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Something special,
something wonderful;
someone beautiful,
someone inspirational;
something invoking,
something flowing;
someone there,
someone who is like air.
Everything has an origin;
everyone has a birth;
everything and anything can be a win;
everyone is a product of the Earth.
Everything is a window;
everyone is a walking and talking autobiography;
everything can tell you what you want to know;
everyone has the right to be happy.
Something unexpected;
someone addictive;
something you have known and have held on to since you were kid;
someone who you enjoy, love, live, think about,
share, have to hold, and jive with;
something outrageous;
someone gifted;
something dangerous;
someone who feeds on life,
like the world relies on a constant charge from a power-grid.
Everything is multi-cultural;
everyone, at who and what they know they are, is a natural;
everything is fragile;
everyone is renewable,
and they can be someone,
and something, special.
The day had been planned for for months;
the moment had been imagined and re-imagined
over and over over in my head;
the thought about what I would say gave me goose-bumps;
the alignment of all the stars that had to happen
to bring about a meeting of minds, lives, books, authors,
still makes me feel like a kid at Christmas again;
the anticipation, the journey,
the waiting in-line outside the grand Waterstones bookstore
in Birmingham with my friend,
is something that I will always remember,
and it will always be special to me-
I remember bringing more than one book to get signed
by one of my favourite authors,
but just the thought of what I was doing
and who I was doing it with,
and the memory and experience that I was sharing
was what truly made me happy.
Being a writer can sometimes be a solitary endeavour,
and by its nature writing must be a personal act
that only you can do alone;
being a writer can sometimes feel like you are a traveler
off on an adventure,
and the only person who can truly understand what its like,
what it means, and what you can do,
is another writer who is on their own journey-
while sitting in a coffee shop surrounded by sound,
or a writer in their own space,
writing feverishly on their computer or in their notebook,
in the comfort and solitude of their home.
What I loved about waiting in-line for so long
was that I got to listen and notice people around me,
who were just like me,
and who were just as excited about coming face to face
with someone who made them imagine, think, feel,
something, and share something with someone else-
that is exactly what happened with me:
I read something, I was touched by something,
I was gifted an amazing story,
because of a phenomenal and magical writer,
and I instantly felt the need to share it-
as if I were under a spell.
When my friend and I reached the top of the windy stairs,
and finally came eye to eye with the author
that we had both been looking forward to meeting,
I honestly felt like the author, myself, and my friend,
were the only people in the bookstore,
at the book signing event,
and that everyone had suddenly, magically, left;
it was amazing looking down at my favourite writer,
talking to him about how I loved his writing
and the inspirational commencement speech
that he gave a few years ago
which made me too go off on my own creative quest-
however, the truly amazing and the most epic thing ever
was when I took out my own book that I had signed for him
and I handed it to him as I told him that I too was an author,
and to this day I still remember what a thrill,
and what an honour, it was when my favourite author
accepted my own gift and then extended his hand to me,
and in that infinite and fantastic moment
I felt a connection and a transference of knowledge and wonder,
and storytelling magic, from one author to another.
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”-
the first words spoken by Neil Armstrong
when he became the first man to set foot on the Moon;
since I first heard those electrifying and spell-binding words
when I was a child
I have repeated them to myself from time to time,
so much so that those infamous words
have become more and more meaningful to me,
and they have become the words that are always on my mind.
What NASA, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins,
committed to achieving and achieved on July 21st, 1969,
were the first steps in a new age of human endeavour, accomplishment,
and optimism, that may still be progressing at the pace of a walk;
however what has happened as a result of the success
of the Apollo 11 mission and its crew can already be seen all over the world
in what has been a relatively short length of time.
Neil Armstrong embodied hope,
Neil Armstrong embodied adventure,
Neil Armstrong embodied the wonder of looking through a telescope,
Neil Armstrong embodied the best of all men and women-
that which makes us all look up at the sky and reach towards the future.
I wish I could have been alive to see the live televised broadcast
of the moment when Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon on a black and white TV-
the people that saw this extraordinary and super-human accomplishment
before their eyes must have been so overwhelmed,
they must have felt like they too were walking on the moon!
What a feeling of hope must have been in the air between everyone,
what a sight it must have been to see!
Neil Armstrong and Apollo 11,
from the moment that they were launched into space,
set into motion a new world that, to this day and forever,
will define the legacy of the entire Human race.
Space is not the final frontier,
space is but the first frontier in a universe of boundless possibilities-
that for every answer that we uncover about it
it brings up another ten more questions,
and for every galaxy that we discover
we find more planets orbiting around stars very similar to Earth
and our own sun.
Like most people that I admire,
I was never fortunate enough to actually meet Neil Armstrong;
but that did not impede me from being inspired by him,
it did not stop me from seeing myself in him,
and it has not stopped thousands, millions, of other people
from all around the world to follow in his footsteps-
as astronauts will continue to do so in the future
when they first set foot on Mars,
and they will no longer need to imagine
what it must have felt like to be him.
Neil Armstrong will never be forgotten,
his spirit still lives in the heart of us all,
and one day what he began with his first foot-step on the Moon
will carry humanity beyond our planet to the stars!
Where we will prosper, where we will evolve, and where we will shine!
One day, because of Neil Armstrong, because of our need to better ourselves,
humanity will achieve universal greatness-
because of our legacy, because of our first steps,
because of our giant leaps,
that were taken for us all by great heroes
for all mankind.
What more could you ask for from a friend
than what your best friend blesses you with,
what more could you ask for from a best friend
than amazing, heart-felt, support, generosity, joy, and beauty,
who makes you feel so lucky to live the life that you live.
My best friend is a mother, a wife, a daughter,
a person hoping to change the world-
she has touched, brightened,
and made the lives of the people she has met
better for the gift of knowing her;
and in my opinion, she has already changed
and brought love into the hearts of many worlds.
My best friend is so awesome, funny, fantastic, and unique,
when she tweets, comments, or posts anything on the internet,
it is always the best thing that I have read all day;
my best friend is a prolific poet in her own way,
and everything she says is epic!
My best friend’s smile
is the beautiful gem in the crown
of her gorgeous grace, hopefulness, and style;
my best friend’s eyes
are like the magic that you can see and feel
in the light of beautiful blue skies;
my best friend’s heart
is so full of all the things that light the world,
it is always on show for all the world to see,
and it is in itself a beautiful work of art.
My best friend is not just my best friend,
she is the ultimate confidante,
and the person whom I trust the most,
to be there for me, for her family,
for her friends, for anyone,
and she is and always has been since we first met
the most purest source of energy, truth, and enthusiasm,
on Earth, bar none.
Every year I sit down and write my best friend a poem for her birthday,
every year in every poem I try to capture in words
why she is so special in every possible way-
I always believe that no matter what I write
I could never describe everything about her
that makes her to me my best friend-
she is like trying to describe the gorgeous light of an aurora.
Every year, what I want to say to my best friend
is that you really are the best,
and that I hope you have an amazing birthday, Sara!
When we first start making friends,
when we first start meeting others of the same heart and mind;
when we first discover that we are not alone-
that is when we first discover that we are not the only one,
that we are of a kind.
We share so much with each other these days,
so much so that I would say that it is impossible to be anti-social-
unless you live on a dessert island,
absolutely cut-off from the rest of the world,
you will always find someone else who is tuned to the same mutual channel.
I am blessed to have met friends through the gift of technology
that I would consider the best that this world has to offer,
I am blessed to have met best friends,
after finding and learning from them instantly, or over time,
that we share a fascination with all things that reoccur.
I can name friends that I know, but whom I have never met,
and speak their names along with literary giants, inspired musicians,
and great philosophers, and honestly say that, to me,
they are the most inspirational people on the planet-
because they are who they are:
they love, they feel, they get frustrated, they laugh, they cry-
everything about them is real-
they are whom I look to for the truth, for honesty,
for support built of something that is stronger than steel.
My friends are all amazing,
my friends gift me everyday the honour to be able to link my life,
likes, and loves, with theirs-
in every word that we share I read poetry in every reply,
the significance of which you can’t compare.
There is nothing harder to put into words than feelings-
words can sometimes seem distant, hollow, or dream-like,
you cannot truly capture an emotion and convey it in every detail;
but the words of a friend that you trust, who you know,
who you can imagine what they are thinking when they are saying something,
on the road to serenity, never fail.
My friends are mothers, and fathers, sons, and daughters;
hard-working, talented, dreamers, creators, believers,
and no so accidental philosophers.
All of my friends are the reason that I smile when I am alone, or in a crowd-
all of the friendships that I have made
is what makes me feel the most proud.
One of the most phenomenal, inspiring, magnetic, influential,
and amazing, men, musicians, and poets, of the 20th Century-
you have had a remarkable impact on my life, my Dads life,
and on the lives of millions of people all around the world-
you were the epitome of humanity, and you always will be.
Your music has filled the homes, the hearts, and the minds,
of my family, since before I was born-
in fact, the first Christmas present that my Mum brought my Dad
was a copy of ‘Double Fantasy’,
and the album that I know my Dad thinks about
when he thinks of you and he wishes to mourn.
I would have loved to have known you, to have met you,
and to have talked to you, John;
even if it were only for a minute-
after listening to every one of your songs, and the songs of The Beatles,
I have felt many times that you were talking directly to me,
to everyone-
and to this day, and beyond, I feel as if your voice,
and your message has no limit.
You wrote and created some of the most incredible, moving,
amazing, and true, songs that I have ever heard-
every song is like an amplifier of my own thoughts, memories,
troubles, and hopes, and I am inspired and enlightened by every word.
You are, were, will always be, us, all, me, and everyone;
you believed, and you saw, that the best of life, and the world,
can be achieved through peace, love,
and through striving to be the best that we can become.
To me, you are one of the greatest men to have ever lived,
and everyday I mourn you like I would a brother;
you changed the world during your short time on Earth
for the better, and forever;
and who you were, and what you and your music mean to people,
is a star so bright it will never be eclipsed by another.
Everyday your music reaches out to people so profoundly
that they can not imagine a world in which you were not a part of it;
everyday the love that you had within you,
and the love that people will always feel for you,
manifests all over the world, and enlighten’s your spirit.
You will live forever,
your voice will echo for all-time
through the minds and the hearts
of all who hear your voice-
tomorrow, a century from now, and especially today,
the 8th of December, 2011;
I believe the world will one day live in peace with one another, as one,
and fulfill your dream, the dream of John Lennon.
For John
People are extraordinary!
People are amazing, hopeful, optimistic, generous, and kind!
People are wonderful, energizing, thoughtful- thinking all the time,
with something and someone always on their mind.
Their are so many inspiring people in this world,
who wake up before the sun, and who are the real first light of the day,
who get out of bed every morning for others before themselves,
and who only wish to give more than they take away.
Parents, carers, doctors, teachers,
who love and live to be there for those that need them,
whose passion for their calling in life
is as awe-inspiring as the Grand Canyon.
Everyday I am taken aback and left stunned
by the actions of others that are solely for the betterment
and the well-being of another person-
giving love, care, attention;
eliciting meaning, strength, reasons to go on;
inspiring with hope and vision.
I have been moved by the courage, the determination,
and the heart of so many people- old and young:
a husband who only wants the best for his adoring wife;
a little boy battling against a brain tumor-
so kind, happy, and so unbelievably strong.
It is only when people pass on
that their true worth becomes their lasting memory-
that is the irony of life: that no matter what you do and why,
in the minds of those you have touched
you will forever live on in an infinite thought
and in an untainted effigy.
People often go out into the daylight
and look around at the world around them,
look inside themselves at their world within,
and ask silently of themselves:
what have they done, and have they done the best for others,
and for their own self, no matter how or where they were born on Earth-
and more often than people would probably want to admit,
the answer would be no, not always;
but that is life, that is humanity, that is our planet-
we are a part of a nexus, in which we all prove our worth.
People
When I was a boy, and all throughout my teenage years,
I was an artist, an athlete, an adventurer,
who knew nothing about the world
other than to never be held back by my fears.
I used to run, cycle, explore, for hours at a time
through my homes countryside open-air-
racing down lanes and over fields,
as the winds of my childhood blew through my curly blond hair.
I remember a summer when my friends and I decided to build a time machine-
I told my friends that it would be easy:
“Doc Brown made one out of a car”,
and I described how easy that had been-
so we outfitted a go-cart with a modified sweet-box, some wires,
a watch, and a calculator- all to my exacting specifications;
and then my friends and I all took turns on our “time machine”,
each time travelling to a myriad of historic and futuristic destinations.
As an adult I have had this recurring thought and daydream for many years
of going back to my “blond hair days”,
sitting down on a bench with my younger self,
and simply talking to myself, and telling myself a story:
a tale of tears and sadness, but also one of energy, inspiration,
love, imagination, and cherished glory.
I would tell myself how one day the world is going to change,
but that everything is going to be alright;
and that magic is real, but it doesn’t always present itself
in colours of black and white.
I would tell myself to remember these times in my life,
because these are the days that I will return to often,
and which strengthen my worlds bonds.
What a time I had, what days they were,
when I was blond!
What I love about you the most
is your passion and your love of life that knows no bounds,
what touches my heart every time I think about you
is that you care about every living thing-
the betterment of animals, people, nature, and all that surrounds.
What makes you so special to me
is that you enshrine and define the best things in life that I hold dear-
you make me smile, you make me feel,
you inspire every sonnet, you dispel every fear.
You are my favourite person in the entire world,
you represent and keep alive within me
the greatest treasure of a good man;
you are the personification of hope,
the immortal embodiment of natures character-
and I am your enduring and adoring fan.
You make the world a better world every day that you are in it,
the universe smiled upon all of Earth the day that you were born,
and the reach that your starlight will shine has no limit.
You will forever be unique and one of a kind-
and every minute, of every hour, of every day,
I put my hand on my chest
and I thank the stars that you are in my life
and that you are a part of my song;
what I love about you is that you inspire all who know you
without knowing that you are an inspiration,
and that you have been a muse to everyone your entire life, all along.
The Life, the Light, the Tears, of the Poet of the Sphere 