“Never Say Never” is a poem taken from Mark’s 2025 poetry collection ‘The Storyteller‘ – now available to purchase in hardback and as an ebook from Amazon.
opportunity
My Poem “Tomorrow’s World”
A new day, a new month, a new year
always heralds the arrival of a new generation
of new faces and new voices
that always bring new ideas and new perspectives
into the mix of art, music, culture, fashion,
entertainment, science, technology, and innovation
that the world is already familiar with and is known for -
but no one can know how the path of coexistence
will influence and change things and people
in ways that are hard to predict the outcome of…
as some things and some people grow
in popularity and in prominence
there are always, at first, subtle signs
that point towards a difference between two eras,
and before long a fusion of multiple states of being begins…
change is always a learning process,
and sometimes an opportunity to refocus
and what matters to you and where
you want to progress towards.
Change can be unpredictable,
and sometimes unsettling -
but as long as you keep a hold of who you are
and what you believe is your true calling in life
then the new world unveiling itself before you
will continue to welcome the inclusion
of your individual contributions…
whenever a puzzle is broken down
into its separate components,
at first, it can be hard to see the final picture
being represented -
however every detail, every shape, every colour
of everything eventually becomes more
and more recognisable and obviously
made to fit alongside one another,
but sometimes you have to push through
the barrier of frustration that can sometimes rise around you
and continue to persevere until you reach a point
where and when you realise that something new,
something interesting, something exciting,
something that has been waiting to emerge
is taking shape within your mind.
Light exists within darkness,
darkness exists within light -
because that is the way of the universe:
order and chaos, existing in a perpetual cycle
of mutual understanding that one cannot ultimately dominate the other
but both ultimately rely upon each other
for their very survival…
destruction and creation
are two sides of the same coin
that when tossed into the air
could ultimately decide the fate of countless lives…
differences of opinions, clashes of personalities,
explosions of emotions, people of power,
weapons of war have been integral to reshaping
what life will look like for future generations
since the beginning of time,
and every so often we all have to stop
and remind ourselves of who we are
and what we are capable of if we all choose
to work together instead of against one another -
because I have always believed that good things
can come from doing the right thing
at the right time and for the right reasons,
as long as no one forgets
that the people and the things of the past
and the people and the things of the present
are what make the reality of the future
that will be tomorrow’s world.
My Poem “Step Up”
Things happen… cycles repeat…
people continue to follow an identical pattern -
however, then a series of events
leads to point of chaos and confusion,
and what you thought was going to happen
doesn’t happen, and then there is a question
of who, or what, is in control?
Because, though most people wake up,
go to work, and know what they have to do, and when,
most of the time, there needs to be something,
or someone, to keep things going,
to keep things moving,
to make sense of the world around us,
to be a focal point, and to be the one
with all the answers to all the questions
that there always are,
and the one with solutions to the many problems
and challenges that often arise.
History is full of stories of people
who started out and originated
from the lowest levels of society,
but who when given the opportunity
to show their true colours
and the spark of their potential
they chose to embrace the moment
that presented itself to them
and in turn became legendary
in their own way because of how
they showed what they were
capable of doing and becoming
when a particular time needed them
to transition and transform.
Actors; Athletes; Parents;
Celebrities; Fighters; World leaders;
anyone who finds themselves thrust
into a state of responsibility,
when they have to make a judgment call
on not just themselves, but others as well -
including being a role model that people
look to for inspiration, guidance,
support, and motivation -
know what it is like to have
the attention of others fixed upon you,
because they need to know what they should do
and they want to emulate what they observe
in the words and in the actions of those
who they believe, like, and respect.
Whenever you have to be the one
whose voice matters most
and the one that carries farther
than all the others that may be talking,
when you have to become the one in charge,
and the leader of a group of people
with a common goal -
even if having to do so takes you out
of your comfort zone -
you have just got to take a breath,
believe in yourself, trust your instincts,
and you will find the courage, the strength,
the confidence, and the will that you need
whenever you have to take a step forward
at the same time that you choose
to take a “step up”.
The Pathfinder: There is no tomorrow
My Poem “There is no tomorrow”
It is good to dream,
and it is good to be a dreamer...
it is good to believe,
and it is good to be a believer...
it is good to send out a message of hope
into the universe without knowing
if you will ever receive a reply...
it is good to make a list of things
you want to do and places
you want to visit before you can't...
we all wish that some things
could be different and that we could
somehow go back and change what happened;
however, we are not meant
to have the power of a god,
we are not meant to live beyond
the last day of our destined journey,
we are not meant to know everything -
but each and every one of us,
right this second, have something
that we have in common:
an opportunity to choose
where we will go next, why, and how.
The past is fixed, indellible,
and what happened before is what it is...
the present is where we find ourselves now -
and everybody knows that
there is something important they want to do,
there is somewhere that they want to be,
and, usually, it is doing something else
and being somewhere else
than where they are...
the future does not exist until it does -
and, for most people, the future
is so far away and so illusive
that they do not realise
they have arrived there
until they take a look around
and see how much things
and people have changed...
every day we are alive
we are travelling into the world to come -
and as we get older
each day seems to
pass us by faster and faster,
as if we have all unwittingly
always be the participants within a race.
In life, we all lose more than we gain;
but it is over the course of our life
that we get to experience
and witness moments like no other,
and there is no better time
than today, and right away,
to do what you want to do,
to go where you want to go,
and to be with whoever
wants to be with you -
because when it comes to
making a choice that will
effect your life forever
the present is all that matters,
because there is no tomorrow.
My Poem “The Leap Day”
Today is the 29th of February...
today is a day that will not
come again for another four years...
today is a day when women
traditionally "pop the question"
and propose to their significant other
and ask them to marry them...
today is an anomaly,
which also serves as
the solution to a problem...
today is a day that is celebrated
because it is only seen on a calendar
when it is a leap year...
today is when so many people
will be celebrating
the actual day of their birthday -
and not a day before or after it...
today is a day when so many people
will choose to do something
they have never done before...
today is a day when lives
will be changed forever...
today is a day that means more
than can be expressed in words...
today is a day when opportunities
will present themselves
that should be taken advantage of,
because what will follow
will only be known at a time in the future
when we are ready to see
and understand what happened and why...
today is not just any day,
because it gives us all
the gift of perspective
that time is not what we think it is -
because life is complicated and emotional
and sometimes not easily defined
in practical and understandable ways...
today is a day that has always fascinated me,
because it both exists and doesn't -
as if it were a part of
some kind of temporal experiment...
today is a day when the events of it
will not be marked again
for another four years -
so allow me to take this opportunity
to wish everyone reading this luck
for what is to come in their lives,
and also a very happy leap day!
The Pathfinder: The Other Side of the World
My Poem “The Other Side of The World”
So many people are looking for a new beginning... so many people are in need of a direction... so many people wish that they had something in their lives that would give them a feeling of belonging... so many people have friends and family members who they love - but they know that what they want lies beyond what and where they have always known... so many people have felt this insatiable draw to get on a plane and jet off to somewhere over the horizon... so many people have this instinct that compels them to go somewhere they have never been before, because the place they are going to may feel so much like paradise it could easily be a place within a dream... so many people are just waiting for something or someone to give them the push they need to take a life-changing leap... so many people look around at their lives and they feel that they need more... so many people do not know that they have been imprisoned by something, someone, somewhere, for some time, until they are looking up at an unbroken blue sky and they know what it feels like to be truly free... so many people have chosen to do something profoundly special and adventurous in the pursuit of finding their life's purpose, and so many people have found themselves choosing to start a new life thousands of miles away from the country of their birth in places that lie far away on the other side of the world.
My Poem “Out of your shell”
It is good to challenge ourselves... it is good to take on new responsibilities... it is good to do things we have never done before - in fact, it is essential in maintaining our mental health... it is good to expand our knowledge, see the sights and meet new people from different localities... it is good to be immersed in the unfamiliar... it is good to test our tolerances... it is good to let down our guard and converse with people who have different answers to the question: why are we here? it is good not to worry about if someone is watching and just do your thing - even if it leads to you involuntarily making a joke, singing, or starting to dance... it is good to look the way you want to look... it is good to have your own opinion of what is beautiful... it is good to have an imagination and to have the gift to be able to see the faces and to hear the voices of characters that you read in a book... it is good to step out of your comfort zone and embrace the opportunity to be able to fly free of your nest and naturally find yourself coming out of your shell.
My Poem “Under the Rainbow”
As soon as I saw the rainbow I couldn't take my eyes off it... as soon as I saw the multi-coloured half-circle arch across the sky I smiled because of it... as soon as I saw the faint spectrum being created and projected by the sun's light I was in awe of it... as soon as I saw the entrancing natural phenomena and symbol of universal love I immediately wondered not what I might find at the end of it - like some kind of magical pot of gold - but rather what might happen if I were instead to walk underneath it? So that is what I decided to do. And what did I find when I walked under the arc of the rainbow? The road before me, the future, the undiscovered opportunities and gifts of inspiration that await me. Rainbows always capture the attention and alight the imagination of the young and the old - but what I have discovered over my life is that some things we find and then we lose, some people make promises that they say they will keep forever but one day they do indeed let go, and some things entrance us for a short time but then disappear from view. Life is unexpected, at the same time that it is predictable... life can be ugly, scary - but life can also be beautiful... life and light is what I see whenever I look up at the stars at night that though they might have long since stopped burning continue to shine and to glow... life is what awaits us all if and when we see and get the opportunity to walk under a rainbow.
