Book excerpt: In Taste the Wild Wonder, fresh new poetic voice John Mark Green takes the reader on a transformative journey, awakening the heart to see the world with new eyes. This imaginative collection explores life, mortality, meaning, creativity, love, wonder, and nature, through the windows of 71 poems and 11 interior illustrations. These poems are infused with what the Japanese call yūgen - "a profound, mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe ... and the sad beauty of human suffering" (Benito Ortolani), and wabi-sabi - the beauty of impermanent, imperfect, and transient things. Since 2014, John Mark Green has grown a worldwide following for his poetry on social media. This is his first book. From the back cover Born of the ancient star remnants in our bones and nameless longings of the human heart, this poetry collection explores the firefly flicker of existence amidst the vast reaches of time and space. Capturing feelings of awe and aching beauty which stir the imagination, it illuminates our brief but glorious moment on life's stage. Imbued with the knowledge that everything we hold beautiful is inexorably slipping through our fingers, these poems are trail markers on a journey of awakening to the wild wonder which surrounds us, leading readers on a whirlwind tour of our place in the grand tapestry of nature, with a perspective which both dazzles and delights. Praise for Taste the Wild Wonder "John Mark Green writes with soul and weaves poetry from love and bones and fire. His new book is art and includes illustrations that complement the words beautifully." Jacob Nordby, author of Blessed Are the Weird - A Manifesto for Creatives