There have always been times
in the history of humanity
when people have had to look at themselves,
when people have had to look at their surroundings,
and when people have had to look
at the faces of their loved ones,
and wondered whether this would be the day:
whether this would be when the world
would come to an end…
there have been times when nature
has taken humanity to a point
where and when the outcome of
what was about to happen was not guaranteed,
where and when no matter what protection
we think we have against an imminent threat
we know that the possibility of surviving
what is going to take place is not a given…
there have been devastating asteroid impacts
that have led to the extinction of entire species;
there have been epic storms that have caused
massive amounts of destruction and death;
there have been numerous instances when
attacks have occurred which have lead to fatalities
that could not have been prevented
nor predicted by anyone…
there have always been dangerous times -
when the world around us has felt
as if it were teetering on a knife-edge -
when there are tensions between
powerful nations capable of wielding
arsenals that could lead to
mass casualties and worldwide annihilation…
there have always been times
when we have been told to prepare for the worst -
during times of war, or when there has been
an outbreak of a deadly disease;
and when there is such a time
when the odds of survival might seem insurmountable,
and when the situation unfolding
seems too grim to bear,
everyone around the world needs
something and someone to remind them
that no matter what happens in life,
and no matter what humanity
sometimes has to go through,
there will always be something and someone
that will make the difference
and guide your way through the world -
even if darkness seems to have descended over everything -
and every time you return to them
they give you a little bit of hope
that you are going to be alright
and eventually everything will pass;
and if the end does come,
and if you need something or someone
to hold your hand as you make your way
through an era of potential dystopia,
then think of me and keep a copy of this poem
with you to read whenever you need to be reminded
of the importance of the words of a poet
and you need a poem for the end of the world.
The world
My Poem “The Other Side of The World”
So many people are looking for a new beginning... so many people are in need of a direction... so many people wish that they had something in their lives that would give them a feeling of belonging... so many people have friends and family members who they love - but they know that what they want lies beyond what and where they have always known... so many people have felt this insatiable draw to get on a plane and jet off to somewhere over the horizon... so many people have this instinct that compels them to go somewhere they have never been before, because the place they are going to may feel so much like paradise it could easily be a place within a dream... so many people are just waiting for something or someone to give them the push they need to take a life-changing leap... so many people look around at their lives and they feel that they need more... so many people do not know that they have been imprisoned by something, someone, somewhere, for some time, until they are looking up at an unbroken blue sky and they know what it feels like to be truly free... so many people have chosen to do something profoundly special and adventurous in the pursuit of finding their life's purpose, and so many people have found themselves choosing to start a new life thousands of miles away from the country of their birth in places that lie far away on the other side of the world.
A Poem A Day #460: Environmental Clock
My Poem “The World Beyond”
The world can change for all of us very quickly... the world we always knew can seem something and somewhere different when something unexpected happens... the world can be many things to many people beyond what can be seen... the world we have always been familiar with can always have layers to it that can lead to a world within that has a music to it that, when the time is right, you can hear if and when you choose to listen. The world does not end below our feet, nor above our head... the world is sometimes only seen for what it truly is when we look but do not think... the world does not rest... the world is everything that has happened, everything that will happen, and everything that we can only dream of when we blink. The world is bigger than can be imagined... the world is to what we all are bound... the world is what we receive messages from and it is to whom our wishes are sent... the world is growing rapidly every day, and though the world will never be as we want it to be there will always be more than our eyes can show us - because there will always be a world beyond.
My Poem “Variety”
I love to listen. I love to observe. I love to imagine. I love to converse. I love to watch people doing things that they are invested in, and I love to watch people do things that they might not even know what exactly they are doing. I love stories, I love characters - and life is full of an infinite number of tales that, unless you were a witness to them, you could not and would not believe that were in fact real. I love music for many reasons - but mostly because music is like gravity: it is ever-present throughout our lives, it influences us, it grounds us, it is a force of nature that stars of all kinds, sizes, and colours create and sing without even knowing it, and because it existed before us and it will live on after us in varying forms, rhyming and never repeating. I love that there is more than one season of nature where I live - because it stops every day from feeling like a copy of the day before, like it must feel to people who live in a country where the weather, the temperature, the sights, the sounds, are all the same - because what I love and what I embrace the most about the world that I live in is that there is always so many sources of variety.
My Poem “The Environment of Nature”
There is no greater aroma than what you inhale when you walk through a forest of trees... there is no more heavenly experience than witnessing and being caught in the energy stream of the morning sunlight at dawn... there is no place like being on a beach while looking out to the horizon as the sun sets below the waves... there is no more invigorating sound than the chorus of bird song that heralds both the beginning and the end of every day... there is no more awe-inspiring sight than seeing planet Earth glow like a pearl as it spins against the darkness of space... there is no more humbling experience than looking down at all the life and the light that thrives and shines below as our world silently turns on its axis and is orbited by its own celestial offspring, The Moon... there is no more ethereal wonder to witness than the beautiful rippling energy strands of the auroras of both the Northern and Southern hemispheres created when the sun physically reaches out touches the thin translucent veil of our world's atmosphere... there is no more perfect moment than looking up at the stars from the ground, seeing the constellations, seeing other planets within our solar system, and realizing that everything and everyone in the universe is connected... there is so much more to life on Earth and in the cosmos that we have yet to discover... there is so much more to a place and a time than can ever be captured or ever truly imagined... there is so much more that humanity can achieve together if only they were able to put aside their differences and talk to each other... there is so much to be found when you start wandering and wondering about the greatest gift in existence: the magical oasis of life that is the environment of nature.
Mark The Poet 