Don't give up, do your best, keep going, keep fighting - that is what I have been taught to do all my life and that is what I have done... stand up for what you believe in, stand your ground, face your adversary, stay calm, don't be afraid, don't run - that is what I have tried to do whenever I have found myself in a David and Goliath situation when I have found myself face to face with something or someone more imposing. I have never liked bullies, and although in school I was called names about my height and how I looked I have never allowed the words of others to get under my skin and make me think that I was anything or anyone less than I was - I always just assumed that some people had a problem with me for reason which was not my problem and I couldn't do anything to change their mind even if I wanted to... I am mostly a pacifist who believes that peace, ideas and words are powerful and are essential to change the world; however, if given the option to have to defend my right to exist and to preserve my way of life and the life of others, I would be willing to show who I am and what I stand for - freedom of self-expression for everyone and the freedom to love anything or anyone - in any way imaginable, because I am not afraid. When I was younger, I was much more reserved... when I was younger, I mostly kept myself to myself... when I was younger, I had friends - but I knew that I was different from everybody else my age, which is a superpower I have learned... when I was younger, I had my share of disagreements with people young and old - but now that I am older I realise that sometimes it is better to say nothing and keep walking, because there will come a time for everyone when the cards of fate will be dealt... when I was younger, I was as fast and as full of energy as a bolt of lightning - but now that I am older I am sure that I am not as fast-footed as I was in my youth; however, I know that if ever I found myself having to defend my home, my family, my people, my hopes, my dreams, then I would not hesitate to do what must be done and do what I have always been taught to do: to stay hopeful and to keep fighting.
fighter
My Poem ‘The Fighter’
It’s important to fight…
it’s important to never give up…
it’s important to open your eyes
and look towards the light…
it’s important to never forget
who and what has made you…
and, above all-else,
it is important to always have
something and someone within your mind
and in your heart that you love.
You may feel like you have reached
the end of the road…
you may feel like you have arrived
at the end of the world…
you may believe that there is
no longer anything more to be said or wrote –
and then a new day will begin,
the sun rises again,
and you can go from being lost for words
to overflowing with emotion…
and over time the hurt that you feel
from a painful experience that you have been through
you can learn to use as a form of protection
and defense… like a sword.
To surrender, to submit, to sit down motionless
and quiet can seem like the easiest thing to do…
to not make a fuss, to not fight back,
to not stand up from what you believe in,
because you know that your opinion
might be in the minority
can sometimes seem like the best way
most of the time to keep the peace –
however if everybody did that,
if everybody just took everything for granted
and they did not open their eyes fully
and truly saw all the people
and everything that is necessary
and important to know about our planet,
then none of us would ever truly
know ourselves… and we would give up
before we discover why we are all here on Earth,
and where we are supposed to be,
and what we are supposed to do.
In the wild… in the world of the wolverines,
the wolf, the natural predators of the animal-kingdom
of planet Earth that live in the woods,
in the forests, in the air, in the oceans,
in the deserts, in the places where
only the strongest is made, meant, able,
and accustomed to live and survive –
that is where the fittest, the biggest, the toughest,
walk, run, swim, feed, kill or be killed,
and who as a species have learned
over countless generations
that to be a true survivor
in this sometimes wild world
you have to be a fighter.
My Poem ‘The Wolverine’
They call me ‘The Wolverine’;
as wild on the inside
as I am on the outside;
I am both the dreamer
and the dream;
as strong in body
as I am in mind,
and just like an animal
who lives by their instincts
I live a life pushed to its limits.
I may heal fast, but I never forget;
I may remember the past,
but I am not bound by it;
the world may get dark,
but I can always see a light;
I may not be like a dog with a bark,
but I do have a bite.
I can be both the leader and the follower;
I can be both alone and in a crowd;
I can be both a wanderer and a watcher;
I can be both at home surrounded by nature,
or in the sky far above the clouds.
All wild things have claws;
all fighters sometimes are called to war;
all survivors sometimes have to dig deep;
all who eventually learn how to swim
sometimes have to sink beneath.
Confidence without arrogance;
wise, but still able to listen;
strength without losing breath;
having vision,
but still able to adapt and act
after being struck by inspiration.
The wild one can also be the quiet one;
the person can sometimes be
more dangerous than the weapon;
the vivid can also be the invisible;
the real can sometimes be the most impossible;
the protected can also be the free;
the most extraordinary can accomplish
all that they can imagine,
and there is no one who will ever stop
being who they were meant to be
more so than The Wolverine.
My Poem ‘Fallen Friend’
A fallen friend, a fallen star,
a friendship that will never end,
a familiar face to be remembered
always as if they were still by your side
as well as always in your heart.
We meet so many people in our lives,
but the special ones we remember forever;
we make so many friends,
but there are only a small group
to whom our fate and their fate
will always be tied together.
It’s hard to say goodbye to a friend –
especially when their spirit
can still be felt, heard,
and seen where we always remember them being;
it means everything to never forget someone,
and it is comforting to always believe
that one day you will see them again;
it’s hard to put into words
what someone truly means to us
and what about them we always found amazing;
it always hurts to think that a friend of yours
had to endure a time in their life
that caused them such pain.
To recall a shared memory,
to say a silent prayer,
to light a candle,
to say goodbye,
to never forget,
to believe that they who we have lost
we be looking over us
as long we continue to remember them.
Earth angels and heroes never die,
nor do great fighters who keep fighting
until the bitter end…
so, to all the dearly departed,
this poem is for you,
this poem is for all of our
indomitable and special
never to be forgotten
fallen friends.
My Poem ‘Daredevil’
Every child is born
just as their parents were;
even as you grow and you learn
you still cannot see your own
personal future;
everyone experiences things
in their lives that are a test,
in one way or another;
some things that happen
are out of our hands
and they are things
that are beyond our control,
but it is how we respond to things
and the way in which we react
that is a test of character beyond compare.
Accidents happen; people get hurt;
things don’t always work with precision;
one minute you can find yourself
standing tall and strong,
and the next you can be lying
face-first in the dirt;
terrible life-changing events
can sweep you up in them
that can affect you for the rest of your life:
one second you can be walking across a busy road,
and the next you might find yourself
in a corridor walking towards a bright light;
you can be bitten by a random insect,
you can be sitting and suddenly feel
a sharp pain in your arm;
you can wake up one morning and feel depressed;
you can unknowingly be causing yourself
and someone else harm or distress;
you could catch a disease
that is so destructive and corrosive
the cure to survive it may be to lose a limb,
and when you do come up against something
and you have to make a choice
to go with the flow,
to fight for your own identity
is the only way for you to win.
Life is hardly ever plain-sailing;
we all sometimes have to make a course-correction,
now and again;
sometimes we all have to suffer through pain
to feel something amazing.
We are all human; we are all biologically similar –
but no two peoples’ lives are one and the same.
I admire a soldier;
I know why it is important
to have the heart of a fighter;
I know what it is like to lose something important
and see it wither away, as if it were
being burned to ashes by a fire;
the people that fill my heart with optimism,
who overcome their often troubled lives,
are the people to me who always inspire.
To face every day with the same enthusiasm
as a child is glorious;
to never shy away from what you have to do
is truly audacious;
to explore and embrace a brand new frontier
is what it means to be a daredevil and adventurous;
to never shrink and to never turn away
from a worthy fight is the best way of showing
the true indomitable nature of the human soul;
and just how much,
no matter what you are going through,
you can be fearless and phenomenally courageous.
Mark The Poet 