moon and back
until you are alone with your one-and-only,
and every second feels like a life-time,
and every moment that you touch and are touched
you feel blessed and transformed.

20160211_091027

My Poem ‘Forensic’

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

Mystery, like love,
in my opinion,
is the most potent drug
known to man,
and also the only one
capable of delivering
someone to the deepest of states
of pure intoxication;
mystery haunts the mind
and walks the Earth silently
until the time is right
for its voice to be heard;
mystery makes detectives of us all –
however, the greatest of mysteries
have long-since remained unsolved
and their secrets live on
in the prism of history,
just as the intrigue of their story
will continue to inspire and enthrall
many for all eternity.

There seems to be a constant struggle
between order and disorder;
there are times in life
when something happens
and the only response you can give is: why?;
there are some people who are incapable
of staying on the right side of the law;
there must be something in the genes, I think,
that motivates and compels someone
to commit any crime.

Every whisper contains a seed of truth
that is only a minute part of a much larger story;
every detail of every-thing is evidence
of a structure of moments that goes deep,
as well as towers high;
everybody leaves a trace
that can be followed forward in time,
as well as back;
everywhere there are things
that some people can so easily miss and not see;
everyone is gravity-bound by something
that they live because of and are made whole by;
every instant and every moment
we leave something behind us
that we do not realize,
because time goes by so fast.

A state of being is psychological;
a state of reproducing is biological;
a state of acting without thinking is instinctual;
everybody trips, everyone falls;
everybody utters words of inspiration
from time to time over their lips;
everyone at one time or another
hears an empowering call;
every mystery has an answer;
every magician and illusionist
has their signature magic-trick;
every unknown gives someone a reason to wonder;
every puzzle can be solved
if you look for the coincidences
that are not just coincidences –
because in reality all things are clues
in the fascinating world of forensics.