time
My Poem “Down Time”
What do you do when you have not got anything to do? Where do you go when you have not got anywhere to go? How do you spend the time you have that has not already been allocated to doing things like chores, commitments, family, shopping, or work? If you have the opportunity to do what you want what do you choose? Something that will make time go by fast, or something that will make time go slow? People who have an incredibly busy and frenetic work day may choose to spend their time off resting their feet, switching off their mind, while listening to music, while reading books, while playing games, or while watching films or something on TV, as they engage in escaping from reality. People who spend their time in their professional life perhaps wearing a uniform, or a shirt and tie from the hours of 9 to 5, might be among those inclined to do things that take them out of their comfort zone and push their senses and their instincts to the limit... people who don't get to do any physical activity during their working week might get up on a weekend morning and immediately feel drawn to go to the gym, to go for a bike ride, or to go for a walk or a run just so they can feel the exhilaration of revitalising their body, their mind, and their spirit. For some people, when they have time to spare, they like to bond with their family while doing something that love to share, whether that is an indoor or an outdoor activity - however just as long as they are within close proximity to one another and having fun that is all that matters and even if it is raining they would rather be with who they want to be with, where they want to be, and doing what gives their life meaning... for some people the moments when they are not thinking about others are few and far between, and that is why they do not get the chance to close their eyes and think about what they might want to do for themselves - but even those people who work all hours that God sends in order to provide for their family do find brief seconds and minutes to make the most of the gift of some "down time" which always picks them back up again.
My Poem “What we leave behind”
Every day we all meet people who influence our thoughts, our feelings, our emotions, our actions, our intentions going forward - what keeps us awake during the day and what keeps us dreaming at night... every day I see and I experience a wave of connection touch me - sometimes slow, gentle and subtle, sometimes fast, hard and heavy - and sometimes I know immediately what this force that I feel means to me, but sometimes it takes some time for me to realize what has impacted upon me and what path it will ultimately lead me down. Every day we all give others gifts that might be big, that might be small, that might be useful, that might be short-lived, that might be indellible like a tattoo, that might be beautiful like a genuine smile that makes a person's face beam brighter than the brightest sunlight... every day I share what has inspired me, what has got under my skin, what has changed me, what shows itself from below the surface of my consciousness ocean like a shark's dorsal fin. Every day we all leave an impression on people, just like someone's footsteps do upon the wet sand of a beach when the tide goes in and out, and sometimes the impressions left last longer than they were expected to... every day I am grateful for certain things, I am grateful for certain people, I am grateful for certain choices that I have made, I am grateful for certain experiences, certain moments in time, and certainties of life... every day we all interact with objects that have been on a journey from the moment of their creation - like a message in a bottle that finds itself bobbing up and down and being carried far across the sea, or like a pair of shoes that take their wearer miles before it is time for them to give up the ghost. Every day I hope that I have had a positive influence and I have made positive impact upon everybody I have met - whether in person, literally, virtually, intentionally, or indirectly - and that people who might be old friends, new friends, strangers, and those who know me by my face and my name but not yet personally, are grateful and they will always be thankful for whatever it is of mine that they find which I have left behind.
A Poem A Day #180: Play Time
A Poem A Day #169: Retro
A Poem A Day #165: Future Me
A Poem A Day #164: The Falling Leaf
My Poem “The Gift of You”
Christmas is a time, Christmas is a season, Christmas is like a tide that slowly rises, overwhelms, and then recedes in the wake of a new year descending... Christmas is different every year for everyone who celebrates it. Christmas can be a different experience depending on how old someone is - when we are young Christmas is a series of magical moments, including: meeting someone dressed in a red suit with a white beard, making a list of things that we want, and receiving presents of all shapes and sizes; but, as we get older, as life goes on, and as we lose people who have always been special to us, Christmas can be a time of reflection, sadness, regret, and longing for what was and missing those who we have lost. Christmas can be a wonderful crossroads of feelings and emotions, of family, of friends, of making the most of what you have, of accepting what are you gifted, and of capturing the spirit of celebration that fills every street and the rooms of every house all around the world... Christmas is when love can be shown and shared... Christmas is when people have to think about others and truly show that they care... Christmas is about the build up to December the 25th - more so, perhaps, that the day itself... Christmas is sometimes more about following long established traditions - whether they are religious in nature, consumeristic, or of keeping alive the memory of people who to us will live on in our mind and in our heart and whose photos will remain long after we take down the festive cards we have received from their shelves. This Christmas, like every Christmas, we all hope for the best and wish to be blessed... this Christmas, like every Christmas, we all sometimes want what we can't have... this Christmas, like every Christmas, people listen to Christmas songs, people watch Christmas movies, and people don Christmas themed attire that they may have been waiting all year to wear every time they have got dressed... every Christmas it is important to make yourself happy, as well as make other people happy, because without thinking outloud and without expressing yourself then it wouldn't truly be Christmas - so give yourself a present, celebrate how you want, and perhaps reach out a hand to others and give them the gift of you this Christmas.
My Poem “Gone”
No matter how much you try to hold on to something sometimes you lose things, sometimes you lose people, sometimes you lose time; however, one day you unearth a piece of your past and you look at it for the first time in years, and, to your amazement, it does not not mean to you what it once meant - where before you would have done anything to not be parted from a particular thing, now, all the feelings that you once felt for something, you discover, seem to have evaporated, seem to have become lost, seem to have left without you knowing - and though, before, you might have told yourself that you could never live without that particular thing in your life, you come to find that time appears to have helped you more than you realize to get passed what might have been holding you back, because now you find it easy to walk away from what was never meant to be, because what once was is now gone.
My Poem “Mark”
Nothing stays pristine forever... no one stays the same way for all the days of their life... over time things wear out like old leather... no one stays untarnished - over time the power of the sun damages the outer skin of something or someone after a prolonged period of exposure. Everything is impacted by outside influences... everybody is marked by their time on Earth... everything has a journey from its creation to its destruction made up of events that came as a result of their encounter with outside forces... everybody has their own individual path through life and at several points everybody experiences moments of significance on par with a moment of rebirth. Life isn't a race... life isn't meant to be rushed... life isn't only about the world around us - because so much of what connects us lies above us in outer space... for some people life is like a rock that needs to be constantly admired and occasionally polished; but, to me, what makes life so special is that every day, upon every thing and everyone, another layer of character is added to what makes something and someone what they are - and some things and some people are meant to be, and they are meant to remain unrestored, tarnished, and imprinted with life's indellible marks.
Mark Hastings 