The complete short story “The Man in Grey” from Mark’s 2018 short-story collection, ‘Playing God’ about a widowed Central Park hotdog vendor, called Guiseppe “Gus” Morino, who finds himself serving two estranged brothers/two god siblings who are meeting to discuss the reason for the repeated rebelliousness of one of the brothers, “The Man in White” – who looks like David Bowie – who is warned by his brother – who looks like John Lennon – of the consequences that will befall him if he does not stop “Playing God” against the wishes of their powerful God Father. ‘Playing God’ is a collection of “Seven stories… Seven perspectives… Seven experiences… about One Man in Black, one Man in White… Seven morality tales of one immortal Rebel, Hero, Friend, Fan, Father, Son, Playing, God”. You can read Mark’s poetry on his website http://MarkThePoet.Me, and you can purchase all of Mark’s books of poetry, short-story anthologies, and novellas on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HjAJMC
In this episode, Mark continues to recite his short story ‘The Angel’s Halo’ from Mark’s 2016 short-story/poetry collection “Too Close To The Sun.” The story tells the tale of Holly Harris: an imaginative young woman living and working in New York City, at a bar called “The Angel’s Halo,” who is looking for love, as well as dreaming of finding her purpose in life – not knowing that she has already been been chosen for something and will soon find out who and what she has always been meant to be. You can read Mark’s poetry on his website http://MarkThePoet.Me, and you can purchase all of Mark’s books of poetry, short-story anthologies, and novellas on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HjAJMC
In this episode, Mark recites Chapter Nine of his 2021 novel, ‘VEGA – The Vampire King’: “Vampire of the City”. ‘VEGA – The Vampire King ‘ is the prequel/sequel novel to Mark’s novels ‘The Wolf in Me’ and ‘The Wolf In You’ and gives answers to the questions: What it is like to be immortal? What it is like to have lived for centuries? What it is like to be supernatural? What it is like to be from another reality? What tales could be told by someone who has seen the end of one world and the beginning of another? One man has all the answers to those questions, and more: Vega – The Vampire King! You can read Mark’s poetry on his website http://MarkThePoet.Me, and you can purchase all of Mark’s books of poetry, short-story anthologies, and novellas on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HjAJMC
In this episode, Mark recites the third story of his 2018 short-story collection, Playing God: ‘The Man in Grey’ – “All Roads Lead Here”. ‘Playing God’ is a collection of “Seven stories… Seven perspectives… Seven experiences… about One Man in Black, one Man in White… Seven morality tales of one immortal Rebel, Hero, Friend, Fan, Father, Son, Playing, God”. You can read Mark’s poetry on his website http://MarkThePoet.Me, and you can purchase all of Mark’s books of poetry, short-story anthologies, and novellas on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HjAJMC
Every time I am asked about where
my favourite place in the world might be,
I close my eyes, I smile, and I am instantly
transported back to the metropolis of my dreams:
the one and the only, New York City...
no other city compares,
no other place is more special in my heart,
no other city do I remember every second of
and every experience that I had while being there,
no other place shines brighter -
because to me it will always be
an inspiring constellation of 8 million stars
each with their own individual story to tell
about how they choose to leave their mark.
It's been 8 years since I was last
in the city that never sleeps,
but there isn't a day that goes by
when I do not think about
all that I saw and all that felt while I was
visiting the city filled with so many
buildings literally capable of scraping the sky...
it's been a long time since I was
walking down the various avenues and streets
from one side of the island of Manhattan to the other,
but I always find comfort in the fact that,
though I am far away, I can return to
New York City any time I want, in my mind -
and when I am there I see things,
I remember things, I see details,
I remember people who make
the "Big Apple" the place that it is:
like no other, special, powerful,
and one of a kind.
I would love to go back to New York City one day...
I would love nothing more than to wake up,
to get dressed, to head to my favourite
Starbucks cafe on Fifth Avenue -
where I used to eat breakfast, lunch,
and enjoy a late night caramel latte
or a machiatto on a regular basis,
and during the daytime, as well after dark -
and also revisit the places that I love
and feel like I know so well,
which got under my skin
from the instant that I saw them
and I immediately found myself in awe.
I would love to go back in time...
I would to get back in that yellow taxi
and once again return to the pools of rememberance
that lie in the shadow of the Freedom Tower,
and once again pay my respects to those
who lost their lives on 9/11...
I would love to go back to the place
that I could never get enough of
and rediscover and explore the things,
the places, and the feeling of unbridled
kinetic energy and electricity
that New York City has that has the ability
to gift to those who are lucky enough
to be able to visit it, or call it home -
because, take it from me, no other city
on Earth leaves its mark upon you
after you have been there like New York.
Mark The Poet 