Flashback #3: My Poem “Step Back” (January 30th, 2010)

“Step Back” by Mark Hastings is a poem Mark wrote and originally published on his blog http://poetauniversalis.wordpress.com on January 30th, 2010 ● Buy Mark a coffee @ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MarkThePoet ● Check out Mark’s merch store on Redbubble: https://rdbl.co/3xWa4Rw

‘Playing God’ by Mark Hastings (2018) – audio book: The Man in Grey – “All Roads Lead Here”

In this episode, Mark recites the third story of his 2018 short-story collection, Playing God: ‘The Man in Grey’ – “All Roads Lead Here”. ‘Playing God’ is a collection of “Seven stories… Seven perspectives… Seven experiences… about One Man in Black, one Man in White… Seven morality tales of one immortal Rebel, Hero, Friend, Fan, Father, Son, Playing, God”. You can read Mark’s poetry on his website http://MarkThePoet.Me, and you can purchase all of Mark’s books of poetry, short-story anthologies, and novellas on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HjAJMC

‘Playing God’ by Mark Hastings (2018) – audio book: The Man in Grey – “Oh My Gus!”

In this episode, Mark recites the third story of his 2018 short-story collection, Playing God: ‘The Man in Grey’ – “Oh My Gus!”. ‘Playing God’ is a collection of “Seven stories… Seven perspectives… Seven experiences… about One Man in Black, one Man in White… Seven morality tales of one immortal Rebel, Hero, Friend, Fan, Father, Son, Playing, God”. You can read Mark’s poetry on his website http://MarkThePoet.Me, and you can purchase all of Mark’s books of poetry, short-story anthologies, and novellas on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HjAJMC

Flashback #2: My Poem “The Great Attractor” (January 30th, 2010)

“The Great Attractor” by Mark Hastings is a poem Mark wrote and originally published on his blog http://poetauniversalis.wordpress.com on January 30th, 2010 ● Buy Mark a coffee @ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MarkThePoet ● Check out Mark’s merch store on Redbubble: https://rdbl.co/3xWa4Rw

‘Playing God’ by Mark Hastings (2018) – audio book: The Man in White – “Encore”

In this episode, Mark recites the second story of his 2018 short-story collection, Playing God: ‘The Man in White’ – “Encore”. ‘Playing God’ is a collection of “Seven stories… Seven perspectives… Seven experiences… about One Man in Black, one Man in White… Seven morality tales of one immortal Rebel, Hero, Friend, Fan, Father, Son, Playing, God”. You can read Mark’s poetry on his website http://MarkThePoet.Me, and you can purchase all of Mark’s books of poetry, short-story anthologies, and novellas on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HjAJMC

Flashback #1: My Poem “Time Well Spent” (May 16th, 2019)

“Time Well Spent” by Mark Hastings is a poem Mark wrote and posted on his website http://MarkThePoet.Me on May 16th, 2019: https://markthepoet.me/2019/05/16/my-poem-time-well-spent/ ● Buy Mark a coffee @ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MarkThePoet ● Check out Mark’s merch store on Redbubble: https://rdbl.co/3xWa4Rw

My Poem “Love/Life”

Love is a roller-coaster ride
of ups and downs...
Love is an adventure
of heights and depths...
Love is a storm of emotions...
Love is a sacrifice, a leap,
a promise, a bond, a mutual connection
and a commitment to journey
somewhere with someone,
or with something,
that cannot be understood,
nor undertaken, alone.

Love is a beginning,
Love can be an end...
Love can be the making,
Love can be the breaking...
Love is what happens
when you choose to take a step
into the unknown with someone
who you feel something for you
beyond the limits of just being friends...
Love is about giving, receiving,
caring, listening, learning,
appreciating and not taking
for granted what you see,
hear, and feel changing, evolving,
and perennially blossoming.

Love can be tested...
Love can be lost...
Love can be mended...
Love can be harder to define
and to put into words than anything,
because Love is something
that seems so simple
from the outside looking in
but which, in reality, is more complex
than the answer to the meaning of life.

‘Playing God’ by Mark Hastings (2018) – audio book: The Man in White – “Flash-Forward”

In this episode, Mark recites the second story of his 2018 short-story collection, Playing God: ‘The Man in White’ – “Flash-Forward”. ‘Playing God’ is a collection of “Seven stories… Seven perspectives… Seven experiences… about One Man in Black, one Man in White… Seven morality tales of one immortal Rebel, Hero, Friend, Fan, Father, Son, Playing, God”. You can read Mark’s poetry on his website http://MarkThePoet.Me, and you can purchase all of Mark’s books of poetry, short-story anthologies, and novellas on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HjAJMC

‘Playing God’ by Mark Hastings (2018) – audio book: The Man in White – “Flash-back”

In this episode, Mark recites the second story of his 2018 short-story collection, Playing God: ‘The Man in White’ – “Flash-back”. ‘Playing God’ is a collection of “Seven stories… Seven perspectives… Seven experiences… about One Man in Black, one Man in White… Seven morality tales of one immortal Rebel, Hero, Friend, Fan, Father, Son, Playing, God”. You can read Mark’s poetry on his website http://MarkThePoet.Me, and you can purchase all of Mark’s books of poetry, short-story anthologies, and novellas on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HjAJMC

My Poem “Universal Translation”

We all go through life
looking for connections...
we all venture far and wide
searching for similarities...
we all journey to places
hoping to make some happy memories
and to have some fun...
we all trek, voyage,
and ultimately discover,
the deeper that we dive
into the relationships
that define the human adventure,
that the frontier of understanding
is one that is infinite.

I always find it amazing and fascinating
when I meet someone who speaks
one of the same languages that I do -
especially when there is also
a meeting of minds that
instantly and naturally occurs...
I always feel fulfilled
after talking with someone
who I might have just met
who immediately recognises that
we have something in common
by the recognition of something that I am wearing,
because the near effortlessness
of our communication reminds me
that we are all meant to find people
who we can give back to and can give us
the best of each others worlds.

I have always been hopeful
and optimistic about the future, the world, the universe,
the possibilities of everything and everyone...
I have always formed bonds with
fellow enthusiasts of the same things,
the same places, the same areas of interest,
the same sources of escapism and enjoyment...
I have always known
that the only way to find commonalities is to use
the means at your disposal
to look beyond what is going on
around you
and follow the steps
to where people like me
wait to be found and reminded
that they are not alone...
I have always believed that
what and whom we choose to engage with
influences us in ways that cannot be quantified,
but the more that we meet and talk
with others who just want to
make the most of what fills them with passion
we find that we share a dialogue
that will forever be a gift
of universal translation.