“People don’t read books anymore”,
or some people have been heard to say -
and to be honest I am always taken aback
by such a statement whenever I hear it,
because books and reading are,
in my opinion, the greatest form
and the most powerful source of information
and the sharing of stories there has ever been…
I cannot believe and I could never imagine
a world without physical media -
such as words printed upon the pages of books:
a world where people cannot use their senses
to make a connection with what they are holding -
whether that is a painting, a sculpture,
the sleeve of a vinyl record,
or a collection of interconnected words within a book
which you can imbibe a great deal
just from the weight of it, not to mention the smell.
What at else can give you the same feeling of satisfaction
than reading a book from cover to cover
and then having to recover from
the literal journey that you have been on?
I personally know of nothing
that can come close to coming to the conclusion
of a good book and then immediately feeling the urge
to turn the book over and start reading it once again.
Being the author of books, whenever I hear someone say
that books are a thing of the past -
because everything is done
and is accessible electronically in this day and age -
I almost makes me want to cry,
because writing means so much to me,
and to me my fellow storytellers,
authors, and contemporaries,
are who I believe I share a connection with
that cannot be shared with anyone else
who has not had the same experience
of being touched by the power
of the eternal muse and has created something
that did not exist before it was manifested into being
and captured by its creator and author.
To think, and to hear someone say,
something akin to “books no longer matter”,
to me is like someone saying that
we no longer need air to breathe -
because words and books
have always been something magical, special,
and capable of changing the world
in ways that could never be known…
a world without libraries, bookshops,
or second-hand stores, is such a frightening reality
for me to contemplate that I never
truly believe that such a thing could ever be a possibility -
because the places of this world
where books are still cherished and sold
are where storytelling continues to thrive
and can be found for future generations to
enjoy, learn, and share with everyone
for as long as humanity walks this world.
No matter how far humanity “progresses” as a species,
and no matter how much we become reliant upon
technology to function as a society,
we should never forget that nothing
could ever, nor should ever,
try and replace the physical, the tangible, the visceral,
the unequally satisfying, the emotional, the enlightening,
and the energising experience of reading a story
in the way that it was meant to be read -
and there is no better way to lose yourself
within an immersive tale than to read its words
printed upon the pages of a book.
words
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: War of Words
“War of Words” is a poem taken from Mark’s 2025 poetry collection ‘The Storyteller‘ – now available to purchase in hardback and as an ebook from Amazon.
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
My Poem “Biting Your Tongue”
Knowing what to say
and when to something,
or if you should even
say anything at all,
can be "tricky" -
because sometimes what people believe
can directly contradict
the beliefs of those closest to them...
keeping your your thoughts to yourself -
especially those that you know
will not be popular or be shared
with those around you
and those who you like and interact with -
can be frustrating,
because everybody should be able
to say what they think and feel about something,
especially when you want to talk
and discuss what matters to you
with those whose opinion
you have value and trust.
Trying to keep the peace
by staying quiet,
because you worry that
if the way that you see
some aspects of the world and people
were to become known
you might become isolated
from a particular group,
can cause people to choose
to express their views
in ways that to some
might seem unconventional
and perhaps incomprehensible;
however, when you know that you
have a valid reason to disagree
with what someone says or thinks
then each of us should have the right
to be speak and be heard.
People are always going
to have differences of opinion
about certain things,
because each of us is always
arriving from a different time
and from a different starting position...
the gift and the opportunity
to be able to truly debate a subject -
so that opposing sides can put across
their own individual version
of what they believe, why, and how -
are few and far between these days,
because the fear of opening your mouth
and accidentally insulting someone
seems to constantly linger in the air.
When you give someone a live microphone
to a large proportion of people,
some people will use the means
and the moments at their disposal
to say things that they know will
be hurtful to a large group of people,
and may only say anything
for the sake of saying something,
and do not really care who
their words effect -
which is why fake and faceless
monsters need to be exposed
and brought out of the shadows
with the brightest of lights
and stopped in their tracks
before they can cause any further harm.
It would be nice if we could
all talk to one another
without judgement and without prejudice,
as well as without there being
this constant feeling of tension
underlying every layer
of almost every conversation -
and while some people will never
be able to help themselves
from saying what is on their mind,
whenever they want,
without a care in the world -
most people have to try and bite their tongue,
for as long as they can,
until they know the time is right,
because sometimes words are like weapons
and that can do more harm than good.
The Pathfinder: Sometimes Words Are Unnecessary
The Pathfinder: Walk The Walk
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 