sharing
My Poem “For Bake’s Sake”
Because of the current circumstances
that we all find ourselves within
so many people have been forced
to stay at home, to stay indoors,
and to stay away from
close friends and family members –
and, as a result, there has been
an increase in the necessity for
Internet bandwidth so that people
who are at home 24/7 can continue
to remain in contact with
the rest of the world,
so that they can continue
to be entertained
by all the content that the various
streaming services have to offer,
and so that people can continue to
engage with rest of the world
via all the forms and all the sites of
social media and social interaction
while the majority of the planet
continue to practice physical
social distancing between one another,
and there seems to be no more
popular activity than people
daily posting pictures, videos,
and even live streams of what they are doing,
what they are making,
and what they are baking behind closed doors
while they wait out the time of being
locked down from the outside world
which continues to progress at
the only pace that it is capable of taking.
We all have to do something
to pass the time when we are being
asked to do as little as possible,
to leave the house as sparingly as possible,
and to not interact with anyone
anywhere other than with those
who live under the same roof as we do –
and some people have chosen to
become home bakers, artists,
social media streamers,
book readers, television
and movie watchers,
and they have chosen to share
what they are doing with their
time of isolation more so
than they would if they were able
to leave their homes if
and when they wanted to.
Time goes by so slowly
when you have to look
for things to do
to distract you from the situation
that you find yourself in –
especially when you and everyone
you know is attempting to live
under a shield of quarantine
in an attempt to protect the lives
of their family members
and the world at large –
and which is why the allure
of making things and using your time
to create something and to share
the process and the end result
of doing something worthwhile
is what so many homebound people
have chosen to gravitate towards
and will no doubt continue to do:
because if this troubling time
is reminding all of us of anything
more profoundly that usual
is that time is precious, life is short,
and our human societies are fragile –
and that is why I think what people
are doing to pass the time while
they at home is important,
and whether watching, writing, reading,
making, or baking, what people are doing
is for all our sake and not just
baking for baking’s sake.
My Poem ‘Back down to Earth’
I’m back now…
my second home is now
4000 miles away again…
I’m back below the clouds…
I feel like I am a man of two minds:
one, a proud Englishman;
and another, someone who feels at home
in Georgia, in the United States of America,
where there is more opportunity
to do anything, at any time of the day,
and at any given moment
as there are lanes on a highway.
I’m back where everybody drives on the left,
instead of on the right…
I’m back where I was born –
however, there isn’t a moment
when I do not miss the light of my day,
the light of my night,
the light of my life,
back there where you can see
fireflies flying and glowing
against the stars of a twilight sky.
I’m back wearing jeans –
however, only days before
and for two weeks-straight,
I had been wearing shorts
morning, noon, and night,
and getting touched on the skin
by the heat and the light of the sun…
I’m back walking down familiar paths
and sitting in the same chairs
in the same places that I know every inch of –
however, though I am awake and writing
here in England, I am also projecting myself
back to Georgia with Melissa
and dreaming along with her
and surrounded by the scent of a burning candle
that smells like coffee
when its wick burns and its wax melts.
I’m back where there are not as many drive-throughs
as there are in the US;
here in the UK, for example,
if we want to withdraw some money from our bank-account,
or if we want to pick up a prescription from a pharmacy,
we have to actually walk to somewhere –
however, in the US you can get money,
you can pick up your prescription,
as easily and as speedily
as you can order take-out food,
and you don’t even have to leave
the comfort of the driving-seat of your car.
Both the US and the UK share many things in common,
but there are many wonderful differences
that set them apart…
we have different names for the same things:
in the US, people seem to find more time
to celebrate and remember the liberty
and the freedoms that they are
constitutionally entitled to…
both the US and the UK even have
different forms of humour
and things that they find funny,
but both the US and the UK know
the true joy that comes with sharing experiences
together as friends and as a family,
and why it is important to smile and to laugh.
Both the US and the UK have for centuries now
shared a “special-relationship” with one-another,
and from my perspective and from my experience
our commonalities have no limit
to their importance and worth…
to me, both the US and the UK
are two sides of the same coin,
they are two halves of the same heart,
and I feel and I know with all my soul
that the US and the UK are bound to each-other
in more ways than could ever be described –
and when I am away from both the UK and the US
there are things and there are people
that I miss more than others,
but it is my knowledge
of what makes both the US and the UK
so special that always makes me smile
and always brings me back down to Earth.
My Poem ‘Christmases’
Christmas is about family…
Christmas is about sharing…
Christmas is about being happy…
Christmas is about giving.
It’s Christmas time,
it’s Christmas day…
it is now when we celebrate
with presents, prayers,
mistletoe and wine…
it is now when people
the world-over are the most thankful
for what and whom is in their life
every hour of every day.
Christmas is about love…
Christmas is about thinking about others…
Christmas is about spreading a message of hope…
Christmas is about bringing everybody together…
Christmas is my favourite time of the year…
Christmas is a season, and its meaning
all culminates on one day, the 25th of December.
Christmas is about sharing how beautiful
life could be for everybody
if we opened our hearts more…
Christmas is about peace,
and if there is one gift
that Christmas should give us all
it is the understanding
that we as a species, as a world, as a planet,
are meant to live and breath
all the world’s differences and celebrate them –
because we were not born
to fight one-another, or wage war.
Christmas is about traditions…
Christmas is about symbols…
Christmas is about wishes…
Christmas is about angels…
it is so important to always keep alive
the Christmas spirit –
from childhood to adulthood…
it is so important that children
make lists and send them to Santa Claus…
it is so important to show
how much someone means to you –
even the smallest of gestures
of kindness is always enough…
it is so important to let
the ice of hostility thaw –
because feeling blessed to be alive and well,
and being thankful for the precious time
that we have, and whom we spend our time with,
highlights beautifully what
the true meaning of Christmas is.
My Poem ‘Festive Flavours’
Like the smile of a sunny day…
like the cold of a Winter morning…
like the festive feeling that you see
and feel around the holiday
and Christmas season…
like the Spring flowers of the month of May…
like the anticipation that a child experiences
the night before Christmas morning…
it is at those times when things happen
that are once in a life-time,
when people come together in celebration,
when people are extra caring, sharing, and kind,
when every moment makes every day worth living,
and when joy can sometimes be a welcome contagion.
The morning light is bright…
the morning sky is unbroken blue…
the morning air has a bite…
the morning mood of everybody fills the streets,
and everywhere you go you can hear festive tunes.
There is ice under-foot…
there are people and there are things
that need to be thought of now more than ever…
there are memories from years gone by
that drift into your mind
like a flurry of snow that comes from above…
there are things that we do but once a year, perhaps,
that we should do all year-around –
however, for some reason it is at times like right now,
and it is the season, when every action that we take
resounds like the sound of a ringing bell…
now is the time for festive songs,
for festive food, for festive colours,
and for festive flavours.
My Poem ‘The Burning Man’
What symbolizes life more than a candle?
What symbolizes a person’s soul more than a flame?
What symbolizes that which is precious
but that which is also hard to handle?
What symbolizes that which no one,
no matter how powerful they are, can tame?
Fire. Burning. Creation, and destruction.
The end, as well as the beginning of something new.
Just as a fire will continue to rage
as long as it has fuel –
an artist… a reveler… a person inspired
and who embraces life’s limitless opportunities
to express themselves see powerful images,
like that of a “burning man” –
as if they are also gasoline
to the spark that resides
within their mind and in their heart;
just like a band of many, performing as-one,
a harmony and a synchronicity of destiny
binds everybody together –
so much so that they create
their own gravitational-pull.
In the heat of a desert…
in the dry air of a forest…
in the most desperately-remote places on Earth…
within the beat of a person’s heart
crescendoing in their chest…
sometimes a seemingly-spontaneous wildfire
can spark into life…
sometimes amazing things can happen
when the conditions are “just-right”…
sometimes the gift and the act of free-will
can give rise to an instinctive
visceral expression of natural art.
Life is a shared-experience…
some people’s life, light, flame, and fire,
burns brighter and for longer –
but everybody who lives any life at-all
burns with a purpose…
everybody is a stranger to each-other
until they introduce themselves to one-another…
everybody is on a mission of self-discovery –
but the most important thing
to look back upon your life
and be proud of is all the times
when you walked together with someone
in mutual-participation and cooperation,
guided by a feeling and without a firm-plan;
there have been many examples throughout human history
of what happens when you bring together
people and nature and you let them be
and you let them burn and commune
for a short time with one-another,
and there is no better festival of life
that takes place every year
that is a symbol of the constant burning spirit
of a person’s spirit more so than ‘Burning Man’.
My Poem ‘Analog’
The world is like a ticking clock…
the universe is the most breathtaking
and complex time-piece…
the Earth is far more than
a green and blue planet
of trees, oceans, and rock…
life is a monument
and an unfinished puzzle
of an infinite number of pieces.
All worlds turn silently in a vacuum…
all life is unique…
all explosions create a plume…
all things have the ability to speak…
nothing is by accident…
every song is the offspring
of the trinity of a musical artist:
heart, mind, and soul…
all music is like a thing of magic…
the random and the unexpected
is what makes life feel
ever the more real…
sometimes the more unmarked
and the more perfect something appears
the more fake it can seem…
sometimes the more you add to something
the more that you take away from it…
sometimes the more you dream about something
the more that you build a bridge
between the imaginary and the seen,
and that is when something phenomenal begins
like a tempest of energy behind your eye-lids.
We all share, and we all receive…
we all upload, and we all download…
we all like our freedom,
and we like to be loyal in our own way
and return home to the place
and to the people we love…
we all think… we all breathe…
we all code… we all have our very own
introduction, life, story, and epilogue…
sometimes the best things in life
happen when you embrace
the unedited version of something,
and to me there are fewer things purer
than those that can be enjoyed in analog.
My Poem ‘Interview with an inspirer’
Across a table,
over a mug of tea
or a cup of coffee,
over the years I have sat down,
spoke and communed
with the truly inspirational –
and every ghost of everybody
who has chosen to come
and pass on their wisdom to me
lives on in the words of the verses
within the lines of my poetry.
A long time ago,
William Shakespeare himself,
with quill in hand,
taught me how to write
and how to tap into
the well of inspiration
of my own heart;
only a couple of years ago,
I was sitting in a coffee-shop,
when who do you think it was
who sat across from me?
Why it was the ghost of Vincent van Gogh –
who instilled in me
the importance of every brush-stroke
that we all make, in art and in life,
and to not be afraid to make our marks
that number as many as a sky full of stars;
the white-suited spirit of John Lennon
regularly sits down with his guitar next to me
and inspires me to imagine and to see the world
for how it should be.
Only a few days ago,
I was having a deep and meaningful conversation
with the legendary ‘Starman’ David Bowie;
Amelia Earhart wants me to remind
every man, woman, and child
to never stop overcoming the odds
and reaching for the stars;
Audrey Hepburn has stopped by
to share breakfast with me –
she teaches me every time I see her
that being happy in life is all that matters;
Agatha Christie likes to drink
a cup of hot black-coffee
when sitting down with me
and explaining the importance of a great mystery;
“don’t be afraid to let your mind run wild
when you are writing anything”
was an inspiring piece of advise given to me once
by the author of ‘Frankenstein’, Mary Shelley.
I have been visited many times
by amazing people with epic stories
to tell from and of their lives –
Robin William, RIP, comes by often
to tell me a joke and to give me
the answer to a question
that I did not even know was on my mind;
everybody who sits across from me,
or beside me, talks to me, I believe,
because I listen and because I care deeply,
and perhaps because my imagination
and my heart burns like a fire;
special people never stop having
something to tell you and pass on –
even after death the light of a person’s spirit
lives on, and I am always ready and waiting
if somebody who used to walk the Earth,
but who is now in the after-life,
wants to return to life
through words and through memories
by allowing me to talk and interview
those who will always inspirational
and an eternal inspiring inspirer.
My Poem ‘Never Rest’
Everybody has their own outlet;
everybody has their own place of worship;
everybody has their own way of sharing;
everybody has their own way of caring;
everybody has their own time
when they feel their most alive;
everybody has their own favourite way
of passing the time:
if I could be anywhere at this very moment,
I would love to be in a Jeep Cherokee
traveling down I-75 with the one I love
all the way to Tennessee-
listening to music from the 1980s and the 1990s,
as we enjoy every second of our drive
and the perfection of our ride.
We can all feel young as long as we want to;
we can all do the seemingly impossible;
we can all marvel at the brand new;
we can all make that life-changing call;
we can all be seen, we can all be heard,
we can all be free, we can all be
all that we say so easily with words;
we all remember, we all forget;
we all have felt a rush,
like the feeling of uplifting air
underneath the wings of a bird’s feathers;
we all at one time or another
have had to pass a test.
Life is a series of borders to be crossed;
everybody everyday wants to be happy;
a life in which ever day there are things
that you can have any second at no cost
is the one that we would all always want;
everybody has expectations
of how they would like something to be,
and then when life surprises you
from time to time in ways
that completely eclipse anything that you thought
you realize why it is important
that some things only happen once.
A great journey is made up of small
but important steps;
a happy life should be measured on smiles
and memories, not by miles or kilometers per hour;
a beautiful vision is both soul- and solar-powered;
an imagination like no other
is one that can go all day and all night
while harnessing a single powerful idea –
and at no point, until that idea has evolved
to the next level of its existence,
does the powerful mind of a dreamer ever rest.
My Poem ‘Bless You’
Saying “bless you” when someone sneezes;
holding a door open for someone;
saying “thank you”, saying please;
doing and making simple acts of kindness
and thoughtfulness that do not cost a thing
are wonderful things,
and to someone in need of a smile,
or of a bit of happiness,
you can make a person’s day that much more positive
and not as bad – especially if they are having a day
in which they are feeling down and glum.
Giving a stranger a song that you love to listen to;
giving a friend an idea they have been looking for for days;
giving a few minutes of you time to talk to someone,
and to listen to someone;
giving a couple of pounds to someone who asks you for it,
and who looks like they need it,
and not asking why they need it,
but giving what you have so that they can use it
to have what they want.
A thought, a touch, a smile, a look,
a light, a shade, a promise,
assistance in finding a way;
giving advice, giving someone tips,
saving a life, telling someone that you give a spit;
saying “I’m sorry”;
opening up about your own worries and troubles;
being there for someone when everything that could happen
has happened and seems to have all come
at once for someone, like a funnel;
telling someone that you love them;
doing something for someone out of the blue;
lending someone a pen;
giving someone a glance in their direction,
and a second thought of their health and happiness,
by saying when they sneeze “bless you”.
Mark The Poet 