Making a connection with someone
is not something that should be taken for granted…
being able to talk to someone about something
that you know matters to them is important
in more ways than can be expressed…
talking with people whom you don’t know,
as well as with people whom you may
never have thought you would ever talk to,
is the first of many steps that allow
all of us to reach a conclusion
and a consensus about who we all are…
the more that we choose to see beyond
the differences that lie between so many of us -
differences of culture, belief, religion,
fashion, music, entertainment, and ritual -
we can begin to see, hear, and understand
that no matter how many things some of us do
and express differently there is always a mutual
hope to be understood and accepted for who we are…
it has been proven time and time again
that sometimes the simplest
and the most innocent of conversations
can have the most impact upon someone,
and can also affect and influence
the outcome of the future -
from something as trivial as asking someone for the time,
or something so simple as asking someone
how they are and how they are feeling -
can be like giving someone a much needed
opening to say something that they
may have been holding back,
which had been growing out of control within them…
it has been witnessed repeatedly by countless people
the power that words can have on people -
words that cannot be unsaid,
and which say more than what they might
at first seem to be about:
an interconnected network of language
that can communicate with others
something that can help them find something
which they are passionate about finding,
which they look forward to seeing, hearing,
and witnessing in the art that people create,
and especially in the music of their own lives
captured within the verse of a song…
there is a reason why it is easier to say some things
to some people than it is to say all things to everyone,
because some things first require the firm foundation
of a long term relationship between individuals
that can allow for the weight of what may be said
to be understood on a level playing ground
and with the stability to be able to sustain itself
even if the atmosphere of the forum
becomes as tumultuous as the waves of an ocean,
or as unpredictable and as unsettling
as the shaking ground of an earthquake…
one word; one sound; one breath of air from someone’s lungs;
one look in the eye; one instance of selflessness;
one moment of silence, self-reflection,
and self-awareness can be the catalyst
that can cause a change in the lives of many others
far away and beyond your apparent sphere of influence -
because every action is a response
to infinite number that came before it;
because if this day and age has anything
to teach each and every one of us
it would have to be that things grow over time,
and where there is a spark there will always be
the fuel for a fire that could spread
farther and faster than could be expected or predicted,
and even the most tentative of “small” talk
could potentially be the beginning of something “big”.
big
My Poem “Big Heart”
I care about people... I care about places... I care about things that matter to me... I care about the people who care about me... I care about the places that I have visited that will always have a connection to me... I care about the things that will always interest me, anchor me, thrill me, and inspire me... I have welcomed many people into my circle of friends and I have trusted some people as if they were family - but, occasionally, unfortunately, I have had my trust taken for granted... I have found myself in places of extreme beauty that I loved every moment I was there - but, because I shared my time with others who have over time seemingly put me on mute, whenever I return to some places I see and I hear echoes of the past that, because I am who I am, have not faded from my memory... I have had things of mine taken away from me - things that I have had to adapt to living without; however because everything of importance, at one time or another, always leaves an indelible impression on me the touch of something, of somewhere, or of someone lingers on and can never be banished from the limitless world within of my big heart.
My Poem “The Defiant”
Small things can become big things,
big things can become small things…
the invisible can sometimes be
more influential than the tangible…
some of the things with the most power
to sway the actions and the intentions
of a wider society of people
are those that do not have a face to look to,
are those that do not have a voice to hear
other than that of what they are
capable of meterializing
as a result of the wake that they
are able to generate.
Small things – like atoms, microbes, even whispers –
can exist and can be found thriving for
varying periods of time
around every living thing
and in the time that they can do
what they can do they attempt
to invade and to override the defenses
of those trying to stay alive
in many places around the world.
Big things – like life, stars, galaxies, the universe –
all once began smaller that eye of a needle
and yet when given the right environment
to grow some things are capable
of accomplishing infinitely complex,
incredible, unimaginable,
astounding and astonishing actions
that at times defy expectations
and clear explanations.
At this moment people all around the world
are being asked to live in bubbles
of physical solitude
while still connected to a greater bubble
of reality that encompasses all the other
varying bubbles of life that people
have had to adapt to and to adjust to living within –
because we are all a part of a world,
because we are all a part of a species,
because we are all a part of a family,
because we are all a part of a consciousness
that will not allow itself to be beaten
by the small, or by the big,
and we will defend ourselves in every way that we can –
socially, hermetically, and responsibly –
because though Earth and humanity
may be small in comparison to
the infinite vastness of the universe
we are a planet that has always been
and will continue to be one
of survivors who will live on,
because everything and everybody is,
always has been, and will continue to be,
unequivocally and unapologetically defiant
through all that we have to face.
My Poem ‘You’re going to need a bigger bookcase’
It all starts when you are a kid:
a book here, a book there…
a book for Christmas?
a book for your birthday?
a book that you borrow
from your local library?
and then, before you know it
you are reading a book a week,
you are day-dreaming
and imagining stories of your own…
and then every afternoon
after you get home from school
you are writing short-stories
inspired by who and what you have read…
and every night you embark
on new adventures of every kind
from the comfort of your bed.
When you first fall in love with stories,
literature, tales, myths, books,
characters and journeys…
when you first fall down the rabbit-hole
with Alice all the way to Wonderland,
or when you first get carried away
by the tornado with Dorothy all the way to Oz,
or perhaps when you first follow
the adventures of Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring
and you feel with each and every-one of them
and you come to understand what it is like
to carry a heavy burden,
or perhaps when you travel
to a magical-land and you encounter
heroes, lords, witches, and a beautiful girl
who is also a fallen-star
which you find in the Neil Gaiman’s world of Stardust…
there is no telling what will happen to you,
what you will imagine, and where you will go next –
going on a roller-coaster of emotions while reading a book
that you just can’t put down is the best!
Some people simply do not have the time
or the inclination to pick up a book
and let it begin to build bridges
within their mind and imagination
to places that are simply inaccessible
unless you follow the words,
the sentences, the chapters,
the pages, and the characters of a book
from one cover to another…
some people read fast, some people read slow –
however, I have always thought
that the best kind of books
require time and patience to be given to them
so that they can truly reveal their secrets.
Some people are just not ‘book-people’,
and then again their are some people
who truly marvel at everything about books:
the way their printed,
the language that they are written in,
and even the beautiful artwork of the cover…
some people only own one book…
some people own physical books,
some people own ebooks –
I might be biased, but I don’t think anything
could ever compare to the feeling,
the pages, and even the smell
of a real and physical book.
I would advise anyone to start with one book
and to fall in love with it slowly –
because reading should always be
a pleasure and not a race;
however, in no time at all,
that one book may turn into one of many…
and then you may be enviably forced
to consider an apparent and glaring possibility:
you’re going to need a bigger bookcase.
My Poem ‘Venti’
My heart is big;
my imagination is vast;
my inner voice regularly
becomes audible when I write or sing;
my vision is a constant bridge
to the future and the past;
my cup is always full;
my love is for the most beautiful;
my reason for being
does not have one meaning;
my life has been blessed
by the truly amazing;
I feel deeper than the deepest well;
every poem that I write
I like to think of as both
a seed and a fully-fledged tree;
when I see things that inspire me
I just cannot wait to capture,
show, and share all through my poetry –
because every thought that I have
is always the same size
as my favourite cup of coffee…
Mark The Poet 