writer

My Poem “Exposed to The Elements”

Mark Hastings life, me, Podcast, Poetry , , , , , , , , , , ,

Even when it is cold and wet
I like to get out of bed,
I like to get dressed,
and I like take a walk in the elements –
because just as when the weather
is fine and dry I enjoy nothing more
than being exposed to whatever
emanates unabated from the sky,
whether that is raindrops or golden sunshine…
my secret to not feeling cold,
as the wind around me whistles and howls,
is to keep going and to not stop
until I see, until I hear,
and until I feel as if
I have experienced moments
and instances that have imprinted
upon me and have left me inspired.

I live every day under the curse
of the imagination of a dreamer…
I live every day with the gift
of the eternal poet within my soul…
I live every day seeing the silver lining
around so many clouds filled
with lightning and thunder…
I live every day believing that
if we all stay upon the road
that is our sometimes up and down life
we will all one day arrive somewhere,
with something, or with someone,
that we will always want to have
and to hold and never let go of.

It can’t always be sunny…
life can’t always make sense…
the people whom we meet in life
can’t always be as sweet honey…
life can’t always be about pounds
and pence, or dollars and cents –
because what life is really all about
can only be found when you set out
and when you choose to be exposed
to the world and all of its elements.

My Poem “Start Early”

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Some of the most profound
and prolific artists started
creating art early…
some of the most revered
and remembered artists
all began their artistic journey
by being a day-dreamer…
some of the most insightful
and incredible artists
started every new day with
questions about the universe
and their place within it…
some of the most powerful
and poetic artists begin
with a blank canvas
and with an impulse to
to describe something with
descriptive and definitive words
if they are a writer,
or with colour and texture
like that of the brush-strokes of a painter…
some of the most amazing
and astonishing artists
start out doing what they love
to do simply for fun…
some of the most inspiring
artists were inspired and
can inspire others simply…
some of the artists who
have the most unique of voices
speak with their art as
if they were standing within
a forest of trees basking
in the afternoon light of the sun…
some people discover their
secret identity as an artist later in life,
and some people hear the call
of creativity when they are still a child
and forever afterwards as a adult
whatever path they proceed upon
they always start early.

My Poem “The Ten Bells”

Mark Hastings Podcast, Poetry , , , , , , , , , , 
There is a repeating
and a constantly resounding phenomenon...
there is a moment of time
that recurs every few years...
there is a place where poet and inspiration
can be found, where things only feel
right and never wrong...
there is a moment like right now
when bells ring out, when angels sing -
when not even the devil
could illicit any kind of fear -
when and where the beauty
of the poetry of life reveals once again
that there is a reason for everything...
there is a season that returns -
like the waves of an ocean
that goes out and then comes back in...
there is a state of mind, body,
and spirit that never dies,
which resides within each of us
like a deep and unending well...
there is something that happens
which never changes,
that always rises back to the surface
to greet me, over and over,
like a poetic rhyme,
that has the power to compel me -
and it is at those moments
when I know without being told
that the bells of time
are ringing ten.

My Poem “Pandora”

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Being a poet, being an artist,
being a writer, being an author,
being a creator is like being
the personification of Pandora –
who in Greek mythology was the first woman,
created out of the Earth by order of Zeus,
whose name means “all gifts”,
and who was gifted a container
which she was instructed not to open
but which she one day
did indeed lift the lid of
and in doing so allowed all the “evils”
within to be released and spread across
the Earth, but was able to close the lid
quick enough to contain the blessing of hope.

When an artist creates something
they are bringing to life a gift
that is a mixture of all that they may have
experienced throughout their life,
while still retaining within them
a feeling of hope and optimism that what
they have to say and to express
will one day find the intended target
that their art was meant for.

Everybody on Earth occasionally
has this insatiable instinct to open
a box or a container that has within it
that which they do not understand,
but that which they must see
with their own eyes to satisfy
their need to know all that can be known,
just like the ever curious Pandora.

My Poem “Visionary” – Happy National Poetry Day!

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

No matter what you see,

no matter how you feel,

no matter what you hear,

no matter what is going on

in the world around you,

no matter if the sky above

is cloudy instead of blue,

as long as you have within you

a vision and a view that you can

look to

every time you need to

to give your thoughts, your feelings,

and your emotions a boost –

whether what you look to is a place

like a beach or a city,

or whether who you look to a person

like someone who you love and who loves you:

that vision of hope, that may be a memory

from recently or from long ago,

that always has a power to enthrall,

to inspire, and to rejuvenate you

is the poetry of your mind and your soul

that has been brought into being

over the course of your life –

like a dream fueled by who and what

you imagine night after night –

which gives the gift of a voice

to everybody on Earth –

both old and young –

who have a story to be told

and a song to be heard

that continues, connects,

and contributes to epic experiment

of life and the poetic experience

that is the world within our universe.

Happy National Poetry Day! 😊