time

My Poem “Storm before the Calm”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sometimes life can seem
uncontrollable…
sometimes life can feel
like it is literally
sweeping you off your feet…
sometimes life can seem
like it is hitting you
where you hurt the most…
sometimes life can feel
like you are riding out
a storm on a boat being
tossed around by the rising
and falling waves of an ocean
as an unstoppable force
tries to pull you deep beneath.

There are times in everyone’s life
when we all feel struck down
by either illness or by circumstances
and we feel unable to pick ourselves
back up without a helping hand
to aid us, to keep us going,
to tell us that we are
going to be alright,
and that no matter how dark
the clouds above might seem
there will come an instance
when the sun will break through
and herald a blue sky
of new possibilities to be
drawn to and hypnotized by.

When things seemingly come
from out of nowhere
it can at first feel scary,
confusing, and like you are
never going to overcome
and get through whatever
is plaguing you;
however, following every time
of uncertainty, sickness, or incapacity,
anyone can eventually find a way
to move past those moments of alarm
and find refuge somewhere,
or by doing something,
to weather the storms that they
find themselves within,
and in time find a sense of peace,
prosperity, and calm.

My Poem “Say No To Dystopia”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When I woke up this morning,
in my mind I felt like I had travelled
back in time to the year 1989 –
over thirty years in the past –
to a time in my life
when I began to become absolutely fascinated
by films and TV shows that depicted
what life would look like thirty years,
a hundred years, a thousand years in the future;
and this morning, while watching
a film called ‘Millennium’ –
a movie that centred around
the prospect and the concept
of time travellers travelling
back and forth in time
to save people before they died
and transporting them into the future –
I realized that almost thirty years before,
as a child, I was most likely watching
the same film that I was watching now on DVD
back then on VHS tape,
and while just as completely
enthralled now as I was by
what I saw depicted back then
I realise now that at the time
I did not fully understand what
the film trying to say.

Every film, every TV show, every book
whose story takes place
in a future setting and at a future time
always attempts to predict an accurate
depiction of how the world of tomorrow
will look, sound, feel,
and what the life of our descendants
will be like based upon an extrapolation
of the direction that some things
seem to be logically taking –
such as technology, fashion,
and the way that people treat one another –
and sometimes the world to come
is predicted to be one of hope, optimism,
universal understanding
and peaceful coexistence,
while some cautionary tales
predict that we may all be slowly
but surely spiralling into a world
that can only be described as being
dystopian
in which the children of tomorrow
have to live a hard and painful life
because of the short term actions
and mistakes of our present
which to them would be perceived
as their past.

Science Fiction writers and futurists
have been trying to warn people
what the future might be like,
and what the future world might
look like, if we – humanity –
do not stop and take a good, long,
and deep look at ourselves
while asking ourselves
where we are going wrong
and what we can do to build a better
world to leave for future generations
to be thankful for.

At this moment in time,
it sometimes feels like the world
is teetering on the edge of a precipice
from which there will be no coming back from:
a potential future that has been prophesied about
in science fiction tales for almost
a hundred years –
from H.G. Wells’ ‘The Time Machine’
to films like ‘Waterworld’ ‘Mad Max’,
‘The Matrix’, ‘Blade runner’,
and ‘The Terminator’ movies,
which all depict possible versions of our world
and a dark vision of the future
in which Earth’s natural resources
are in short supply or have been completely depleted entirely
and humanity is mostly living a day to day existence of not always knowing
how they are going to survive
and if it is possible for them to leave
a legacy going forwards that generations
to come will be proud of.

Humanity always has a choice
about which direction they want to go
in terms of technological interdependency,
the destruction of the natural world,
and the way they we take
what we have for granted –
and time will definitely tell
whether the predictions of those who either predict a positive version of the future
or those who predict a negative version of the future will ultimately be judged to be right;
however, what is as clear as a crystal ball
is that whatever happens in the future
to humanity and to the world around us,
every one of us are all the architects
of what has yet to come
and by influencing the people
in a position of power now
to want to give the gift of optimism
for the children of the future –
some who might not even be born yet –
we can be a part of making a potential
utopia by promising to keep
the predictions already made
of a potential world-wide armageddon
or an inevitable dystopia
tales of science fiction
that will never become a reality.

My Poem “Fountains”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We are all fountains of life,
fountains of experience,
foundations of memories,
foundations of knowledge
who each day learn, remember,
and share droplets of who we are,
what we are, where we have been,
what we have done, what makes us happy,
and who we love and adore.

We all generate echoes, distortions,
and invisible fields of gravity,
fields of identity, fields of insight,
and fields of influence around us
that interact with people close by
and people far away –
just like how the light of a sunrise
will naturally inspire someone,
or how the beat of a butterfly’s wings
it is said can effect
which way the weather will take.

We all live walking on the water
of a pool of time that is deeper
than we could ever know,
or ever perceive –
and in my opinion it would be a crime
to waste the moments
that we are gifted with from time to time
to enjoy all the things that life
blesses us with that most people
might take for granted:
a sunny day, a moonlit night,
a penny waiting to picked up
off the ground,
a smile, a breathtaking view,
a walk in the park,
or perhaps the dancing jets
and rippling waves of a serene,
hypnotising and incredibly
entrancing fountain that takes you
back to your youth.

My Poem “Peace of Mind”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , ,

When we go so far outwardly
I find that it is sometimes necessary
to turn inwardly, to regress –
if only momentarily –
essentially to regain some perspective,
to connect all the dots that lead
from where we were and who we were
to where we find ourselves
at a given moment in time,
in order to appreciate everything
that we have and to realize why
what we left in the past
we needed to leave behind
for the prosperity of our future
as well as our present peace of mind.

My Poem “At Ease”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , ,

At ease.
You cannot beat the feeling
of having nothing to do,
nowhere in particular to go,
and nothing that takes all
of your attention to do.
I never take the gift
of free time for granted –
those precious moments
when you can look at
the world around you
and truly see and pay attention
to so many of the small details
that go into making life so
fundamentally profound and poignant.
Seeking out peace and tranquility
is so essential when trying to recover
from the extremely tiring tasks
that we may be expected to perform
in our daily lives,
and finding a place and a time
where and when you can sit down
and take your ease
is wonderful beyond compare –
especially as we get older.
Time is never wasted –
even if someone appears
to be doing “nothing” –
because we are all constantly
interacting with life,
just as life is constantly
interacting with us,
and it truly does help to be
with your own thoughts sometimes
in order for you to reset, renew,
and refocus yourself.
We often take time for granted,
however I never get tired
of being out somewhere
and being inspired by what I see before me –
things which just call out to me
to see the poetry within them
that is just as free and just as powerful
as the light from the sun upon my face
or the feeling of a slight breeze
gently touching the back of my neck.
Life is poetry, and poetry is life.

My Poem “Go!”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

On your marks, get set, go!
Last year is now in the past,
the ball has dropped,
the fireworks have lit up the sky,
and now we all get to find out
more about the undiscovered
possibilities of life that do not yet know!

Living is what Life all about –
sometimes in life you have
got to go with flow and hold on
through all the twists and the turns
of the stream of time that wind
to eventually find what awaits you
on the other side of the new journey
that you started with a clear
and hopeful view of
where your thoughts,
your dreams, your choices,
and your actions would take you.

Life is a race that you can only
run at your own pace,
which you can only have an opinion of
if you choose to be a part of.

Life on planet Earth is a beautiful
sphere of infinite possibilities
spinning and hurtling through space
that everybody should learn to love
just like everybody should learn to except
the perfect uniqueness of their own face.

Life is not always a walk in the park,
and though you may not always be ready
for what it throws your way
as long as every day
you can say with your
hand on your heart that
you will try your hardest
to be the best version of yourself
that you can be then everything
that eventually happens
will absolutely have been won fairly
will have been well earned.

Like a runner at the instant
just after they hear
the BANG of a starting pistol,
everybody alive who has
the opportunity to live a good life
should always be fully committed,
ready, set, when they have to
tell themselves that they have got to
put their best foot forward and not stop
until they reach the finish line
of fulfilling their hopes and dreams,
from the moment that they hear the call: Go!

Happy New Year, everybody! 😊

My Poem “Countdown”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Every countdown that always occurs
on the last seconds of New Year’s Eve
before the obligatory
“Happy New Year!”
is simultaneously the countdown
to the end of one year
as well as the countdown to
a brand new set of 365 days
that will see changes in the world
as well as changes in people
that will change the landscape
of humanity in so many ways.

Countdowns can be good,
countdowns can be exciting,
countdowns can be like heralds from above,
countdowns can lead to instances
that can be surprising…
countdowns can give people
something to look forward to…
countdowns can give people
the thrill of anticipation…
countdowns can give people
the courage to do something
that they have always wanted to do…
countdowns can give people hope
and are not always a ticking clock
ticking down to a moment of destruction.

Time and space is relative…
the universe and nature
has its own timetable
which does not require
any knowledge or understanding of it
by anybody or anything.

Memories and experiences
are precious and personal
to whomever recalls them…
humanity requires the ability
to preserve and measure time
to give their lives some
semblance of meaning and structure,
and countdowns are especially necessary
because people like climaxes
just as much as they enjoy new beginnings –
and there is no conclusion and restart
that people plan for and look forward to
like the instant on the 31st of December
every year when 23:59, or 11:59pm,
changes to 00:00, or 12:00am,
when those who are still awake
celebrate, wherever they are
and with whomever they are with –
sometimes with a handshake,
a hug, or a kiss –
as they declare: Happy New Year!

My Poem “The Season of Perpetual Hope”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Merry Christmas, everyone!
I hope you have a great Christmas Day!
I hope you get what you want,
I hope you get what you need,
I hope you get what you have always wanted,
and I hope that you enjoy your time
with your nearest and dearest
and I hope that every hour
is full of love, joy, happiness,
music, and limitless festive cheer!

I hope you smile, I hope laugh,
I hope you enjoy the food, the drink,
and the precious gifts of moments in time
that you share with those who know you
and who care for you
and who know you the most!
I hope the sun shines down on you today!
I hope you experience moment after moment
of intoxicating interconnection
that reminds you to cherish
every memory that you make
with everybody who could never be replaced!

I hope that all the people who you love,
who you unfortunately cannot be with physically,
know just how much they mean to you,
that you could never live without them,
and that no matter where in the world
we all are there is nothing that can stop
the power of love and devotion!

This is the day when we all wish
that we could say what we really want to say,
when we wish we could express
to certain people in our lives
what they mean to us –
but most of the time it is the thought
that someone in particular is in your life
and the fact that they tell you
that they want to be there for you
which says more than any words could ever describe!

This is the season when some people
realise what brings true joy into their lives,
and when they understand
what the true message of the season is:
because Christmas time, to me at least,
is the season of unconditional love,
it is the season of unlimited joy,
it is the season of unfathomable beauty –
and in my opinion every moment of every day
should be one unending and timeless season
when everyone can experience miracles
of happiness and perpetual hope
when and where they least expect them.

My Poem “More than we might know”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Christmas Day is but once a year,
however the way that some people
make us feel every day
is enough to make us what to cry
tears of love and joy
because we know how lucky we are to
have them close and near.

Christmas time is when people tend
to think about others more than usual,
and Christmas time is also
when people often also
tend to reflect back upon
everything that life has tested them with,
especially as we all grow older
and we remember things in the past
that we may have accidentally taken for granted.

Everybody is this life needs somebody
to hear them, to think about them,
to give them the gift of their time –
even is it is only in the form of
a greetings card that tells someone
that you were thinking about them,
because no one who has done so much
good for other people ever deserves
to be forgotten or left behind.

Time is precious…
people are vulnerable…
there are people in this world
who have lost everything
because of a natural disaster,
because of homelessness,
because life has not been kind to them –
and this time of the year is when
a large population of the world
considers what means the most to them,
and the greatest gift
that we can all give one another –
as members of the collective
human family of this planet –
is respect, peace, and an opportunity
for everybody to find happiness
while doing something
that gives their life meaning.

We can all be better people sometimes…
we can all be better at communicating
our feelings – however, there are times
when talking is the hardest thing to do,
especially when you feel like nobody
could ever understand
what you are going through…
we can all be better listeners –
however, the ability to fully listen
and to hear what someone is trying
to tell you is harder than you think.

We can all be there for somebody
in particular when they need
the gift of someone to be there for them,
to make time for them,
to embody the spirit of the season,
and to get them through the sometimes
harsh Winter of the Northern Hemisphere
and the sometimes uncomfortable Summer
of the Southern Hemisphere –
because no one is immune to life,
because everybody is human,
and it is important that we all
remember, as often as possible,
who we are, what we are,
how short our time to shine is,
and that it takes almost no effort at all
to be present in the life
of somebody who may needs us
more than we might know.

My Poem “Beacons of the Season”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The season of Christmas
doesn’t truly begin for me
until I am decorating
and turning on the lights
of our family Christmas tree…
it has been a tradition
for as long as I can remember
for me to be the one
who retrieves the Christmas tree
from the attic and hangs
all the tinsel and the baubles
in an always unique and random fashion,
and I enjoy every moment
because I love the thought
of creating a brand new piece
of festive art that makes people smile
and draws the attention of everybody
and fills them with a sense of awe.

My family has had a couple
of Christmas trees throughout my life;
however, we never had a real pine tree –
so I have never had the experience
of having to periodically clean up
fallen pine needles from the floor,
but I have been fortunate
on many occasions
to have taken a walk through
a forest of still growing pine trees
so I am fully aware of the intoxicating
and calming fragrance of their aroma –
and every time I get to inhale
that distinctive smell of pine
I find that it always
opens a door within my mind
to tastes, to sounds, to feelings,
and to experiences that to me define
what is so special about
Christmas time.

I believe that there is nothing else
that symbolizes the hope
that everybody wishes to find
at this time of the year
than the multicolored lights
of a Christmas tree
shining in the darkness of twilight
and reminding everyone
who gaze upon them
that all is never lost –
because I believe that every source of light
is a beacon of optimism
that anyone can use
to find their way back to a place
that can call home at any hour
of the day or the night.