When we are young
we invariably tend to try
many different things -
usually all at once -
until we are observed to be
gravitating to something in particular
more often than the other things
that have repeatedly occupied our attention -
whether that is a person,
a song, a story, a film,
or perhaps a character in TV show that,
for whatever reason, keeps us
coming back for more...
as we get older, we are found
to be engaged in an activity
that we had done over and over again -
because whatever we find enjoyment in doing
gives us the gift of something
we cannot get from anywhere else,
nor from anyone else...
while growing up, we are all
constantly being influenced
by those around us to participate
in something that other people
also like to do -
but, most of the time,
what we really want to do
is to be able to choose
the pursuit and the path
that to us is unparalleled by anything
that anybody else might recommend...
when we discover that
we have the freedom to be,
to do, and to go wherever we want,
we always choose the first thing
that comes to our mind -
but, sometimes, the conviction
necessary
to transform us into who we want to be
and to take us where we want to be
needs to be inspired by something
or someone else
that acts like a spark that ultimately
leads to a raging fire...
when we eventually find out
who and what we want to be
sometimes we can believe
that perhaps time has run out
and the opportunity to do
what we have always wanted to do
has long since passed,
because we let other things
get in the way of our dreams -
but the truth is that there really is
no time like the present
to make a life-long wish come true,
because no matter when
you start something new
you instantly discover
that the most important things in life
are those that come naturally.
love
My Poem “Repetition”
Everybody occasionally repeats themselves...
everybody eventually discovers
that they are a part of a cycle...
everybody returns to the same place
over and over again,
but every time everybody
finds themselves back
where they are used to being
they are always different -
even though where they are
may look exactly the same
and as if nothing has changed...
everybody sometimes catches
a glimpse of their own reflection
and they are taken aback
by the almost invisible
scars that they see -
and not just the ones
that might be present upon their face...
everybody remembers everything -
even though they may have
led themselves, and others,
to believe that some things
that may have happened
had been forgotten...
everybody always reveals more
about who they are -
especially the more
that they are observed trying,
and sometimes failing,
to break the bad habits
that they are known for;
however, with time, with experience,
with hindsight, everybody always gains
the wisdom that they need
to sever the chain of past behaviours
and forge new links
that will enable the revelation
of new possibilities and realities
that might not have been
thought possible before...
everybody sometimes feels
as if they are within
the event horizon of a black hole,
and stuck in an infinite revolution -
like an album being played,
and then replayed, on a loop;
but the truth is, no matter what
seemingly never-ending groove
you think you are stuck in,
everybody can always escape any trap
by simply realising where they are
and what they have been doing,
and then choosing to change
and to perhaps leap into the vortex
of what they cannot know -
and only then can everybody feel
the true sensation of release
that comes with the end
of something that someone may
have hoped and prayed for a long time
they could stop repeating.
My Poem “Let there be Poetry”
In the beginning,
there was something -
there always is;
however, then something else happened:
an explosion of energy and light,
and, in an instant, poetry
came into existence and continued
to create and reinvent itself,
over and over again,
until it eventually evolved into
life, sounds, images,
music, words, language,
vast connections that span
the multiverse of universes
and realities that currently exist,
and beyond -
and there is no sign
of it stopping any time soon.
Poetry has always been there…
poetry is always there in every moment,
and poetry will always be there
waiting to be seen, recorded,
recounted, and shared...
poetry is not just words -
poetry is like a fire
that burns without end...
poetry lies within the heart
of every person on Earth...
poetry has been there
within the dreams of everyone
who has ever lived
since the moment of their birth.
Since I first discovered poetry,
since I wrote my first poem,
since I first discovered that
becoming a poet and writing
my own poetry was my destiny,
since I started and I couldn't stop myself
from being inspired by everything and everybody,
I have been seeing the world
through the prism of infinite possibilities...
since I first started sharing
what I saw, what I heard,
what I felt, what means the most to me -
when I was gifted that first moment
of poetic serenity and clarity -
I have believed in the concept of causality,
I have believed that
everything happens for a reason
because it has to,
because it is meant to,
and when it comes to finding an explanation
as to why things happen in life
I have always believed in the old saying,
"What will be... will be" -
which is why I have always believed
there is always an answer for everything,
and that even in the darkest of times,
or during the brightest of days,
things have a way of showing us
just how much of life
is beyond our control and full of surprises,
but life also has an innate design to it
that is meant to repeat;
so, just as a long time ago
a phrase was uttered
that made the first light shine
across the cosmos, I say:
"let there be poetry",
so that people everywhere
may know what it means
to be free to be
who they are supposed to be
“Scales and George” (2015) by Mark Hastings
My Poem “Kindred Spirits”
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.
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.
markthepoet.me 