Getting back into
the swing of anything
is always hard, it’s always slow,
it’s always a work in progress,
especially in the beginning…
move to a new place,
filled with new people
who you do not yet know,
is always daunting…
getting used to a new way of doing things –
even when it involves a job
or an activity that you already know –
it can take you a while to get up to speed…
any time spent away from something
is time that you can’t make up for –
however, what you can choose to do
is to put your attention, your drive,
and your determination into learning
and perhaps re-learning something
that over time becomes second-nature,
releasing that intuitive gift
that has always been inside of you,
that has always been a part of you,
and letting your internal nature
and your internal voice speak…
I truly believe that some people
are meant to be who they are…
I truly believe that some people
are born with a particular destiny
and a path in life to follow
with particular things
that they are fated to achieve…
I truly believe that some people
are meant to be doctors, nurses, carers,
parents, artists, writers, fighters,
scientists, cafe owners, builders,
sculptures, truck drivers, cashiers,
messengers, movie theatre attendants –
because by doing what they do,
and while doing what they do,
they make a profound and fundamental
difference to the world that only they can…
I have always believed, ever since I was a child,
that I had a purpose, a meaning, a reason to be alive,
and to be someone and something
more than somebody with the depth to them
than that of a character from a dream…
I have always known, and I have always kept in my mind,
the fact of life that nobody in this world
is ever truly alone and that everybody
has a calling that fits perfectly into and with
whatever makes the universe what it is
and whatever the fundamental forces are
that govern the framework and the plan of existence
that was set into motion at the instant
of the universal big bang
and the answers to everything.
meaning
My Poem “Birthplace”
After they are born,
most people do not return
to the place of their birth…
most people have no memory of,
nor any connection with,
the one place on Earth
where they arrived in this world…
it is only as we get older,
when we start asking questions
about who we are and where we come from,
that we find out more about
the place on our birth-certificate…
sometimes, for some people,
returning to the place where the first person
saw their newborn face is a difficult experience
and not one that they which to repeat…
where we are born is integral to who we will be,
how we will think, and the direction in life
that we will take…
everybody is shaped and molded by the world around them –
but the place where a person’s story begins
has an impact that cannot be overstated…
whether someone is born in a hospital,
on an airplane, in a forest,
in the back of a car, in a lift, or in a pool of water –
that first point of interaction with the world,
that first inhale of air,
the first sights, the first sounds,
the first light of life that we see
are the first things that welcome us
into this world of gravity,
meaning, purpose, interface –
and that is why I believe that there is
something special and meaningful
about the exact when and where
that was, and will always be,
our birthplace.
My Poem “Nomino”
Some words and some names
naturally emanate their true meanings…
some words and some names
naturally reveal their definitions
by being spoken with feeling…
words like “Malibu”,
phrases like “The Gold Coast”,
places like “Los Angeles”,
say so much succinctly and concisely
about their identities, as if subconsciously…
names like “Melissa”, “Bernadette”, and “Clare”,
are names bestowed upon and given to those
who are the most beautiful, stunning, graceful,
caring, and kind, who are so named
for a reason and not accidentally…
our life experiences, our memories, and our emotions
of course play into the resonance of certain things
and why we think of them as we do –
but some words and some names
do have an undeniable power to them…
some names and some words have the magic within them
to conjure up images, faces, feelings,
and they are like triggers that can start a chain-reaction…
some names and words are lyrical, they are musical,
and every syllable in their pronunciation
can have the effect of making someone smile as happy as a child,
or make someone feel as euphoric as if they had taken a drug –
but that is the amazing thing about language:
it gives us the gift of communication
and it gives us all the means to marvel in fascination.
My Poem “The True Meaning”
The true meaning of Christmas
isn’t about presents –
the true meaning of Christmas
is about the bond shared
between family and friends
and the love that binds
children and their parents…
The true meaning of Christmas
isn’t about money,
nor about what other people have –
the true meaning of Christmas
is about rising above the trivial
and looking around at your life
and being grateful for the truest
and the purest gift of all: the gift of love…
The true meaning of Christmas
isn’t about where you are –
the true meaning of Christmas
is about who you are with
and what certain people mean to you…
When I think about what Christmas means to me
I look no further for the answer
than to my family, to my fiance, to my friends –
those who give me so much every day
without asking anything in return
and who to me embody the true meaning of Christmas.
My Poem “Lotus”
The more that we ask ourselves
what we believe
the more that we learn
about ourselves
and about who or what our god
is and represents…
The more that we ask others
what they believe
and what and who sustains them
and gives meaning to their life
the more that we realise
who and what is important to us…
The more that we ask questions
about life, about existence, about creation,
about where we are going and why
the more that we appreciate what we have,
what makes us happy, what gives us hope,
what to us is a daily cherished present…
The more that we open our mind and our heart
to the possibilities that we had not considered before
the closer that we will be to attaining
a revitalised spirit and a purpose
that will allow us to rise above
all our troubles and float
in a state of complete and beautiful contentment
like a delicate white lotus.
My Poem “Driftwood”
So much of life is beautiful…
so much is beautiful about life…
so much of life is expressed through colour…
so much of life is expressed through music…
so much of the world speaks
with a silent tongue in moments of stillness…
a brown leaf falling
from the branch of a tree to the ground…
the silhouettes of things
both exposed and obscured
because of the early morning
light of the sun…
a green field with yellow flowers
swaying in the breeze…
the slowly flowing water of a river…
nature certainly puts on a show for the senses
when you stop and take it all in…
it is with the golden light
that shines from above
that you can see the world’s gifts…
it is when we are free and unconfined
that we can truly breath in and breath out
the essence of meaning of nature,
life, belonging, and light…
it is with the gentle breeze that you feel
that your thoughts and your dreams
may dance the waves of life like driftwood.
My Poem “Under Arbor”
Sitting under a tree…
Sitting under a shadow
as the sun shines
and there is blue sky above me…
I take a moment alone, on my own,
to savour the moments
of precious peace…
My time here is short –
however, isn’t everybody’s these days?
My thoughts briefly drift away
as I daydream that I am far away…
I think of memories
that mean the most to me…
I remember and I see the faces
of those who give my life meaning
and who make my heart skip a beat…
Life is the most precious thing…
Love is the most important blessing…
I never get the opportunity
or the time these days to just sit
and take it easy,
and that is why I am
making the most of this moment
to breath in the fresh air
and sit in the shadow of a tree.
My Poem “Words Enough and Time”
If only there were
enough words in the world
and limitless time in our lives
for each and every one of us
to find peace of mind
to fill our soul
with only the things of life
and the universe
that are among the most
wondrous and beautiful…
during an eclipse of daylight,
under the silent shadow
of a celestial event,
within the brief window
of day becoming night,
every one of us
can feel as if our lives
have become frozen
in an instant of twilight…
if only there were a way
for thoughts to break-free,
if only there were a way
for us to see the unseen,
if only there were a way
to describe the true meaning
and the transcendental
beauty of a sunrise…
if only there were
words enough and time.
My Poem ‘The Wilder Tower’
I will never forget the first time I saw
and the first that I climbed the steps
of the “Wilder Tower” – the lightning tower…
I will never forget the silence that I heard
and the feeling of peace that I felt
when I stood atop the stone-built tower
that stands as a monument in a former battlefield
in Chickamauga, Georgia…
I will never forget and I could never truly describe
what I was thinking and what it meant to me
to be where I was and with whom I was with…
I will never forget what came over me,
nor how fast my heart was beating,
as we were standing and looking below and beyond
to the green-grass and to the trees
that stretch to the horizon in almost every direction…
I felt as if I had always been meant to be there,
and as if the tower itself had been calling to me
and beckoning to me all my life.
The Wilder Tower stands tall and steady,
and over the years since its construction first began
it has literally weathered everything:
from a delay in its building,
to being hit during a thunder-storm
by a bolt of blue-lightning…
the Wilder Tower is magnetic
and it is a place that draws people to it…
the Wilder Tower is somewhere anybody can go
to climb, to stop, to think,
and to call out for an answer
from whomever may be listening…
the Wilder Tower is a powerful place
to find inspiration if you are romantic
or artistically-inclined,
especially if you a young-lover,
an artist, and a poet.
To some people, a building is just a building …
to some people, a tower is just a tower…
to some people, a memorial to a battle
is just a reminder of a violent past –
however, to me, certain places have great meaning
and they have the draw and the gravity
that they do for reasons
that are sometimes spiritual in nature…
our planet – the world that gives us
all that we could ever possibly want or need –
has many places on it that will forever have a memory
imbued and associated with it
that will always make them places
that are meaningful and special…
I have stood atop skyscrapers –
from the towering Empire State Building
to the beautiful Rockefeller Center in New York City –
and though those buildings and the skylines
that I saw will stay with me forever
in my memories that I will always remember,
nothing and nowhere could compare
to the first time that I stood looking at,
climbing the stairs of,
and then standing atop of
and high-above the ground,
with my heart in my hands,
while smiling and in-awe
of the 85-foot tall
Wilder Tower.
My Poem ‘Don’t be afraid of the dark’
Don’t be afraid of the dark –
because it is in the dark
where we find the brightest lights
and the most beautiful sights
in the universe…
don’t afraid to close your eyes –
because when we close our eyes
we dream and we see
our internal hopes looking back at us…
don’t be afraid to believe
what you want to believe –
because it is in the act
and in the art of belief
that we learn to see
the beauty of things and people…
don’t be afraid to remember
where you have been and what you have seen –
because remembering is like time-traveling
into the past, and it can help you
to make sense of what you see
and where you find yourself in the world.
When I was a child I was afraid of the dark –
but then I found out what had been waiting
for me all my life, one night while I was staring
up at a sky full of stars…
it was like one of the stars has descended to Earth
from the heavens and had indelibly left its mark…
while growing up I discovered
that even silent nights are filled with music,
and even seemingly blank pages
are secretly emanating inspiration…
the more that I have lived
the more that I have been bitten
repeatedly by the bug of universal fascination.
I used to be afraid of dark rooms –
however, now I find them fascinating places…
I used to be scared of walking dark streets at night…
I used to have this fear about people
forgetting my name and my face –
but now I know that there is more to see
than what can be seen with our eyes…
there is so much more that contributes
to the answer that we all give when we die,
when we are asked: what was the meaning of your life?
Hold on to no fear…
don’t miss what you do not need…
hold onto what and who you love –
even if doing so sometimes brings you to tears…
don’t be afraid to ask for help –
because there is always someone
who can hear you and will listen…
letting go of something makes you realize
why it is important to hold on to something
for as long as you can –
but sometimes life can go by so fast
that when you look back on everything you have done
it can seem like the still image
of a picture-postcard photograph…
sometimes it is where and when
you do not expect to find things
that you come face to face with miracles –
so, if you have children do not forget
to teach them, and remind everyone else,
that is against the blackest of backgrounds
that we see the brightest of sparks…
and it is ok to open and close your eyes
and to not be afraid of the dark.
markthepoet.me 