There is a line between darkness and light... There is a state of mind between hope and fear... There is a place where both love and sadness reside... There is a world within where we all wear our inner smiles, and where we all shed our hidden tears. There is a reason for what we do that sometimes only we know... There is a mirror version of ourselves who tells us what is real rather than what we think is true... There is an endless kaleidoscope of memories and thoughts from our life that when we dream we go to... There is a path that people choose to take when they feel as if they have nothing left to lose. There is a balance that we all need to find... There is a cause that we all rally around because it means more to us than could be captured with words... There is a story that only we can tell - and by the act of sharing that which we have lived through the truth shines and eventually parts the clouds of deception and lies... There is something and someone important to us that we cling to whenever, and wherever, we know that we are somewhere that is a world between worlds.
Places
A Poem A Day #292: My Space
My Poem “Missing Time”
Since the start of this world-shattering pandemic I know deep in my soul that I have missed the sound of a particular source of music - a soundtrack, a beat, a rhythm of life that can be heard, felt, and seen within your minds eye, whether it be morning, noon, or night: the same pulse of inspiration that first surged within me at the very moment when I knew that I was born to be a poet. What I love about writing and what keeps me coming back to the blank page time and again is the same thing that I miss about sitting in a café surrounded by people, before the days of mandatory masks and before compulsory social distancing. The thrill of the unknown, the magic of the instantaneous, the order and the chaos that to me always made sense and which I could always easily pull into focus: all that being an artist is all about... you can't plan for it, you can only create it when you feel it within you boiling away with such ferocity that you know it is about to explode - which is why artists need to capture what occurs to them before whatever idea forms combusts into dust and becomes as spectral as a ghost. I yearn to go back in time... I wish that I could return to a place at a point in the past where and when I truly believed every moment would always last... I still cannot believe that we are all living in the world that greets my senses and compels my thoughts and my emotions so overwhelmingly... I wish that I could do something, I wish that I could write something, I wish that I could imagine something that might serve to transport everybody away from our current stark reality - perhaps to a moment of peace, joy, and love that the world once enjoyed, or to a time in the future when I know the memory of our current present will not be as potent. I have personal places and I have particular times where and when I return to within my thoughts and within my dreams that mean the world to me that feel so close to me that I could reach out and grasp them: perfect moments the like of which everybody has, which we all would do anything to get back to, which we never stop missing and which are among life's most precious of blessings.
My Poem “Back Up Plan”
It is always better to look forwards,
it is always better to look up,
it is always better to be hopeful and optimistic –
especially when the world around you
has become different and messed up…
it’s always better to focus on
the things in life that are good;
however, as everybody knows, the unexpected
is just waiting around the corner –
which is why it is not a bad idea
to be prudent and to save something
for a day and a time when you
are going to need some things
more than others…
it’s always better to have a contingency
plan in place just in case
reality seemingly is turned upside down –
like some sort of life-raft
that can help you if and when
you metaphorically, psychologically,
or perhaps physically feel like
you are about to drown…
it’s always better to look on
the bright side of life –
but, at the same time, everybody
has to realise that most things
in life are temporary, precious,
and can unfortunately be taken away;
which is why there are so many people
who plan for what might happen next,
what will happen next,
and what they may one day leave behind…
it’s always good to have something in reserve…
it’s always good to not use
all of something too quickly
and to find a way to make
something last…
it’s always good to make sure that
you don’t go too far beyond
a place that are not familiar with,
because until you know more
about something anchoring yourself to somewhere can be like having a life-line…
that is why it is good, if you can,
to always have a back up plan.
My Poem “Divine Intervention”
Sometimes things happen
that are true mysteries…
if the devil is in the details,
and if God works in mysterious ways,
then each of us are constantly
walking a path of choices and destiny…
sometimes things just pop up in front of you,
like a lucky penny, and you have to
make a course-correction,
and you have to do what you have to do
and you have got to see what you have got to see…
sometimes you return to places
that you never thought that you
would ever go back to
for reasons that you can’t control
and you cannot explain.
Sometimes in life you just need to have faith
and believe that something, or someone,
is watching over you –
protecting you, directing you, conducting you,
and pointing you in the direction
to where you need to be,
as if adhering to some kind of
inter-dimensional time-table…
things change, places change, people change –
there is always a time in your life
to find peace and reconciliation
with something that regularly
used to keep you up at night.
Thank God that things, places,
and people change – that is what I say;
because if life, the world, the universe,
did not revolve around the singularity of change
then where would any of us be?
There are so many moments of inspiration
that are really instances
of divine intervention in disguise.
My Poem “Revolving Door”
Places change over time…
people come and people go…
most places that we visit
have virtual, and sometimes literal,
revolving doors through which
people enter and exit
every second of every day…
life itself is constantly
receiving and sending souls
to and from Earth…
our brain, our mind, our imagination,
our dreams have a constantly in use
gateway that connects them to our senses…
screens, books, one to one interactions
is how we send and receive messages
in this modern world…
pictures, graphics, and even methods
of communication that still involve words
daily communicate with and bind
everybody in a web from which
we sometimes find it hard to escape from
because it surrounds us in every direction…
our collective preoccupations
are constantly in a state of change…
our methods of exploration and discovery
become more advanced and revolutionary
every time a new idea spawns
a new wave of creativity
from a genius, an artist, a philanthropist
capable of thinking out of the box
and beyond the limits of understanding…
every day we as a species expand beyond
what we know, what we knew, and we uncover
the cloak of the unknown to reveal
a world of possibilities that has been there
in plain view the entire time
that we have been in our place
in the cosmos of stars, planets,
and phenomena that people are
constantly looking to and for
so that they can explore
what lies on the other side
and what there is to find when you choose
to venture through a revolving door.
My Poem ‘All Kinds’
It’s nice to find a place
where you feel accepted…
it’s nice to find somewhere
to connect to and to feel connected…
it’s nice to find a place
where you can do anything,
say almost anything,
wear anything without fear
of being judged or isolated…
it’s nice to find somewhere
you can sit down, talk,
listen, work, write, share,
and perhaps even discover
and explore something unexpected.
So many different kinds of people
are drawn and find themselves
in the same place at the same time…
so many people from all walks of life
seemingly-randomly find themselves
interacting with other people every day
who serve as lamp-posts, signposts,
and talismans illuminating the path
that they must follow next…
so many different followers
of so many different ideologies,
customs, beliefs, tastes, and accents
can for a short period find themselves
walking or standing behind one-another
in the same line…
so many different ranges of ages
can find themselves within touching-distance
of those who are at ease with those
who are preoccupied by something on their mind –
and also by those who seemingly are
in their own infinite world of one and many,
but who are also at their best.
There is a reason why some flowers
and some plants need to be planted
in the right soil and in the right Earth
for them to grow and in the way
that they are meant to…
there is a reason why certain places
appeal to some people and not all –
sometimes the place where you want to be
can be somewhere that puts you
in the right place you want to be emotionally,
spiritually, psychologically,
within your own body and mind…
there is a reason why you go to things
and why things come to you…
there is a reason why when daylight
passes through a prism
it scatters into its spectral-components…
humanity, like light, is invisible when seen as-one –
however, when you look closer and deeper
you realize that for the world to be
the way that it is and the way that
it is supposed to be
it takes all kinds.
My Poem ‘The Gift of Ideas’
Ideas are like a tower;
thoughts have a structure;
dreams are like a castle of clouds;
wishes are like a beach
of long-forgotten shells;
memories are like photographs
that have faded over time;
old photo-albums
are like old songs
that remind you of people
and places from your life.
Eyes open; flowers blossom;
light shines; heart-rates rise;
life grows; the dark is exposed;
the clouds part;
a miracle becomes real
as the music starts –
and like the composer of an orchestra,
you put together the pieces of picture:
sometimes the music is loud,
sometimes the instruments are distinctive,
sometimes the players are both known
and unknown –
perhaps just one face in a crowd;
sometimes, most of the time,
what comes seemingly from the most random
reasons and places
are the most impressive,
even to the dreamer of the dream –
because they are so wonderfully inventive.
Things are not always obvious;
the seemingly unconnected
may have more in common with one-another
than they appear;
just like people,
some things sometimes speak
with a similar-sounding voice;
sometimes even a thing of extreme beauty
can bring someone to tears.
Ideas can be like a lost puppy
that you find walking the streets
without an owner;
ideas about people and things
sometimes change and can be
like the highs, the lows,
and the speeds of a roller-coaster
that go in every direction
before finally coming to a rest;
ideas can be like reconnecting
with a long-lost sister or brother;
ideas are one of life’s
most amazing and incredible gifts.
My Poem ‘Fever’
There are places in space,
there are moments in time,
there are faces, there are rhymes,
there are things that happen,
there are people who are who they are,
there are things that draw your attention,
there are an infinite number of multi-coloured stars
that brighten, enliven, and make your life feel
as if it is complete,
there are links that form
that give strength to weak.
Some may look at the landscape of a war-zone
and see desolation and a reason to doubt
the longevity of life on our planet,
while another person looking at the same sight
may see it as an opportunity to rebuild
and to reinvigorate, and to heal old wounds
and to put long-lasting hope into the mortar
and the stone of the newly relaid foundations
and draw lines of inter-connectivity
into the very blueprints of what is being rebuilt.
Anything can happen at any moment;
anybody can imagine anything
when their senses are brought to life,
like a spark to a fire;
even a single word can have lasting importance;
even a single glance and a look
can quickly evolve into desire.
A flash of light and colour;
the touch on your skin of a gust of wind;
the sound of a voice that always pulls you into
a magical world of wonder;
the feeling of euphoria that true love brings;
the way that things are,
the way that the many faces of the universe inter-work,
the way that even the smallest of actions
can have the most life-changing of powers,
is what will always be as things are forever –
and that is why it is always important
to cherish, to take care, and to kindle an idea,
because it does not take much in the right hands
for a single thought and dream
to take over and spread like a fever.
markthepoet.me 