Tell Me Something Good, Poems by Mark Chartier

Tell Me Something Good is a collection of free verse, narrative poetry chronicling the adaptations and accommodations of a special education teacher who suffers from disabilities, including Tourette’s syndrome, brain injury, and speech/visual impairments. These poems reconcile challenges of overcoming disabilities, abuse, mental illness, the COVID-19 Pandemic, social injustices, and the relationships that tie us and sometimes haunt us to confronting the greater good, a transformative genesis towards love, forgiveness, and hope.

Sample Poems by Mark Chartier

“In his classrooms, Mark Chartier starts the day with Good Things. ‘My Good Thing,’ he begins, ‘is that I get to teach…’ And it’s a good thing for us, as well, for these poems are filled with lessons offered by example; the trials of witness and compassion; the pull and strain of family and community; the many iterations of pain that offer us ‘another way of being human.’ Mark’s poetry is like the life he has chosen: expansive, spacious, kind, and brimming with hard but hopeful stories. I celebrate and return to his work whenever I can—and have been doing so for nearly twenty years.”—David Keplinger

“Throughout Tell Me Something Good, Mark Chartier’s poetry takes us on a no holds barred exploration of the depths of our own humanity, and in doing so, reveals to us that there are no limits to hope, no limits to feeling, and no limits to reconciliation with our individual and collective pasts. Mark dares to show us ‘how someone gets lost in their own neighborhood, and then, in poem after poem, he challenges us to find our own way home following one simple instruction: believe that ‘there is no hope / like hope for yourself.’ I for one believe, and I applaud Mark on this magnificent collection of poetry.”—Steve Tompkins

“In his new poetry collection, Mark Chartier carries charged lines filled with an honesty in how we juggle our mental health, anxieties, and everything we do to heal and help one another. They are a catalog of small gestures—the fist bump, thumbs up, giving voice to the lonely kid at recess, and all the shared struggles and dreams for teachers and students. These poems read like thoughtful letters to students, affirmations to friends who saved our lives, confessions to lost loves, and apologies to those we have failed. Even in wrestling painful memories of trauma and the adversities presently in front of us, Tell Me Something Good lets us reflect, breathe, and move forward toward hope.—Juan J. Morales 

Mark developed symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome when he was seven years old and demonstrated significant behaviors throughout school. He persevered thanks to positive relationships with school staff. He earned a BA in English at Colorado State University-Pueblo, where he discovered his love for writing, and two master’s degrees at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs despite suffering from newly diagnosed disabilities including a brain injury and a significant stutter. He now teaches special education in southern Colorado and gives motivational speeches, sharing his triumphs as a student with disabilities and how they led him to become a teacher of students with disabilities. This is Mark’s second collection of poetry. His first, Fingerprints, was published in 2018. His work has also appeared in The Awakenings Review, Pilgrimage, LIGHT, and The Volney Road Review. For more information, please visit: www.teacherwithtourettes.com

ISBN: 978-1625494498, 145 pages

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Also by Mark Chartier:

Fingerprints