Hundreds of readers, 604 Tumblr followers, 166 Twitter followers, over 100 poems, 50 online poems and 11 years later, Aaron "Doc" Marek is still chasing his dream of being a poet.
It was at a third grade poetry contest when Marek entered his first poem about his grandfather who was in World War II. He won.
Since then Marek's poetry has become his life, especially while he takes some time off school after his first semester at Ball State University. Though he hopes to come back and major in creative writing, for now Marek is focused on keeping his writing style unique.
"He has a lot of different styles that he draws from, it's not just one. So that makes it interesting," said Jarrika Booker, one of Marek's fans.
Writing style isn't what drives Marek's passion for poetry, but rather what poetry is.
"A poet essentially takes people's feelings and puts them into words, which is one of the hardest things I think you can do," Marek said. "I am not good at all at chemistry or physics but I feel like I can effectively write down what somebody is feeling in a way that you can use empathy and read what I've written and possibly understand their situation a little more."
This is what Booker loved about Marek's poetry.
"That day that I [first] read it I was having a bad day and after I read it, it made me realize to not care what other people think." Booker said.
Booker has been following Marek online for about a month and a half, which is impressive considering Marek began putting his poetry online only two months ago.
"I'm very surprised how many new people I have following my poetry online and showing general interest in it," Marek said.
Junior social work major Britt Coomler does more than just follow Marek's poetry, she is such a big fan she volunteered to be Marek's assistant about a month ago.
"I met him in November. I really liked all of his poetry right off the bat so I automatically started promoting his poetry anyway because I liked it so much I wanted everyone else to read it too," Coomler said. "So it started as a joke but then it became like ‘hey, yeah, I could do this for you.'"
Coomler was so inspired by his poem "All of my Days" that she got the line "Let me smile free and often like the promise of the sun" tattooed on her side.
"I was like ‘I want to get this tattooed.' He thought I was insane," Coomler said. "That whole poem is one of my favorite poems because it made me take a second look at life, it made me happy, it gives me hope. This line means a lot to me because I'm always smiling and trying to make everyone else smile."
For now Coomler will keep working for Marek, especially helping him on promoting his new projects. Coomler and Marek so far have been able to get his first chat book published, and it is being sold at the White Rabbit bookstore in the Village for $3.
"I want to be well known enough as a poet," Marek said. "Just be successful enough to sell books in Barnes & Noble and Borders and stuff like that. If I could make a living out of it, that would be awesome."
No matter how many years it takes to see his poetry in Barnes & Noble, Marek will keep doing what he loves.
"You do only live once and I'm not going to miss out on this opportunity to chance a dream when someday I could be 40 or 50 years old and look back and wonder ‘What could I have made of that?'" Marek said.
"All Of My Days" by Aaron 'Doc' Marek
Let my demeanor
be that of a beginner,
wondrous, humble, & new.
Let my love
be that of a romantic,
as pleasing to me as you.
Let my conscience
whisper softly,
let my eyes grow keen;
to see life's true beauty
in all that's seen and unseen.
Let me hope still for tomorrow
before I finish today.
Let life's unscripted nature
be the most fantastic of plays.
Let me smile free and often
like the promise of the sun.
Let my memory carry on,
long after I am done.
Let happiness fill my heart,
up & over the brim.
My cup runneth over,
my life is but a whim.
(The chances
of surviving life
are tragically quite slim.)
To read more of Doc's poetry, follow his Tumblr or buy his chat book at theWhite Rabbit in the Village for $3.
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