Each of us can find contentment doing things that make us happy... each of us can find hidden secrets about life, about people, about every day things or situations that can make us all take another look at the world, and at ourselves, and allow us to realise that there is more seemingly "small things" - simple gestures, simple tokens - that mean the most in the long run and down the line when a smile on a face is all that we crave. Each of us need things to explore... each of us need one another... each of us need both windows and doors... each of us need the feeling of being included and not excluded from what is going on in the world, in the galaxy, in the quest of humanity and all life everywhere to find the next check point on the journey that is their purpose - whether that is to be found in a forest, on a mountain top, above the clouds, or below the waves on the seafloor. Each of us can do extraordinary things - even if we might not innitially recognise our gifts for being as profound and as impactful as they are... each of us make mistakes, each of us do things that we regret, because each of us are human - and I believe our failings should not forever be considered mortal sins by some from which we can not move on from, learn from, and change as a result... each of us are a miracle, worts and all... each of us are soulful individuals who over our life will feel feelings and emotions from love to guilt - but, to me, the spectrum of what people are capable of symbolises everything about life that nobody can do anything about: some things just are what they are, just as each of us are who and what we are and have always been destined to be since birth - as were, and as will always be, the best of us.
me
Episode #18: “The Mark The Poet Experience” – Recent Poetry
My Poem “Hello/Goodbye”
During the chapters of our life we encounter unforgettable characters who influence us in many different ways - and, just as in a book, some chapters, some encounters, and some experiences may be brief; however, sometimes, some indellible impressions never end and never stop being like a breath of fresh air through the sometimes cluttered interior of our brain. "I'll see you again", "I'll see you on the other side", "I'll see you before you see me" - life does not always conform to how we might want it to play out: sometimes people move on, sometimes people lose touch, sometimes two becomes one, sometimes you can have too much and sometimes you cannot have enough; however, no matter the struggle, no matter the pain, no matter the scars that people sometimes have to sustain, if you are lucky, one day, a reason for what you went through will reveal itself and give you an answer that may reveal something about yourself that will be just as revelatory as the truth that all life is a cycle and everything on Earth has a connection to everything within the blue or the black sky that we sometimes see above. You never know what you are going to do, you never know who you are going to meet, you never know what or who will become important to you - because no one can ever know the outcome of anything until they choose to try... you never know if you will ever do something again, you never know if you will ever see someone again - but sometimes something can last a long time, perhaps a lifetime, before the curtains are drawn, before we reach for our jacket, before we walk through a door to the world beyond our periphery where and when we will say a simultaneous hello and goodbye.
My Poem “The Runners and Riders”
Every weekend
within the village where I live,
there is a convergence, a meeting,
a gathering of runners and riders
who, for some reason, feel drawn
to my home’s crossroads
of paths and directions…
every weekend
people of every walk of life
set out of their homes
and eventually find themselves
at the same place, at the same time,
marveling at the journey they took
to be where they are and sharing
within their conversations their
mutual appreciation of what
always makes their thoughts race
and their heart beat faster and faster.
I, myself, am a walker…
I, myself, like to stop
and literally smell the roses…
I, myself, am a daydreamer…
I, myself, like to be unbounded to idea
of exactly where I am actually going
and let fate take me where
and when it chooses.
I have been both a runner
and a rider in my time –
and I can still recall the exhilaration
that I used to feel every time
that I pushed my body to the limit
while I got to where I needed –
however, nowadays, I am more of a free spirit
who goes with the flow.
I have been someone
who has had near misses –
and if the universe had had other
plans for me then I would not
be talking to you now…
I do not know how to be any different
than who I have become as a result
of all my experiences and adventures
that I have had over my life –
every so often dancing with
the flames of fate’s fire –
which is why I always feel
a genuine kinship with all of life’s
many and varied runners and riders.
My Poem “Why?”
There is always a reason, there is always a why, there is always a motivation for the myriad of actions that people sometimes take and for the many decisions that people sometimes make that they have no trouble in being able to justify. Where there is a spark there will always be a flame... where there is touch and proximity there will always be intimacy... where there is language there is will always be consideration, interpretation and loss - because truth and reality are not always the same... where there is the evidence of stories of the past there will always remain mysteries. Myths, legacies, stories, records, chronicles, cave paintings, rock carvings are important depictions of a mixture of both fiction and fact all rolled into one... sometimes it doesn't take anything more than someone saying that they heard a voice tell them to do something for them to immediately act seemingly without thinking, nor without a fight... symbols, signs, warnings, lessons, cautionary tales are vital for any civilization to learn the merits of what is right and what is wrong... sometimes it takes the bravest of the brave to stop something that they know is going to happen before it happens - so that some day someone won't have to look back upon a choice that they made and have to justify to others and perhaps to themselves the answer to the question: why?
My Poem “Same Language”
The language of thought is the same as the language of light... the language of stars is the same as the language of life... the language of music is the same as the language of the soul... the language of dance is the same as the language of the natural world... the language of a sunrise is the same as the language of eternity... the language of a sunset is the same as the language of gravity... the language of connection is the same as the language of purpose... the language of love is the same as the language of trust... the truth is that there will always be a universal language: the language of touch - which is more complex than any other language in the universe but which is inherently every other language combined into one.
The Mark The Poet Experience – Special Episode: “Ten Years in the Life of a Poet”
My Poem “Soak it up”
Moments of contentment - a time to breathe, a time to be... moments of reverence - a time to look, a time to listen, a time to think and not to speak... moments of openess, moments of exposure - a time to dream, a time to imagine... moments of both stillness and complexity - a time without a worry in the world, a time without four walls around you that can at times feel like those of a prison... moments of me, myself, and I - a time to close to my eyes, a time to find a treasure within my mind that I know will transform the more that I give it my time and my attention... moments of heart pounding exhilaration - a time that feels infinite, a time that feels enough to see all that I need to see, to hear all that I need to hear, to do all that I need to do to fulfill my heart and my soul before my last day on Earth is through - and it is because I feel such energy in every moment of time that I always choose, whenever I can, to take the time gifted to me to smile at the light of the shining sun, to open my arms high and wide, and soak it up.
The Mark Hastings – Episode #5: “First Thoughts”
My Poem “For the love of it”
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.
markthepoet.me 