I grew up in the 1980s…
I grew up in the decade when
the world was blessed with the best
and with the most memorable days of their lives…
when I think of the 1980s and the time of my childhood,
I look back with awe and with a nostalgic longing
to return to those days –
even if only for a short time…
I can still remember living, breathing, growing,
and enjoying every one of the gifts of humanity
that were ever-present and essential…
I, like many, still vividly remember what I saw,
what I heard, and what I felt when I was a child –
what I was fortunate to have seen, heard, and felt
for the first time, at the moment that
their star of influence began to rise
and instantly started to impact
and change the world forevermore…
television, movies, music, games, books –
the characters, the vehicles, the fashions,
the songs and the soundtracks
that continue to stand the test of time –
that to this day are still re-watched,
replayed, rediscovered, and renewed
for a brand new generation…
to me, there is nothing like nostalgia…
to me, there is nothing like revisting
the precious memories of your youth…
there is something about certain times
in our collective history that resonates
with some people on an emotional
and on an almost cellular level…
there is something special about remembering
the things we used to watch,
the things we used to listen to,
and in the ways that we used to enjoy them…
there is something wonderful, heart-racing,
exhilarating, and magical about using
our imagination as a vehicle to go back in time,
like the Delorean time-machine
from the Back to the Future movies,
and in a small way reliving decades-old memories –
and even though I am now in my thirties
and my childhood now feels like a life-time ago,
I still love thinking back, I still loving watching back,
and I still love using the songs that I remember from my youth
to take me back and give me a rush of euphoric recollection,
like the feeling of returning home:
the same overwhelming sense of belonging and joy
that I ways feel when I think back to the 1980s.
time
My Poem “A World of Time”
A world of time… a world of faces…
a world of life… a world of places…
a world of mountains… a world of waterfalls…
a world of fountains… a world of the very small…
a world of the very tall…
a world of intelligence… a world of beauty…
a world of providence… a world of poetry…
a world of imagination… a world of dreamers…
a world of interconnection… a world of believers…
a world of vastness… a world of colour…
a world of wanderlust… a world of desire…
a world of love… a world of light…
a world of worshipers of the sky and the heavens above…
a world of day and a world of night…
a world of history… a world of hellos and goodbyes…
a world of symmetry… a world of synchronicity
all living the dream of their life
and all doing what makes sense to them
in a world of time.
My Poem “Wild at Heart”
Everyone is wild at heart…
everyone shows just how wild they are
every time their eyes grow wide, they cry,
and they open their mouth in a scream or in a laugh…
everyone is young at heart…
everyone shows just how youthful, rebellious,
and energetic they can still be –
even if most of the time they feel like
they have to “act their age” and stay in after dark…
everybody always has memories of times in their life
when they were able to act without any fear of boundaries
and allow their body and their mind to run free –
because nobody ever forgets that feeling of liberation,
that unbounded power that is at the centre
of the inner light of glee that rises
like the golden light of the sun
that glistens over the waves of a morning sea…
even within the most serene and tranquil of landscapes
there lies a wild spirit whose heart is always racing…
even within the quietest and the most remote places
of solitude there can be heard a call
that some find invigorating…
ever since I was a child, my mind, my eyes,
my emotions, my drive, the voice within me
that I have drawn my inspiration and my strength from,
has been that of the wolf within me –
however, it wasn’t until I found the soulmate of my dreams
that I realized that I have always been a part of a union
of two halves – one male, one female –
and two souls bound together
because they are one and the same: wild at heart.
My Poem “The Long Way Round”
Some times it is good to go that extra mile…
some times it is worthwhile to go back
to where you came from…
some times it is good to revisit those places
that used to make you smile…
some times all you need is to return
to those open spaces that you will always remember
and let the winds of home
blow away the cobwebs of your memory,
and once again you can feel like you are
walking among old friends as you retrace
those steps that you made
that gave you a reason to not feel alone…
the shape of time is a sphere…
even those who feel lost
one day arrive back where their journey began
and again they feel found…
the walls that surround our heart
and our soul are crystal clear…
just as we take a step into the future
we also always take a step back into the past,
and while doing so we all always feel glad
that when given the choice to take the short and easy way
instead we chose to take our time, to smell the roses,
and see the sights along the way,
as we took the long way round.
My Poem “Anything is possible”
Snow fell during the night –
however, when I walked out into the cold of day
I was instantly bathed in golden sunlight…
The sky above is blue without a cloud to be seen…
Within hours all of the snow will have melted
and there will not even be a flake of snow to be seen…
Some things are temporary,
some things are set in stone…
The sun has shone every day of human history
and it will continue to light the way of our future
and remind us every day that we are not alone…
Time rushes by like a raging river
and soon disappears over the edge
of a precipice like a waterfall…
Everything is constantly in a state of change
and the fact that moments do not last forever
is both sad and yet beautiful –
just as children grow before our eyes
so too does the world,
and we are lucky to live at this moment of time
when between sunrise and sunset
and between sunset and sunrise
anything is possible.
My Poem “Woodland”
You haven’t lived until you have been
up close to the flora and the fauna of a forest…
You have never breathed true fresh air
until you have walked through a paradise
of green parkland during the summer months…
You have never felt as blessed as me
until you have shared precious moments
with the one you love in peaceful solitude –
watching hummingbirds feed during the daylight,
or witnessing the lightning bugs
illuminate the darkness as they dance
through the air under the stars of night…
The face of nature is breathtaking…
I have seen sights beyond imagining…
As I have lived I have experienced things
that are like a time-capsule
which I can use to slow the passage of time,
to halt the march of the second hand of my life’s clock,
and to return me to the places above, below, and far-away:
among the clouds… underground… sitting on a wooden porch,
walking over a river with the love of my life, Melissa…
There were times when I was younger
when I regularly used to go out on my own
and be in a state of complete and utter awe
as walked amongst the amazing tall trees
of a thriving, lush, and inspiring woodland.
My Poem “Zeitgeist”
Times change… lives change…
Things change within the blink of an eye
when we’re not looking…
Seasons change… styles change…
opinions interchange…
the zeitgeist of the moment
changes it’s face with the snap of a finger…
The cream of the new crop rises to the top,
while the cherry of yesterday falls to bottom
and below the public consciousness…
The “In” can be “Out” from one week to the next…
One minute, everybody is talking
about this amazing new phenomenon –
and the next that same thing
can be considered out of date…
Time can be seen by some people
as both a gift and a predator…
You can do so much with time,
but sometimes time can feel like an ocean wave
that we are constantly trying to out-run…
Time goes by too fast, if you ask me…
Things change too much nowadays –
I’m not sure if anybody else agrees?
Maybe it’s my age? Maybe its because I’m sentimental?
Maybe my head is stuck in the past too much?
I’m not sure – but in this modern day and age
of the shortest attention-span known to man,
I think it is even more essential than ever
to be a detective of further knowledge
and see past the momentary flashes of the present
and embrace different periods and opinions
that were once considered the zeitgeist of their time.
My Poem “The Golden Season”
Golden light beams down from above…
A feeling of comfort floods the air…
Brown leaves tumble and are carried by the gentle breeze…
Change is everywhere…
The ground is wet, making it slippery under foot…
Things look the same – but, as with every new day,
differences surround and reveal themselves to me…
It is a magical time of the year…
New stories are being written,
as Old tales are being retold…
The cycle of nature continues
and now it is the season of Autumn’s turn
to fall upon everyone like a flurry of red leaves…
This season of transition will herald the arrival
of one of our world’s greatest natural wonders…
This season will be when all the instruments
and when all the notes and the chords will be played
by the ever-present players of nature’s orchestra,
whose music will crescendo higher and higher
until the last leaves have danced and fallen
in time with the golden season’s symphony
until it’s last breath.
My Poem “Rhapsody”
The voices of everybody over-lap…
one minute the music is jazz,
the next the beautiful melody of a piano…
the echoes of a chorus of sounds
are carried through the air
like the waves of an ocean…
there are moments of time that run slow
and there are those that race past
and then are gone again in a flash…
there is a dance of people,
of language, of emotions,
of noise, of stillness, of silence…
the beats of a heart,
the thoughts of a mind,
the air and the ambiance
that flows gently like a stream
can gradually become a waterfall –
the place, the people, the music,
the moment that is filled
with an infinite number of instants
that make them who and what they are
is what is at the heart
and what is the true essence
of what poetry, to me, is all about…
the best poetry comes from the heart of a poet
who feels a moment of time and an experience
so deeply and so profoundly
that it can only be expressed as a rhapsody.
My Poem “Words Enough and Time”
If only there were
enough words in the world
and limitless time in our lives
for each and every one of us
to find peace of mind
to fill our soul
with only the things of life
and the universe
that are among the most
wondrous and beautiful…
during an eclipse of daylight,
under the silent shadow
of a celestial event,
within the brief window
of day becoming night,
every one of us
can feel as if our lives
have become frozen
in an instant of twilight…
if only there were a way
for thoughts to break-free,
if only there were a way
for us to see the unseen,
if only there were a way
to describe the true meaning
and the transcendental
beauty of a sunrise…
if only there were
words enough and time.
Mark The Poet 