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 ‘Language’, from his poetry collection The Sound of Mark, and he gives some insight and some context into why he was inspired to write this poem in particular.
language
My Poem “Magic”
I have always been a fast writer…
I have always been a slow reader…
I have always been a fast typer…
I have always been a slow listener…
I have always been able to see, to hear,
to feel the sound and the rhythm of words
and be spellbound by their ability
to make sense of the world,
while being aware and fascinated
by the fact that each word
has their own story to tell of their origin…
I have always been curious about
how a word can come to mean
so much to so many -
even now, I am wondering:
What was the first word?
Who invented the first word?
When, where, and why
was the first word uttered?
What did the first word mean?
And, after it was first used,
was the first word used repeatedly
and to the extent that it was understood
and considered to be something
that someone generations in the future
would be wondering about?
I wonder - that is what I do…
I wander - that is also something that I do…
I watch, I wait, I weave silent tapestries
of poetry within my mind,
as the world races by…
I welcome the opportunity to be inspired
by whatever angel wishes to sit upon my shoulder
and whisper into my ears -
because I know how intense
and powerful an idea can be,
and I know what can be achieved
and where you can go
if you decide to make a move that you know
will influence the rest of your life.
In my time, I have met wizards…
in my life, I have met witches…
in my memories, I see things
that even now I am still trying to believe…
in my dreams is where and when
I face my fears, and every day I feel compelled
to bring people together
and to be a guide for others to follow -
just as the Messenger God, Hermes,
once instructed me to be one night
in a vision that I still remember so vividly…
in my heart I have always hoped for the best,
and I have always wanted the world to be
whatever those who work hard want it to be -
but my faith in some heroes and some role-models
renowned for their gift to touch humanity
with their artistic abilities
has on occasion been proven to have been misplaced,
and I have had to reexamine, reevaluate,
and revise my opinion on those
who have been exposed as devilish individuals…
I have always been known to be one who -
even when seemingly surrounded by uncertainty -
chooses to find a way out of wherever I find myself,
and I always start by choosing to never panic;
because I know that I always have a secret weapon
that will always keep me from
falling into a void of no return,
and there is no other word for what I know to be possible,
nor another way to describe what lies within me
and a select group of artistic individuals,
other than the ephemeral and overwhelming
sound and sensation that we have all felt
when we have witnessed something
that could only be captured, in a word,
to be nothing other than “magic”.
The Storyteller: Word Search
“Word Search” 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 Storyteller: The Last Word
“The Last Word” 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.
My Poem “War of Words”
Even some of the longest
and the most devastating conflicts
that the people of our planet have known
have started with something seemingly
so small, so simple, and so subtle as a single word,
or a whisper in the ear of someone
whose voice and influence carries farther than others…
even some of the most seemingly innocent
and quiet people on Earth
are capable of inflicting a great deal of harm
and can create a great deal of damage –
because though they appear to be someone
who would not say anything to anybody,
behind closed doors some people
are not who and what they seem
and they take any opportunity to
talk about others and attempt to
ruin how people they don’t like are perceived…
even the closest of friends
can find themselves falling out with one another
because they believe that their relationship
has changed to such a drastic degree
that there is no going back to how things were
when things were good…
even some days that begin without
anything to grumble about
can slowly descend into a “day from hell” –
when everything seems to go wrong,
when no one can find mutual understanding,
nor common ground,
and when every interaction feels like a fight
that will only escalate and get out of hand
the more that time goes on…
even something that was originally intended
to be a joke can be twisted and turned
into something that is a far cry
from what it was supposed to be –
and as a result feelings can be expressed,
things can be said, choices can be made,
and what will happen next may not
be what was expected, nor wanted,
because it doesn’t take long for
“nothing” to become “something”,
nor does it take long for something that is said
to be taken out of context,
and it doesn’t take long before
there are the first of many exchanges shared
within a war of words.
Taken from my poetry collection ‘The Storyteller’ – out now: https://amzn.eu/d/fJUJ6Ss
My Poem “Word Search”
Certain words have always spoken to me
and resonated with me -
even before I knew what they meant
and what their definition was…
certain words have always seemed
to have this power to them
that has always intrigued me…
certain words have always had
this sound and this pattern in their pronunciation
that has always made me feel
like they are some sort of key to a door
that leads to somewhere within myself…
certain words have always reminded me
of certain things and certain people -
and in a way they have allowed me
to communicate with different versions of myself
in different versions of reality.
Words surround us everywhere we go…
even while walking through a jungle in Peru,
or while anywhere in the world
where you are within an oasis of nature,
those who are trained to notice
and to interpret the colours
and the language that is ever present
would be able to tell you so much
about what you should touch
and what you should steer clear of…
the imagery of our dreams also
has a dictionary and a lexicon
that can be decoded if you
actually remember what it was you saw
and what you did while you were asleep -
because our dreams can sometimes
disappear as if a gust of wind has blown them away
or as if they have melted away like
sunlight against snow…
nature itself has an underground network
which it uses to keep in touch
with the many varied forms of life that it embodies…
humans, animals, not to mention insects,
interpret what they see, or don’t see,
around them in very different ways -
and sometimes things are not exactly
as they appear to be upon closer inspection.
The more words that I have read,
the more words that I have heard,
the more words that I have learned,
the more words that I have used,
the more words that I have been
introduced to from the many varied languages
that are used everyday all around the world,
I have gained an appreciation for how
people are able to communicate with others
in multiple ways and for multiple reasons -
because the written word is one thing,
but the spoken word is another…
there has been poetry written,
there has been songs sung,
there has been music performed,
there has been art created by artists
that has a hidden and yet noticeable
underlying meaning that can only be
truly explained and understood
when they are uttered and performed
in the form that they originated…
translations and reinterpretations
have been common for generations -
however some words were never meant
to be repeated as commonly as others
and there is so much negativity attached to them
that saying them is considered a curse…
I don’t think there could ever be a limit
to how, when, where, nor why someone
will always wanted to express themselves
and leave their lyrical and literary mark -
which is good for someone like me
who lives to engage in a word search.
This poem can be found within the pages of my new poetry collection, “The Storyteller” - out now on Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/fmYQv3F
The Pathfinder: Sometimes Words Are Unnecessary
The Pathfinder: Universal Translation
My Poem “From One to Another”
It is always great to be able
to share what you know
about something that
you have learned a lot about
with friends, with family,
and with people who share
the same interests as you -
but whenever you meet someone who,
from the moment that you meet them,
seems to be talking the same language
that, for so long, you were led to believe
that only you could communicate in
and understand,
then there is always
a wave of energy
that touches you...
no matter how well and how long
someone may have known you,
it is only those who have
walked the same path as you,
it is only those who have had
similar experiences as you,
it is only those who have been born
with a similar gift as you -
whatever that may be -
who can truly understand you,
and why and how you do what you do.
When you are with someone
who, like you, can see order
where others only see chaos...
when you are with someone
who, like you, enjoys looking within
while others only look outwards...
when you are with someone
who, like you, has a reason for
why they invest so much of their time
connected to something that matters to them,
every interaction can feel so effortless -
while, when you are with others
who do not share the same
passion about something,
it can be hard to put into words
to someone who does not
speak the same way as you do,
who does feel the same way
about things as you do,
who does not wish for
the same things as you do,
why, when we find ourselves
somewhere in particular,
everything feels so natural.
There is a reason why like-minded
people attend conferences
and conventions that revolve around
a common endeavour or pastime...
there is a reason why some stereotypes are true
and why certain characteristics
about certain types of people do recur...
there is a reason why certain people -
from magicians to comedians,
from actors to writers,
from garderners to aficionados
who enjoy doing many different
individual and collaborative activities -
gather together and meet
without the feeling of guilt
that can stir within you sometimes
when you reveal to someone
something that you take pleasure in doing,
as if you have committed a crime...
there is a reason why
we all secretly seek out others
who we know will immediately understand
something fundamental about us
from the instant that our paths cross -
because nothing feels more refreshing
than conversing with someone when,
whatever you say to each other,
every word uttered
feels like the steps of a sprint
that rapidly transitions
from one to another.
My Poem “Sometimes words are unnecessary”
Sometimes, what we see,
what we hear, what we feel,
what we think, what we imagine
cannot always be put into words...
language is not always what we think it is...
sometimes, a picture is worth
more than a thousand words -
because an image can be what
reminds us of where we were,
with whom, and why:
a photograph taken when times were good
can be wonderful to see,
and yet bittersweet at the same time -
because pictures are like time capsules
of captured moments that are special
because they are instances
that will never happen again...
in this world, at this time,
it is rare that even family members
gather together and celebrate with one another -
because, these days, so many people
live disparate existences from each other -
even though the physical distance
between them may not be as fa
as they would like to believe...
sometimes, the most resonate sound
in the universe is silence -
because even in the vacuum of space
there lies an unheard secret
that speaks volumes about
why things are the way that they are,
and who people are
as well as who they think they are...
so many people feel out of place,
so many people feel out of touch,
so many people feel as if they have
nothing left to do and nothing left to offer -
until they have a moment
when they discover that they are not alone,
when they discover that they
have more to do,
when they discover that they might have,
perhaps, been seeing the world
through a shaded lens for far too long
and that when they see something spectacular:
a life-changing event -
like a sacred sunrise, or a sunset,
that opens their eyes and gives them
a vision of something that, perhaps,
they once thought was an impossibility;
however, in this universe of improbability, and finality,
everything is meant to be -
but sometimes, when we search
for the words to describe something
or someone with the gift of poetry,
even a poet would agree that
sometimes words are unnecessary.
Mark The Poet 