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My Poem “Birthplace”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , ,

After they are born,
most people do not return
to the place of their birth…
most people have no memory of,
nor any connection with,
the one place on Earth
where they arrived in this world…
it is only as we get older,
when we start asking questions
about who we are and where we come from,
that we find out more about
the place on our birth-certificate…
sometimes, for some people,
returning to the place where the first person
saw their newborn face is a difficult experience
and not one that they which to repeat…
where we are born is integral to who we will be,
how we will think, and the direction in life
that we will take…
everybody is shaped and molded by the world around them –
but the place where a person’s story begins
has an impact that cannot be overstated…
whether someone is born in a hospital,
on an airplane, in a forest,
in the back of a car, in a lift, or in a pool of water –
that first point of interaction with the world,
that first inhale of air,
the first sights, the first sounds,
the first light of life that we see
are the first things that welcome us
into this world of gravity,
meaning, purpose, interface –
and that is why I believe that there is
something special and meaningful
about the exact when and where
that was, and will always be,
our birthplace.

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My Poem “The Shining Light”

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

Seventeen years ago,
when the whole world looked at the images
being shown on television,
it felt like we were all witnessing
the world coming to an end
as we watched twinned towers fall to the ground…
nobody knew what they were seeing,
nobody knew what was going to happen next…
I can still see in my mind’s eye
the scenes of devastation,
I can still hear the sounds of fear
that echoed from one of our planet’s
greatest and most courageous nations…
tears were shed, and they continue to be shed to this day…
lives were lost on an unimaginable scale,
and to this day people all around the world
still have nightmares about the tragic events
of September 11, 2001, and they always will.

Five years ago, I stood where the shadows
of the two towers of the World Trade Center
once fell, in New York City,
where two giant pools of water now ripple
in their footprints and are refilled continuously –
and though surrounded all around by people
who had also come to pay their respects,
remember, and read the memorialized names
of all the people who lost their lives
on that day of days that could never be forgotten,
it was as I stood there looking down at the pools,
it was as I stood there looking around at everyone,
and it was as I stood there looking up
to the Freedom Tower that now stands
like a beacon of hope for all the world to be guided by
that I found myself overwhelmed by remorse, by sadness,
and also by a powerful spirit that spoke
directly to my heart and soul.

The power of hope, the gift of freedom,
the opportunity of optimism,
the wonderland of dreams that is the United States of America
will never be brought to their knees –
no matter what their enemies try to do to them…
the people of the United States of America will continue
to live, to endure, and to fight for what they believe in,
and they will continue to stay standing true, strong,
defiant, hopeful, and confident that they are
and they always will be a shining light
of aspiration and inspiration for the entire world.

My Poem “Every Day’s Eye”

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

Just like the delicate petals of a daisy,
every day we all open our eyes
and we see a thing of beauty…
just like the rise of the sun at dawn,
every day a new light is born
that brings new meaning to someone’s life
that they had never known before…
just like a downpour of rain on a hot summer’s day,
every day we can all find moments
of cleansing perfection that steals
all of our attention and brings delicacy
to the way that we see the poetry in the streets
and the gifts of reflection that we see in the mirror…
just like a feeling within that you want to shout out loud,
some messages that you read and some signs that you see
come to you in times of great need
and in ways that echo throughout your mind…
just like the multi-colored and multi-faceted world
that you see during the day,
and just like the shining sparks of light
that glow from a distance at night,
there lies an innumerable amount of truths
to be found when we look,
and when the delicate petals of every flower
of the universe open to reveal
the infinitely complex iris
at the centre of every day’s eye.

My Poem “Meant to be”

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

Looking up to the golden sky
at 8 o’clock at night,
what I see looks really nice –
but something just doesn’t feel right…
I see the sun, the star of our planet –
but I just want the light of my life,
the love of my life, the woman of my dreams,
who I love more with every heart-beat…
all I want to do is give all my love
that shines brighter than all the stars above…
all I want to do is make you, Melissa,
my wife until the end of time,
and cross my heart and hope to die
never tell a lie when I tell you
who I see when I look at you
and when you look back at me –
because to me, baby, you are my destiny
and the one who is meant for me,
because you and I are meant to be…
I want you to always know
that I love you and I am never going to let you go –
because you are my everything,
and every time I close my eyes
it is your face that fills my mind,
and every time I feel alone
it is your love that calls me home…
so take my words and carry them deep
and let them take you off to sleep
into your dreams of you and me
and of our love that is meant to be.

My Poem “Outside”

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

It is so great to be able to wake up,
to be able to get out of bed,
to be able to open the curtains
and let the morning light touch your face
and instantly awaken something new within you…
it is so amazing to have a home, to have a family,
and to have someone who loves you
more than words could ever say
and who to you is beautiful and perfect in every way…
it is so phenomenal to know that you have the freedom
to fulfill your wishes and make your dreams come true…
it is so incredible to be able to wake up every day
surrounded by gifts from near and far away
that mean something to you because they were given to you
by angels who never stop filling your heart and your soul
with miracles of hope that are the sunrises
and the sunsets for you of every day…
there are times in our lives
when we can feel enchained to something
that we wish we could break free of,
there are times in our lives
when we wish we could just live a simple life without worries,
there are times in our lives when things can get so bad
that we put our hands together and we pray to god –
and every day we are all given choices
and opportunities to redeem ourselves,
and precious moments to touch the essence of life
and use the power within our grasp
to change our perspectives on the inside
and the way that we see the world outside.

My Poem “Silent Light”

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

The sun does not make a sound to our ears –
and yet it has a voice and a song
that it sings every second on the same frequency
that it has been broadcasting and generating
for 4.6 billion years…
the Earth beneath our feet is constantly spinning
and in a perpetual state of motion –
and though when we are standing still
we believe Earth to be stationary
it is in fact traveling through space
at 67,000 miles per hour…
the heart in our chest
beats inaudibly even to ourselves –
and it is only when we use our sense of touch
in conjunction with our inner perception
of the rhythmic beauty of our life-sustaining
organ and instrument that we can understand
how precious our heart-beats are
and how important they are in realizing
how delicate, fragile, and fleeting life is
and why there are no gifts as amazing
as that of being loved and alive…
the sounds that we hear are echoes,
vibrations, and interactions,
between many individual sources all playing at-once –
even those things that orbit in the vacuum of space
do not do so silently, however as when we want
to hear those things that are so powerful
and mean so much to all of us
sometimes we have to use our senses in the right way
in order to fully hear the voices
and the sounds of the silent light.

My Poem “Skylight”

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

We all need the light…
We all need the bright…
We all need the delight…
We all need the flight of imagination
that floods our sight during the daylight
or while under the shine of moonlight,
or when we have to step into the limelight,
or when there is a definite change in Fahrenheit,
or when our heart feels like a burning stick of dynamite,
or when our minds launch as if out of our body
and orbit above us as if observing us
from a great height like a satellite…
We all need the blue sky of day,
and we all need the dark sky of night…
We all need someone or something
to look up to that inspires our dreams
undeniably like the constant presence above us
and around us that is our ever-shining
and comforting skylight.