books
My Poem “The Story That Did Not Want to End”
Once upon a time, I wrote a story…
once upon a time, I thought that the story I wrote –
the first original tale I attempted to tell –
had been written and had been told…
once upon a time, I put what was once a short story
away and did not share it with anyone;
but then, one day, almost ten years
after writing my first story, I started to wonder
whether I had saved my story for a reason,
and whether there was more to my story
than even I knew there could be…
once upon a time, I wrote about two best friends
who went their separate ways
but who one day found themselves back together –
both with their own stories
of their own individual experiences –
who discover that though life has taken them both
on somewhat of a rollercoaster of emotions,
some things will never change, including:
who they are and what they mean to one another…
once upon a time, what was once a short story
was rediscovered by its author
and made the first chapter in a story
that would take its characters to places
that they could not have been taken to ten years before –
because the author had not yet seen what they had seen,
nor had they done what they had done,
and because the story could not be
what it was always meant to be.
Where does a story begin?
Where does a story end?
Every time a story is told
it always starts differently –
even if the words look the same
and sound the same,
every story changes depending upon
who is telling the story
and who is engaging with it…
when every story begins
it asks of its audience to believe
that it happened, or could happen,
exactly as they are told it did happen,
or would happen;
however, every story is always retold
as if whomever was telling the story in question
was there when everything played out
and they are confident that the story
they are sharing is true to what they heard –
even though we all know that sometimes
stories seem to take on a life of their own
and go on their own journey of translation
and reinterpretation,
like every piece of art goes through.
It’s not uncommon for the original artist
of a work of art to be forgotten,
or misremembered,
because so many reproductions and remixes
have been made by others who were
influenced and inspired by something
that they wanted to emulate the feeling of
that they had when they first encountered it…
it’s not uncommon for someone to prefer
what they saw, heard, or read, first
over what was created afterwards –
but sometimes what follows
as a result of something else
still merits to be taken notice of,
because though the first of anything
is where and when the spark of creativity will always reside,
sequels and continuations of a story
always have something to say about
why they were made and how they connect
to what they were inspired by –
and sometimes there are stories like my first story –
that took almost ten years to become
what it ultimately became –
that were begun for a reason
and were not intended to be truly “finished”,
because some characters and some tales
are stories that have had to be abandoned,
because the truth is that no story
ever wants to come to an end.
My Poem “By the book”
As a child, books always felt like doorways
to worlds and to stories that felt like places
that I could travel to and influence with my imagination,
as well as with my memories
of where I had been and who I had met…
as a child, books always felt magical to me –
as if they had this power to them
that could always spellbind me with their words –
and which were always capable of speaking to me
on a level that made me want to continue reading
the tales of the characters within,
and written by some of the most talented
writers and authors on this planet.
Growing up, stories have always been important to me,
and the stories that I have discovered
and read over the course of my life
have only fuelled my love of language,
inspired my imagination,
and empowered my passion
to write stories of my own…
growing up, stories kept me awake at night –
however, when I finally drifted off to sleep,
my dreams were always full of characters,
landscapes, possibilities,
and a new infusion of energy
that had been created within me
that for most of my life has kept
me from ever feeling alone.
When I was first given the opportunity
to author a collection of poetry
that many others could read and enjoy,
it didn’t take me long to jump at the chance
to make a dream of mine come true
and share a love and a passion
that I felt growing within me –
magical words of my own heart and mind
that could give people the ability to read my poetry
and see, hear, taste, and feel
what I saw, what I heard, what I tasted, and what I felt,
as if they had the gift to be able to reach out
and experience something transcendental
and meaningful, beyond that of the sensation of touch…
when it became clear that writing and storytelling
was what defined me and would always define me,
I began to believe that as long as I continued
to do what I loved,
and as long as I continued to live my life
in such a way that welcomed the arrival
of anything, everything, anyone, and everyone
who could continue to keep me
engaged and enlivened by what I saw all around me,
and what I read between the lines
whenever I see the signs of life, nature,
beauty, synchronicity, and the ability
of stories long and short to keep people
believing that they have a purpose
and a reason for doing what they do –
and whenever I write a new story,
and whenever I publish a new book,
I never stop marvelling at how
the muse of the universe continues
to bless me with the words to describe
what sometimes feel as if they were personally intended for me to do with them as I wish,
and as I have lived I have discovered
that sometimes you have to take a leap of faith
and choose not to always do things “by the book”.
Happy World Book Day!
The Storyteller: The Story That Didn’t Want To End
“The Story That Didn’t Want To End” is a poem taken from Mark’s 2025 poetry collection ‘The Storyteller‘ – now available to purchase in hardback and as an ebook from Amazon.
My Poem “Once Upon a Time”
It is said that every story ever told
has a beginning, a middle, and an end -
which is true, from a certain point;
however, every story of everything
and everyone is connected…
no matter when, where, or why a story is told,
and no matter how a story is told,
what a story is about, and the reason it is
a story in the first place,
is always retained within it -
because at the heart of every story
there is always a reason that binds the many
elements and fragments of a story together
that all then fit together perfectly
like the pieces of a puzzle
or the strands of connectivity
that maintain a net.
All stories have certain things in common with one another…
all stories are different, and yet similar…
all stories are true, and all stories are false -
because perception of reality is key,
and sometimes multiple people
can have varying opinions on what happened,
as well as when and why something happened,
even though they might have all been witness
to the same thing happening…
all stories change and take on a life of their own
the more that they are heard and retold -
and sometimes a seemingly insignificant
aspect of a story that captures the essence
of the tale being told can grow to have more prominence
and can become what people remember
in greater detail more than most,
because of the manner and the demeanour
of the storyteller doing the retelling.
Stories are how life communicates
aspects of itself with future generations -
just as the DNA of humanity has being doing
even before we as species emerged
from the ocean of possibilities
and we were driven to become
what we have evolved into…
there are so many recurring motifs
that repeat throughout many of the chapters
of history that seem to demonstrate
a cycle and a rhythm of some sort of
underlying pattern and system -
which is why several stories
sound familiar when they are shared,
reconstructed, and sometimes given
a new name that is more contemporary
and easier to understand from a modern standpoint…
stories can be a source of inspiration, insight,
and a key to unlocking and understanding
why something, why someone,
or why somewhere is that way that they are -
because everything, everyone,
everywhere, never stays the same -
except for those things, people, and places
that exist in the middle of nowhere
and are only discovered by those not knowing
what, not whom, they are going to find…
things sometimes get lost,
people sometimes get forgotten about,
places something get abandoned;
however, then there are those things,
those people, those places,
that refuse to be taken for granted
and always find a way to be remembered,
to be recorded, to be given a special place
in the story of history and are allowed
to continue to exist in some form,
even though they might only be responsible
for something that they never have imagined,
nor ever expected, to be given the status
of becoming a story -
because what happened, when,
where, why, and how, only happened
once upon a time.
My Books
From Poet of the Sphere to The Sound of Mark, from The Eternal Boy to The Dreamer and The Dream, from Too Close To The Sun to Playing God, from The Wolf in Me, The Wolf in You, The Wolf in Us to Vega – The Vampire King, from The Rambler to Poet of the Multiverse, from The Comeback Kid to The Pathfinder, from The Doorman to I’ll Meet You At The Lighthouse, from The Storyteller to The Return of The Wolf, from Scales & George to new my book The Affair – all my published poetry and stories are all now available to buy from Amazon! Get yourself a copy now! 😎
My Poem “The Mandela Effect”
Have you ever had the experience of
misremembering something?
Have you ever been so sure
that something happened
as you remember it happening -
but then being told, as well as being shown,
that your memory of something
is, in fact, not correct?
Have you ever heard the lyrics of a song
and then mis-hearing them,
and then singing along to the song differently -
even after you are told that the words
that you thought a song comprised of
are slightly wrong?
Of course you have. We all have.
Because everyone does.
Why? Who knows?
But, what if the reason is something
unexpected, memory-altering,
as well as reality-altering?
What if we remember things differently,
because things have been changed
from how they were to how they are now
by a change in the timeline?
You never know. Perhaps, as some people say,
we may all be living in an alternate-reality?
Because it can’t be a coincidence that
some people’s memories of the same thing can differ,
while others have a clear and similar
recollection that things definitely
occurred the way that they did -
but, for some reason, somehow, something,
or someone, has acted in a certain way in the past
and has created new memories
that have been overlaid upon
the memories of what once used to be,
which has created a feeling of uncertainty,
a paradox of perception,
as well as a sense of what is called "déjà vu".
From quotes from a movie
to the logos of food packaging;
from the names of TV shows
to the missing tails of cartoon characters;
from an actor being remembered
for playing a film role that he never played
to the most famous example of some people
remembering something that happened -
but never happened -
which, of course, is the fact that
South African president Nelson Mandela
did not die in a South African prison in the 1980s,
as some people believe they remember he did,
and he was released from prison
and in fact died in 2013 instead;
there are so many instances of what has been called
“False memory” about certain things,
and cited by so many people,
that I believe there might be something
more than meets the eye when it comes to
what has been coined “The Mandela Effect”.
The Comeback Kid – republished
Get your copy of the hardback version of my book ‘The Comeback Kid’!
Originally published in 2023, my poetry collection ‘The Comeback Kid’ is dedicated to my Dad and it was the first book I published following his sudden passing.
The poems within ‘The Comeback Kid’ symbolise the inner strength that we must all sometimes find within us to carry on living after losing someone who meant the world to us, and who was an inspiration to so many people in so many ways – just as my Dad was, and always will be.
I honestly did not know if I would ever be able to write anything else ever again after I lost my Dad; however, while still continuing to feel my Dad’s presence, as well as my unbreakable bond and my deep connection to my Dad, not to mention his phenomenal spirit and his incredible inspiration every day, I felt compelled to continue to write and publish a collection of poetry that my Dad would have been proud of. I know my Dad was always proud of me, he always believed in, and he always instilled in me the ethos to always do my best, no matter what I did – and I try to follow my Dad’s example and words of wisdom every day.
I miss my Dad, and I always will. And ‘The Comeback Kid’ will always represent who my Dad and I have always been – and no matter what we do, nor where we are, we will never give up, and we will always make a comeback in some way.
Get your copy of the new hardcover version of ‘The Comeback Kid’, featuring a brand new cover image, from Amazon now! 😊
Poet of the Multiverse – republished
Get your copy of the new hardback version of my book ‘Poet of the Multiverse’!
Originally published in 2022, ‘Poet of the Multiverse’ symbolised a landmark moment in my journey as a poet, as a writer, and as an author, because it was released 10 years after the first publication of my first book ‘Poet of the Sphere’.
‘Poet of the Multiverse’ and the poetry within were published when I began to look upon who and what had brought me to where I found myself at that time in my life – both personally, as well as creatively – and, as I did, I began to see a pattern, as well as a multitude of choices, paths, and “What if?” moments which have defined me and have shaped me into who I am in so many ways.
I have always been fascinated by the thought of what might have happened if each and every one of us had made different decisions at a particular moment in our lives; however, the more that I think about what choices I made – some based solely on instinct and intuition – I continue to be believe that what happened was always meant to happen for a reason, including: I was always meant to be the “Poet of the Sphere” and a “Poet of the Multiverse”.
You can get your copy of the new hardcover version of ‘Poet of the Multiverse’ – including a brand new cover design – from Amazon now!
Vega – The Vampire King – republished
Get your copy of the new republished, hardback, version of my book ‘Vega – The Vampire King’!
Originally published in 2021, ‘Vega – The Vampire King’ is the backstory of Vega, “The Vampire King”, who was first introduced in my book ‘The Wolf in You’, and essentially tells the tale of his origin story: where he came from, who he was, what he has had to live through, and how he ultimately became the leader of all the vampires on Earth.
Within ‘Vega – The Vampire King’, you discover that Vega has been who and what he is for a long time, and over the centuries he has encountered several other supernatural individuals – including some characters who I have written about and who have connections to other characters within my other books, namely: Olivia Hunter.
‘Vega – The Vampire King’ is a prequel, a sequel, as well as somewhat of a parallel story to the events my book ‘The Wolf in You’ and gives Vega’s perspective on his relationship and his love of Olivia Hunter – what lead him to her, what he did to protect her, and how and why he fell in love with her.
‘Vega – The Vampire King’ is essential reading if you have read my book ‘The Wolf and The Vampire’ and you want to learn more about someone who is not like any other vampire you may have read about or heard of before – because, even to those who may have heard of him, Vega, in many ways, is an enigma and a mystery, as are the best and the most interesting of characters.
You can get your copy of the new hardcover version of ‘Vega – The Vampire King’, featuring a brand new cover artwork, on Amazon now!
Mark The Poet 