The best reason to do anything is always for the love of doing something: giving someone a smile, asking someone how they are, giving someone the gift of your time, showing your appreciation to someone for sharing a small insight into who and what makes them just as worthy of taking an interest in as the nearest or the furthest of stars. Not everybody is lucky to be able to have a career doing what enlivens their thoughts and makes their heart throng like the thunder of a lightning storm... not everybody can do what everybody else can do as perfectly, proficiently, nor perhaps as poetically - but I guarantee that when someone is home alone, without any eyes upon them, everybody who has ever been as spellbound by something as extraordinary as a magic trick has been able to do and to mimic another person's talent and as a result has found their own individual hidden gift or secret accent. Everybody has that song that they secretly do a little dance to when no one else is around... everybody has that characteristic about someone else that they secretly admire and wish they could embody and emulate simply by feeling the vibration of someone's quintessential sound... everybody has that person, or a small group of people, who they believe they can see through to the soul of and who can return the favour because a bond of experience that was once forged and was destined to always be eternally rich... everybody has an indefinable electric eccentricity of wonder about them that they harbour within that occasionally sees the light of day when and where they have the opportunity to be and to do whatever they want, for no reason other than simply for the love of it.
love
My Poem “Life”
Life is full of many surprises... life is full of many sunsets and sunrises... life is full of many contests and prizes... life is full of many stories of those whom have never stopped wanting to reach for something farther and climbing beyond the highest of the heights... life is full of people looking up to somewhere where the lights of the heavens shine upon and guide those who have always known that they had a fate to fulfil unconstrained by any invisible lines... life is full of those who have always felt as if they had a goal before them to be achieved, to be found on the other side of a ride of ups and downs, of body and mind, of drive, of faith and belief of every kind, at the end of which lies a place and a time where and when a creation can finally meet their maker and bring home with them the dawn of a new world unlike the one that they may have known their entire life.
My Poem “Soapbox”
In any public area there exists an arena where those who have both the creative spark and also the drive to perform can show an audience what calls out to be heard within their core... the stage might be a grand bandstand, or perhaps just upturned used crate - but no matter who they are, or where they are, what every performer wants more than anything is to perform. Most performers who perform on street corners, or in the middle of a town square, do not do so simply for monetary gain - because the first love of most performers who stand with their instrument, a live microphone, and a speaker by their side, is that of sharing what they feel for the music within them and the magic of music that has the power to draw everyone. For most performers a stage of any kind feels like a second home - and every time every performer feels those pre-performance nerves sometimes they feel as if they have to put on some kind of metaphorical second skin, or step back into a psychological pair of comfortable shoes, with which they can use to help them soak up every ounce of attention upon them so that they can convert their audience's enthusiasm into a fuel to turbo-charge their art; however, for the more reticent of performers, a spotlight may be the last place that they want to be - but even the most introverted artist can, over time, find a way to create an alter ego with which, in a sense, they can become someone else, and make it possible for them to climb to heights from where they can make themselves, and others, believe that they have this extraordinary, electrifying, transcendental and other-worldly power. In this day and age a stage does not need to be a physical place at a particular time... in this day and age, because of the constant advances in technology that have been made in the way that we all communicate with one another, anyone, anywhere, can do what they love, and they can be whomever they want to be, and put on a live performance of their own - even from the sanctuary of their own bedroom... in this day and age someone who is categorized as "unknown artist" can quickly create something and go "viral", and for as long as the place where their performance was shared remains, archived forever for posterity, someone, anyone, could become a constant source of hope and joy for someone - especially for those people who, at times, feel lost... in this day and age you don't need to have a message written in the sky to get noticed, because anybody with the tenacity, the courage, the spark, and the love for performing - that every performer has within them - can find the perfect place, can find their perfect audience, where, and to whom, they never want to step off the stage of, or say goodbye to - because every performer has their soapbox.
My Poem “Park People”
Parks are wonderful places... Parks are beautiful oases... Parks are where people run and walk through... Parks are can be islands of every size where people sit, exercise, get a sun tan, have a party, or have a picnic, and where people who know each can all gather together to enjoy their own company as well as consume thirst quenching beverages and some of their favourite food. Parks are also the places where those who are homeless go to every night to lay down upon the grass and sleep... Parks are where people young and old can rejuvenate themselves and be reminded of memories and experiences that they will always want to keep... Parks can have amusements, rides, sights and sounds that cannot be found anywhere else on Earth... Parks can be where things are lost as well as where things can be found - and Parks can also be at both the beginning as well as at the end of a particular search. Parks often have benches... Parks often have plants and animals that people can make a connection with with all five of their senses... Parks are where some people want to be laid to rest after they die... Parks all have paths that allow the people who visit them to navigate through to them from every side... Parks are for everything and for everybody and the importance of their preservation to all life on Earth is unestimable - but there are those who may not be able to enjoy nature as much as they would hope, and then their are those who take every opportunity, whenever they can, to embrace every moment that they get to embody what it means and to be someone who might affectionately describe themselves, or might perhaps be described as being, one of the many "Park People".
My Poem “Hug” 🫂
For too long now so many people have been deprived of many vital things: work, travel, entertainment, and most importantly physical interactions with friends and family - but now we have all been given the permission to engage in "cautionary hugs"; if there could ever be such a thing? Never the less, it is now permissable for people to embrace their love ones in close quarters and show physical affection for someone openly for all the world to see... even though the virus plaguing the world continues to rage in variations across the planet, some of us are now able to meet up and talk with someone, inside somewhere, in ways that for so long have felt like distant memories or the stuff of dreams. It's has been so long now since people were able to kiss, hug, and be with people who they know so well, and it has been so long since people have been able to interact with someone of significance, face to face, that it will undoubtedly be hard for some people at first to revert back to how people used act without thinking with one another... some people might be more than a little reticent to eat inside a restaurant, or to sit in close proximity to someone who they do not personally know - because they may have lost the meaning and the importance at the heart of why people want and need to have close associations with other people for the benefit of their own mental health. I realize that everybody has their own individual process when attempting to adapt to rapid differences in circumstance - and we all know how hard it was when we were first told that we had to stay apart, that we had keep our distance, and that we had to protect ourselves from what we might be unwittingly exposed to; but there comes a time when enough is enough - and to me, as long as the world proceeds with caution down this long and winding road back to normality, and as long as people continue to volunteer to do their part and be vaccinated for the good of the many, then why not give people to right to have something and to give something meaningful to someone else as simple, and as a much needed and long overdue, as a hug.
My New Book “VEGA – The Vampire King” is Out Now!
Hi, everyone!
I am thrilled to be able to tell you that my new book “VEGA -The Vampire King” is now available to own as both an ebook for Kindle and in paperback from Amazon! I hope everybody enjoys reading and discovering who the enigmatic Vega “The Vampire King” really is, where he came from, and what happened to him after and as a result of meeting Olivia Hunter.
Happy reading! 🙂🥳🎊🎉📚📖🧛🧛♀️🧛♂️
-Mark
My Poem “The Wildest of Dreams”
When I was young the world appeared to be
too big for my mind to comprehend…
when I was young I believed that if
I stayed in one place, doing the same thing,
then I could make something
last forever and never end…
when I was young I loved exploring
the world around me and drawing upon
the people around me for love and joy,
and when I needed my nearest and dearest
I was never left disappointed.
When I was young I read books,
I watched TV shows, I marveled at movies,
I listened to music that left such
an impression on me that to this day
every time I hear a certain song
I am instantly spellbound by its magic…
when I was young I imagined
what I would do and who I would become
when I was older, more experienced,
and hopefully a little wiser –
and now that I am older, after having seen
more of the world, and after having met people
from all walks of life all around the world,
on many occasions I have found myself
having moments of clarity, of inspiration
and insight into who each of us are,
how we should treat each other,
and how lucky we are to live
in the here and in the now –
rather than a hundred years before or after.
When I was young I could never
have imagined living in a world
surrounded by and connected to
an invisible web that can make
dreams come true and can be the place
where people go to find everything
and everyone – from a book to a film,
from a friend to a fiancé,
from a kitchen sink to a television,
from a celebrity to a spiritual guru…
when I was young the future seemed far away
and I did not have that much love
for patience, nor poetry –
however, now that I am older,
I realize that the one gift that has
kept me going, kept me dreaming,
and has kept me on the straight and narrow,
is the blessing of growing up with
the cherished abilty to be able
to instantly see the forest through the trees
and believe possibilities beyond
the wildest of all dreams.
My Poem “Seven Years”
It’s been seven years since we first met…
it’s been seven years since we first found one another…
it’s been 2555 days since we fell in love with each other,
and over the last 84 months that we have
been together I have learned everything about you,
just as you have learned a lot about me –
and though times over the last
364 weeks have been filled with both
moments of happiness as well as tears,
today is our anniversary and you and I
have now been in each others
lives for seven memorable years.
It’s been seven years,
and I wanted to tell you once again that
I love you more than I could ever express…
it’s been seven years,
and once again I want to tell you
that being with you all this time –
my soulmate, my best friend,
my muse of inspiration,
and the most beautiful angel
that I have ever seen –
has been better than I could ever have wished for,
prayed for, thought about, or dreamed about –
and I never want what we have to ever come to an end.
It’s been seven years –
however to me I felt like I already knew you
even before I knew who you were…
it’s been seven years since
I first saw you and I finally realised
who I was and why on Earth I am here.
Over the last seven years,
we have had our ups and downs –
and we have shared experiences
that I will always remember
that I will always cherish
and keep near and dear.
Over the last seven years
we have had both days of sunshine
as well as clouds –
but one thing that you can always be sure of
is that there is no one else in the world like you:
you are both beautiful on the inside
as well as on the outside,
and I have been in love with you
since the moment that I saw you,
and every day I thank God
for the gift to this world that is you…
and, because today is
our seven year anniversary,
I just wanted to say that
here is to me and you,
to the last seven years
and to all the years to come!
My Poem “I love books”
I love that books are still being written…
I love that books are still being read…
I love that books are still being listen to
while people are driving,
while people are walking,
while people are sitting in a chair,
or while people are lying down in bed…
I love that books are still physical objects
that people from all ages can hold,
feel, and marvel at the art of
as they flick through their pages…
I love that books are still filled with stories
of characters that do not always have
an accurate description of how they
talk or how they look,
so undividual readers have the gift
of being able to imagine what characters
sound like when talk as well as
paint their own picture in their mind
of how certain characters appear…
one of the things that I love
about the act of reading, as well as
the art of coming up with a brand new story,
is the power that people have
to be able to generate figments
of their own imagination that are
reconstitutions of the familiar,
the recognisable, the known,
the big, the small, the significant,
and the things from our memories
that mesmerise us,
as well as so much more –
but, to me, it is the magic of words
that lies at the heart of why
I will always love books.
My Poem “To my Mum”
To the woman who from the day that
I was born has given me the gift
of unconditional love…
to the woman who carried me,
who has held me, who has thought about me,
and who has been there for me my entire life –
no matter what you have have been going through:
I have always felt blessed that
you are my kind and caring Mum
and I am your adoring son.
To the woman whose smile
has made me smile more times
throughout my life than I can count:
you have been the best example
of who and what a mother should be,
and those of us who are your children
every day consider ourselves lucky
to have a part of you in us
and to have a part of us in you-
because you are a role-model
for being a mother like nobody else…
to the woman who has sent her children
off to sleep every night with
a blessing of sweet dreams:
you do not know how much
what you do matters, nor what your
effortless love has always meant
and what your love will always mean.
To the woman who gave birth to me…
to the woman who has always
accepted me for who I am and who has
always praised me for what I do…
to the woman who has always given me what I needed more than anything in the world…
to the woman who I could not thank enough
for being amazing in every way –
this poem is dedicated to you:
Bernadette Marie Christine Hastings,
my one and only, my one of a kind,
the best in the world, Mum.
Happy Mother’s Day! 🙂
markthepoet.me 