artist
My Poem “The Touch of the Poet”
We can all be touched by someone... we can all touch someone physically as well as emotionally; but there is no touch like the touch of a poet to conjure thoughts and feelings unrivaled by any other. The touch of a poet is one of spellbinding magic... the touch of a poet is one capable of inspiring another with ideas they may not have thought of before... the touch of a poet is one that can impact more and delve deeper - though the time and the pressure that a poet exerts may only be tender. The touch of a poet is one that is unforgettable... the touch of a poet is one that is unbelievable... the touch of a poet is one that is undeniable. The touch of the poet is one that connects the world of fantasy to the world of reality... the touch of the poet can mean more than any previous touch that someone may have had before they were impressed by the embrace of the poet's multi-faceted poetry... the touch of the poet can turn lust into love... the touch of the poet is one that you can take into your heart, connect to your soul, and always trust. Whether people know it, or not, everybody alive has at one time or another looked into the eyes, has been in the presence, has been given the gift of the words that have the power to influence, to transform, to embolden, to dream, to make someone's heart beat so fast that they have to catch their breath - and that is the indelible touch of the poet.
My Poem “A Poet and Their Muse”
It is not as easy as some people might think to imagine something from nothing as fast as it takes for someone to blink… even for those people who are skilled at improvisation, the ability to be able to come up with something on the spot is a miraculous gift of inspiration… unless you know someone or something well then it is almost impossible to create an expose about them without first spending some time with a particular person or thing and observing everything about them – from the way that they talk, to the way that they look, to the way that they listen, to the way that they move… and unless you ask questions and get answers then no one can know anyone, nor anything, nor find out how, nor why, they do what they do. How does a painter paint? How does a writer write? How does a human being or an animal live and breathe? And the answer to all those questions is the same: simply by doing so – because creativity, like most facets of instinct, is involuntary, and it is done first and foremost without any thought of personal gain. Artists create art because they must… sometimes there is more to say about something old than there is about something new… there is something more interesting about finding out how, why, when, and where something emerged into this world as a result of a specific converge and configuration of cosmic dust that had to occur. Artists can describe an idea, a thought, a piece of art that they have originated – but, in all honesty, no artist could ever accurately tell you where, when, why, nor how they are able to do all that they do, because the sharing of inspiration from the source to the artist is a language that is only known by a poet and their muse.
My Poem “The G.O.A.T.”
Who, what, where, when, and why
something or someone
is considered by us to be
the “Greatest Of All Time”
is not always easy to define –
because the reasons that
we hold something or someone
in such high regard
sometimes depends upon
what memories we have
in connection to them.
The “Greatest Artist of All Time”,
for example, might be
considered as such because –
just like from a magician
with a magic wand –
magic is always produced
every moment that they touch
the blank canvas in front of them
with a paint brush in their hand.
The “Greatest Musician of All Time”
you may consider to be that one
instrumentalist who from the moment
that you hear them start playing
their music you feel as if
they are communicating
directly to you, while making
your heart feel like it is beating
in time with a drum-like rhythm.
The Greatest Actor; the Great Performer;
the Greatest Driver; the Greatest Writer –
whomever it is who you believe
is the “Greatest of the Great”
could be someone who you know,
or they could be someone who
you may have only seen once
but who from the instant that you saw them
you were immediately struck
by their seemingly effortless talent
and you were convinced that they
must be the “Greatest of All Time”.
My Poem “Start Early”
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 “Vincent”
I have just walked out
of a profound experience…
I have just walked out into the sunshine,
after living and breathing
a breathtaking love letter to
and from my favourite artist:
the one and the only,
Vincent van Gogh.
Once again I have been captivated
and I have been inspired deeply
by the art of one of the most powerful,
evocative, poetic, renowned,
and also one of the most troubled
artists the world has ever known –
who time and again never fails
to touch me on an deeply emotional level
every time I am blessed to look
at a painting of his landscapes,
at a painting of his sunflowers,
at a painting of the cafe that he
regularly frequented in Arles,
and into the eyes of the artist himself
as captured in one of the many
self-portraits that he painted.
After every experience that I have
of either being near a real life
painting by Vincent van Gogh –
as I did in a London art gallery
a few year ago;
watching a film; reading a book;
or immersing myself in a documentary
about Vincent van Gogh’s life;
reading his immortal words;
hearing his indomitable voice;
or seeing his paintings projected
high and wide, like never before,
so that people can enjoy
the incredible gift of his art,
and learn more about
the trials and the tribulations of his life,
in an experience the like of which
I have just enjoyed with so many other people,
and during which I felt as if
Vincent van Gogh was in the room
with us and his spirit had come alive
so that he may connect with everybody
who had attended this celebration
of the life, the gift, and the art
of the incredible Vincent van Gogh.
My Poem “Pandora”
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 “Memory Lane”
Walking down and around
my old stomping grounds,
down the long and winding lanes
of the countryside near my home
that I know and could never forget –
especially now, while the world
feels like it has been turned upside down –
feels so rejuvenating, it feels so relaxing,
it feels like stepping back in time
and simultaneously being the man I am now
as well as the man I was back then
when I last walked this path,
as if I am in communication with myself
as I was five years ago in the past.
The grass looks just as green…
the budding trees look just as pretty…
the sky above looks to me to be
the brightest blue that I have ever seen…
the furrowed fields look just as
mesmerising as they always did –
in fact everything that I see, hear,
feel, and inhale of the nature that surrounds me
intoxicates me with its natural,
lush, and majestic beauty.
It is no wonder to me
that so many artists have attempted
to capture a view and the epic expanse
of a landscape within the confines
of the edges of a canvas –
because there is so much to be found,
because there is so much to take in,
because there is so many evocative
shapes, colours, textures, nuances,
wisps of language and meaning
that constantly jump out from
a green and pleasant environment
that has so much to say
and to convey about itself,
about who and what calls it home,
how it has changed and how it is
exactly the same as it was.
Quite often you find things out
about yourself that you recognize,
sometimes you might encounter
things about yourself that
you may have forgotten about,
and sometimes things can look different
when seen through the prism of time,
experience, memory,
and what we see can inform us
of exactly where we have been,
where we are going,
what we have been through,
and most important who we are –
and that is why one of the most amazing,
transformative, and rejuvenating things
that we can do from time to time,
especially when we feel like
our spirit needs a boost,
is to see beyond the frame of the present
and take a walk down “memory lane”.
My Poem “It Takes One to Know One”
From my experience,
over the course of a life
of being around music lovers,
movie lovers, storytellers,
and those who have had to live
through many things during their life,
I have slowly felt the awakening of a gift –
a gift that I believe became apparent
when I began exploring, experimenting,
and expressing my thoughts, feelings,
hopes, fears, and desires:
the ability to see and to recognise
a particular gift within somebody
who life has steered towards me
so that I may interact with them –
and because I am a poet,
and because I am naturally
a very emotional person
who is regularly emotive about
what is on his mind,
what he believes to be true,
as I quietly but openly question
what something means and whether
there is more to explore
about something, at the same time
that I am dreaming about
what is in store in the future,
and every day I believe that I see
things in people, in places,
and in ways that other people perhaps
may be temporarily incapable
of seeing and believing –
especially within themselves:
natural gifts, skills, talents, voices,
hidden and perhaps undiscovered
powers of persuasion to be able
to make people feel something
and to bring out something
from deep within them,
and in turn continue the miracle
of life that was begun when light
first shined upon the deep darkness
of space and gave rise to the first stars,
planets, and all the other multicolored
phenomena of the universe
that have been inspiring life
and which was inspired into being
once upon a time by an explosion
of creativity that continues
to bloom over and over
again within the soul of every living thing.
One of the greatest gifts someone
can give someone else
is to recognize and to inform them
that they have within them
something that needs to be shared far and wide
and with as many people as possible –
and I believe that it is the duty
of the creatively inclined
to stoke the fire of fellow artists
and to tell them to do the same
whenever they find someone
with hidden talents,
because sometimes the only person
who can recognise someone
as being gifted and special
is someone with a similar love
that beats within them
night and day like a perpetual drum –
and also because, as the old saying goes,
sometimes: “it takes one to know one.”
Mark The Poet 