experiences
My Poem “Music/Food”
Just like the ingredients
that all combine to make
a meal look, smell, and taste
the way that it is supposed to,
a piece of music or a song
is also a multi-layered mixture
of individual components
that all harmonize to become
something greater that the sum of their parts –
as they are played by those players
capable of synchronising the gift within them
with the instruments that they have at their disposal…
the art of making a melody of music
that has a distinctive voice of its own,
that is immediately recognisable,
even after the first morsel
of ear candy has been heard,
is exactly like the signature of a dish
prepared by someone for
breakfast, lunch, or dinner –
because food, like music,
leaves an indelible imprint on all of us
that is always profoundly memorable.
Both food and music are both a key
as well as a gateway to memories
and experiences that may have become
compartmentalised by us over time –
but there is no denying how both
a song, and perhaps something
that you may not have tasted for years,
can have the instant power
to turn the gears of our minds
back to a particular place and a time…
food is sustenance for the body,
music is sustenance for the mind –
and when combined together,
while dining within a restaurant
or in a cafe, there is no estimating
the flood of endorphins that can rise
within our thoughts which can drive our emotions
in ways akin to a tsunami of waves
that have the ability to resurface
moments of merriment so meaningful to us
that they can make lost artifacts
of our consciousness once again easy to find.
Both eating food and listening to music,
to some people, can be like having
a spiritual experience that feeds
and rejuvenates something within them
that goes beyond the physical and the biological…
consuming certain legal stimulants,
such as chocolate or caffeine,
that have the ability to influence
the speed that our heart beats
and the way that we feel,
can affect us in the same way that music
can make us all involuntarily
raise our arms, close our eyes,
move our feet and dance around a room –
especially if the song that we hear
is one of our favourite tunes
that always has the effect of making us move
as if we are being compelled by a spirit
that we never want to be free of
that always takes us all to a place that feels
out of this world and utterly phenomenonal.
My Poem “Escapism”
Reality is tangible, and yet there are times
when reality can feel absolutely unbelievable…
the real world is sometimes managible,
the real world is sometimes even palatable –
but occasionally the “real world” can
at times feel too much to handle.
Reality is physical and undoubtedly
it can at times feel painful…
the real world, the outside world,
is where things get done,
where progress is made,
where we get to look people in the eye,
where we get to share a smile,
where we get to experience things
that are grounded in nature –
but the real world is also where
the weight of certain things
upon our emotions and upon
our thoughts and upon our dreams
can sometimes make us all feel fragile.
Reality is life – but every so often
everybody needs a dose of something
that they have never seen before,
or perhaps something that they
may have seen over and over again…
everybody needs a vision of a life
and of a world unlike the one
that they are daily familiar with…
everybody needs to have this place,
this time, those moments,
those out of body experiences
when they get let their imagination
run wild so that it can play along with all
of the fantastic possibilities of creativity
that they see – which may not be
a true reflection of the everyday world,
but which are always considered to be
a source of hope to help people cope
and to get some much needed escapism.
My Poem “The Kite Flyer”
Over time we learn more about the world,
we learn more about ourselves,
and more about how the biology,
the chemistry, and the physics
of the universe actually works –
by asking questions, by seeking connections,
by looking at our own reflection,
by making mistakes, by taking missteps,
by “going off the reservation”,
by doing things, by choosing things,
and by believing in things
beyond what we know that we need to grow,
but which can innitially seem
as ephemeral and as fleeting as snow,
and then slowly but surely
we build up within us memories,
experiences, recollections, and dreams
of a person, of a place, of a time
that can resonate like a beacon to guide us
and potentially save us in instances of twilight,
that we must hold on to and marvel at
like the stars but never let go of –
like a kite twisting and turning
against a blue sky on a day
when the force of the energy all around us
feels like it could easily
lift us off of the ground.
My Poem “Decennium”
Time goes by so fast…
life goes by like a flash…
one minute you are
starting down upon a path
and the next thing you know
an entire decade of years has passed –
and when you look back
you see now what you could not see
back then all the things that would
not work out, as well as all the things
that would grow beyond
your ability to truly grasp.
It’s been ten years since
I declared loud and clear
that I was a Poet and that
I was going to write from the heart
and let my poetic gift
dictate where I would go
and what I would write…
ten years since people from far
and wide started to read what I wrote
and began to tell me that I should
collect what I had written together
and publish all my hopes, all my dreams,
and all my feelings within a book
that could be held, read,
and which could be a source
of inspiration for people seeking out
a literary ray of light.
Over the last ten years
I have written hundreds of poems,
I have written and I have compiled
ten books of poetry and stories
that were creations of my own
imagination, as well as inquiries
into the heart, the mind, and the soul
of humanity through multi-layered
characters, supernatural tales,
and of course through poems
that were often both questions
and answers that spontaneously
came to me when I began
every verse of my poetry.
Over the last ten years
I can honestly say that I have
learned so much about the world,
about people, about myself,
about writing, about publishing,
and if I knew ten years ago
what I know now then I would hope
that I would not change too much
about what I wrote and why –
even the many mistakes that I have made –
because if I had not done what I did
then I would not have learned
why some things matter
and why some things do not,
and why some things are a matter of
being there at the right place
and why some things are a matter of
being where you are at the right time
to sit down, to open up, to write,
and to leave your mark in some way.
My New Book “The Rambler” is OUT NOW!
My new book “The Rambler” is OUT NOW on Amazon!
This new book is filled with some of the poems, the tales, the thoughts, and the dreams that I have written and been inspired by while experiencing and while enjoying the wonders of the great outdoors, nature, and while rambling with my feet though some of the most beautiful and inspiring landscapes on Earth.
I love walking, and I love writing poetry – and my new book The Rambler is a celebration of both! Walking and poetry it turns out is in my blood and both pursuits have apparently been shared by many of my family for generations – and my new book is also my tribute to one of the most amazing ways there are of commuting and seeing this beautiful planet that we are all gifted to live upon.
I have always been inspired by nature and nature has been the source and the subject of many of the poems that I have written – and my new collection of poetry, The Rambler, is also a journal of where I have walked, where I have been, what I have done, what I have seen, and what drives me to continue to do what I do.
If you have read any of the poems that I have written and published here on MarkThePoet.Me, and if you choose to buy a copy of my new book, then you will no doubt find several poems that I have published online over the last 4 years since my last poetry collection. From the outset I wanted my new book to be solely about poetry – since over the past few years I have chosen to write and to publish stories of fiction – because poetry is where my journey as a writer began all those years ago, and poetry will always be what I will always return to no matter what.
I hope you are able to get yourself a copy of my new book, The Rambler, and while reading it you find yourself immersing yourself and figuratively following in the same footsteps which I made which inspired every word of every line of every poem that is included within.
Happy Reading! 😊
-Mark
My Poem “Train of Thought”
It’s never too late
to start doing something…
it’s never too late in the game
to change what you are already doing…
it’s never too late
to start behaving differently…
it’s never too late
to learn from your mistakes
and to make use of what you have learned –
because it is the act of being
transformed by what you may have seen,
felt, heard, and experienced
that is at the heart
of all forms of poetry.
There is no way to know everything,
there is no way to see everything,
there is no way to go everywhere –
but there is always a way and a time
to try your hand, to use your mind,
to feel with your heart
and with your soul at doing something
and give it all that you can,
if you are willing to live your life
as if by the roll of a dice
and choose to do as you dare.
It is in our nature as human beings
to want to learn and to explore…
it is an intrinsic motivation of many
to seek out, to share, to live,
and to implore others to follow
their lead and attempt to find
an outlet to drive the reasons
for all the choices that they make…
it is in all of our nature
to want what is best for ourselves
as well as for those around us
and to communicate our true intentions
to those who matter the most to us
before it is too late…
it is in the collective psyche
of humanity to want to be
free of judgement, anguish, and pain.
It is by following that voice,
that draw, that gravity, that call
that awakes us sometimes
in the middle of the night
that compels so many people
to make real and personify
their dreams in order to prove
to ourselves and the world
that though we may not all
think the same way all the time
we all have so much to gain
from occasionally switching lanes
in the way that we believe things are
and sometimes taking a chance
on a stream of consciousness
and stepping outside
of the frame of confinement
and by leaving the carriage
of the ordinary and the every
train of thought.
My Poem “Show You The Way”
We were all beginners once…
We all had to start somewhere…
We all walk slowly and gently
when we take our first steps
at doing something for the first time…
We all learn by doing,
and our failures should always
be considered lessons
to be studied and improved upon…
No one knows everything
and they never will –
even about things that they know well…
Even the most experienced
and learned can learn
something new every day…
Sometimes you have to first find
a hero, a muse, an inspiration,
the voice, the actions, the face,
and the message someone
or something that gives you
the motivation to open your soul
and unlock the door within you
to show you the way.
My Poem “38”
Today I am 38 years-old…
today, like every day,
every month, every year,
as I have got older,
I always look back over my shoulder –
even it is only for an instant –
and I take a good, long, look
at myself and I recall what I have done,
where I have been, and all that I have seen.
Ever since I was a child
I have always known how lucky I was
to have been born when, where,
and to whom I was born –
the home that I have always known,
and the parents who have never
stopped loving me and have
never stopped being proud of me…
today is my birthday,
and this year – more than any other,
I feel so lucky to have what I have,
and more importantly I feel so lucky to have
who I have in my life,
and I feel so lucky to share my life
with who I love the most in the entire world.
Every year, around this same time of the year,
I always wonder whether my life
would be better if I had made
different decisions and other choices
at certain points in my life –
and, every time I do,
I ultimately come back to the unshakable
and unwavering realization that I am
who I am meant to be
and my life is what it is meant to be;
however, that does not mean
that there aren’t things
that I wish I could change
with the snap of a finger if I had the power.
I know more about myself
than I knew five years ago…
I know so much more about life and people
than I did ten years ago…
I know more about my destiny and my life’s purpose
than I did twenty years ago;
however, I believe, even from the moment
that I was delivered into the light of this world,
that the path that I have been walking
all my life was already right in front of me,
and that along the way it only took
the strength of determination,
the courage, and the fearlessness
that I have been blessed with
by many people in my life
to contribute to my understanding
and my appreciation of what makes
a life lived to its potential so great,
and in life there are definitely times
when it is fun to just go with the flow
and see where it takes you –
because if you are lucky
then you might find yourself one day
far away from home and staring into the eyes
and within the embrace of an angel.
Life is short, and sometimes
you have to do things
and you have to experience things
before it is too late
and there is no time
left to do and to see
all of the amazing
and extraordinary things
that life has in store –
that is what I believe,
and that is what I know for sure,
and that is the culmination
of all of my knowledge
and all my experiences
that I have acquired
from every hour, every day,
every month, every year, prior to today,
when I turn 38 years-old.
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