Mark The Poet - The Podcast

"Sustaining Truth" by Mark Hastings:
Every holiday celebrated
around the world
means different things
to different people...
everyone has an affinity
for some celebrations
more than most...
Easter, for example, is a time when
people young and old
get to share gifts of all sorts -
from chocolate eggs
to traditions that for generations
have been passed down
and practised because their message
has always been so meaningful...
the message of Easter, to me,
is that salvation can be found
by those who sometimes feel lost.

Every season has symbols
that embolize them...
every morning and evening
shares a vision of light
that is heavens sent...
every now and again
we are all asked to do
without something
in order to understand its essense -
like at the time of Lent.

Every faith rose and was inspired
and influenced by all others
since our ancestors began to
worship and give names to
the constellations of the stars
of the night sky...
every way to live on Earth
has its own lessons
and its followers have their
own trials to go through...
everything that happens in life
must be accepted and sometimes weathered -
just like a boat must ride
the infinite number of ocean waves
that are like ripples in the fabric of time...
every holiday has a reason to be embraced,
because humanity has always relied
upon the continued stories,
the ongoing mysteries,
and the significant figureheads
that are at the core of their
sustaining truth.
Happy Easter!

Cheers, everybody!
Today is the day!
Today is Saint Patrick's Day -
and some of the best ways
that you may wish to choose
to remember and to pay tribute to
the fifth century patron Saint of Ireland
might be to wear something green,
to find yourself a shamrock,
to venture into a town or a city
and enjoy a Saint Patrick's Day parade,
or to visit an Irish bar
and consume a dark and heavy
pint of Guinness, perhaps?

A shamrock has always been closely associated
with Saint Patrick, and also with luck -
and it is sometimes claimed that
Saint Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock
as a way to teach people about the holy trinity
at the centre of Christianity -
the father, the son, and the holy ghost -
and of course the shamrock has long
been thought of and considered a symbol of
the regenerative power of nature
and it's indomitable resilience.

There are many legends and traditions
that surround Saint Patrick, his life,
and his importance in Irish history
and culture, that have spread
and are well known all around the world -
and every year people gather together,
they wear green, they maybe drink some Irish ale,
they feast, they sing, they dance,
they embrace the gifts that
the island of Ireland has given us,
and people remember the apostle of Ireland,
Saint Patrick, on the day of his death,
and they pay tribute in their own way
to the great missionary and man of the people,
who may have been born in Roman Britain
but who will always be considered
Ireland's most famous Irishman.

So, find yourself a shamrock,
wear something green, eat, drink,
be merry, and remember Saint Patrick
today, March the 17th, and have a
Happy Saint Patrick's Day, everybody!
-
"Happy Saint Patrick's Day" (2021) by Mark Hastings

Happy Valentines Day! Mark celebrates Valentines Day by reciting his new love themed poem "Walking On Air."

In this episode, Mark does a review of the American adult animated science fiction television series "Star Trek: Lower Decks" created by Mike McMahan, starring Jack Quaid, Tawny Newsome, Nöel Wells, Eugene Cordero, Jerry O'Connell, Dawn Lewis, as well as a cast of other phenomenonal voice actors.

In this episode, Mark recites his poem "David Bowie", as well as talking about his 2018 short-story anthology 'Playing God' - which was written in tribute to David Bowie - and he also reads his poem "Always the Starman" which he wrote following the untimely death of David Bowie in 2016.

In this episode, Mark reflects upon the last year and wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Mark also recites his new Christmas themed poem "Christmas Special".