Going back to the beginning
and rereading what I wrote
when I was just starting down
upon this journey of poetry of mine
and then comparing what I wrote
and who I was then to who I am now,
is always a fascinating endeavour,
because things are so different now
to how they were before -
as is the world around me,
as well as the world within me…
going back and remembering
what I was doing, what I was thinking,
and what it was that inspired me
to write what I did at a particular time
is sometimes like trying to preserve
a castle out of sand from being
engulfed by the waves of the tide;
however, sometimes, the ability to be able
to seemingly move through time
and be transported back to the when,
the where and to the why I was inspired to write
something that seemingly had to be written
can feel so effortless that it can almost feel
as if no time has passed since the spark of creativity
touched me and motivated me
to express what was happening, what it was,
or whom it was who was on my mind at that time…
going back to my memories, my thoughts,
my recollections, and my feelings about
something, or someone, from a long time ago
is sometimes somewhat harder to do
especially when you have tried your hardest
over the years to distance yourself from certain things
and thoughts about certain situations and people -
which is why going back in time,
even if only in a literary and poetically speaking sense
can be dangerous, perilous, and painful,
like trying to cross a minefield of explosives
that can cause considerable harm
and psychological damage as a result…
going back over what you remember about
something you created can be illuminating
and interesting in so many ways,
but in a fundamental way it is like trying to recall
the images and the details of a particular dream that you had -
but because dreams are more
ephemeral than memories are
and they do not weigh down upon
our emotional state as much,
our thoughts and feelings are much more
like psychological scars and are much harder
to move away from because they are based
upon experience and not speculation…
going back down the road
that brought me to where I am now,
and as I proceed I see flashes of insight
that shed light upon something I may have missed,
is something that I do cautiously
and in no way casually,
because I know who I am
and what and who will trigger me
into veering off down a mental path
and wondering whether I made the right decision
when presented with a crossroads of choice;
however, whenever I do choose to venture internally
within my own mind that has over time
become more and more dense
with the same thoughts, feelings, and memories
that always find a way to rise to the surface -
like trying to traverse the foliage of a rainforest -
I have over time learned to not linger too long
on the shadows of what and whom I sometimes find,
and I instead just keep proceeding upon
the path of my life and embrace
every step of my journey through poetry.
journey
A Journey Through Poetry #42: Where It All Started
This episode is a part of Mark’s “A Journey Through Poetry” – a personal reflection of his life as a poet, a writer, and an author – in which he recites a different poem from every one of his poetry collections. In this episode Mark recites his poem ‘Where It All Started’, from his poetry collection Poet of the Multiverse, and he gives some insight and some context into why he was inspired to write this poem in particular.
A Journey Through Poetry #35: The Other Side Of The World
This episode is a part of Mark’s “A Journey Through Poetry” – a personal reflection of his life as a poet, a writer, and a author – in which he recites a different poem from every one of his poetry collections. In this episode Mark recites his poem ‘The Other Side Of The World’, from his poetry collection The Pathfinder, and he gives some insight and some context into why he was inspired to write this poem in particular.
A Journey Through Poetry #12: Wormhole
This episode is a part of Mark’s “A Journey Through Poetry” – a personal reflection of his life as a poet, a writer, and a author – in which he recites a different poem from every one of his poetry collections. In this episode Mark recites his poem ‘Wormhole’, from his poetry collection The Eternal Boy, and he gives some insight and some context into why he was inspired to write this poem in particular.
The Storyteller: New Conclusion
“New Conclusion” is a poem taken from Mark’s 2025 poetry collection ‘The Storyteller‘ – now available to purchase in hardback and as an ebook from Amazon.
Listen on Apple Podcasts and read a transcript.
The Pathfinder: Pilgrimage
The Pathfinder: The True Journey
The Pathfinder: Return of the Poet
My Poem “Pilgrimage”
We all know what it is like
to have the image of a person,
a place, or something in particular,
within our mind, that gifts us,
every time we think of them,
with a surge of energy,
enthusiasm, and power...
we all know what it is like
to be drawn to someone,
to somewhere, to something,
as if we were being pulled
towards them by a force like that of gravity,
to which we can believe
we are destined to go
so that something inside us
can be unlocked by using
them as if they were a key...
we all know the feeling of anticipation
that rises within us
when we start to get this instinct
that the time when we will one day
fulfil the promise of serendipity,
and make a dream come true,
and the voice of that which calls us
towards them, gets steadily louder...
we all know what it feels like
to be on a journey somewhere –
both familiar and unfamiliar –
and what it means to us
to return to somewhere special,
as well as to see something,
somewhere, that for so long
has seemed out of reach...
we all know what it takes
to do something that
we have never done before –
and sometimes we have to,
somehow, change how we think
about something in order
to be able to fully integrate
and interact with where we
find ourselves and with whom
we find ourselves with...
we all know what it is like to have
heroes whom we look up to
and whom we seek out for guidance
about what we should do
and perhaps where we should go next –
because every day everybody
is on a journey towards
something that will always
continue to be both tangible,
and yet far away –
because even when we finally
make it somewhere we have always wanted to go,
or after we finally meet someone
who we have always wanted to meet,
what matters is what happens afterwards
and as a result of the steps
that we all have to take
on our own individual and personal,
life-long and meaningful,
pilgrimages.
My Poem “The True Journey”
As one day becomes another...
as one year ends and another begins...
as time resets with an explosion of light and colour...
as people simultaneously celebrate
what has come before
and hope for what awaits,
nobody can truly know how
they reached the point of crossroads
that they find themselves at,
nor where the path
in front of them will take them;
however, each of us can rest assured
that the past influences the present,
just as the present dictates the future,
and all of our overlapping
and interwoven interactions
have a resonance that rings out
beyond the waves that are generated
at a moment of creation,
at an explosion rebirth,
at an instance of regeneration,
at a point when a threshold
is traversed,
and, as a result, a door
to a new world opens...
as we all continue to walk
where we have walked before,
as we all continue to share eye contact
with those whom we regularly see,
as we all continue to speak
and hopefully be heard,
we all hope that the first time
will not be the last time,
and that no matter what we have done
and how much time
we have left on Earth,
it goes without saying
that there is always more
for each and every one of us
to reach for, experience, and explore -
because the true journey has no end.
markthepoet.me 