Tag: arrow

Unattended Fire

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I’m hijacking emotional waves
Leaving the strong winds
For cracked nuts
And a fire, unattended.
My teeth hurt
And my coffee’s gone cold
– Toxic lush
Even when hot.
A game, I’m gone
Struck me on the shoulder
But hoping for an open minded Lady
Who gave a wrinkled
Promiscuously acquired
Five dollar bill
To a tourist fear trap
Like a Merry Christmas card
Unsigned.
But I’m gone
With hotel room vibes
Blinking lethargically
Stuck in deeper thoughts
That have taken me
Deep inside
This unattended fire,
Waiting for a spark to arise
Within me
Like Cupid’s golden arrow.

Unattended Fire by Ned Tobin

For Tomorrow (Broken Arrow) (day 3203)

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I chose the path of a broken arrow
Bent and fragmented
In the soil I grow
For once I was mad
With hate so hot
Spent life speeding
From spot to target
With venemous fuel.
I was long and straight,
I fought a great battle
Now I’m bent
And given away
My grace and beauty
For a place exposed
To wiles and whims
Of nature’s fancy
Where the guise of time
Will swallow me whole
As a man in slippers
On a dirt path
For tomorrow.

Broken Arrow Peddler (day 3139)

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Ten shades of a broken arrow
Stretched across the sky
Moon and sun both couldn’t hide
So they raged, no dawn, no dusk.

A peddler man came walking down
In a suit quite unknown in that world,
Had two tones of gravity
Two handfuls of pure dirt.

In each promise the hook was set
Deeper and deeper it took
Just like moon and sun,
They raged, they raged, they raged.

The end became, the gone be gone
The rules left written down
Nailed to a city square post
Discarded cloth and plastic close by.

The moon became calm and laid away
A soft silver spoon for a tomorrow,
The sun, alert, smiled peacefully
And awoke children so sewn.

Shoulder Right and Shoulder Left (day 3048)

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My arrow has found its definite dream
Betwixt shoulder left and shoulder right
A smile so big I knew at once
I could hide in here for more
I knew the depth had only dipped
Into still, shallow shores
So much more I felt I knew
I read it in the stars
That filled my eyes and led my arrow
Around the world and more
And back again to build a home
With a back like yours in toil
And a love that kept us up at night
Your left shoulder to my right.

Lifeless (day 2274)

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If I could write my passion down
On memory two by two squared four
I’d be alive just like the sky
Floating high above for me
I’d sing of open fields to cross
Of bird’s flight so free
Of whales who’d dive far into see
A game amidst unknown
I’d climb each tree
And shoot each arrow
A target I’d always know
I’d have at least
Ten thousand tomorrows
To let loose into the air
As if they were a sign of my
Devilish nature afloat
Like a growing fire
Amidst embers so hot
One by one’s begun.

Free Man (day 2240)

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I am letting go my reason
Turning open my vessel
My heart no longer caged
A soldier standing on the front line
Battle worn and still alive
Thriving in throngs of passion
Arrow plucked and bow taught
Whisper goes out to my gods
Eyes falling into ecstasy
Smiling with little worry
Reason blending into action
Stepping out a free man.

Moon at Midnight – Part XXXXXXV (day 2039)

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(part XXXXXXIV)

For three days Willow and I sat
Meditating upon life
Watching the great herd of Elk
Graze the valley below
Laughing as we saw Elk calves
Running to suckle their mothers
And other Elk turning away curious calves
Who weren’t their own to feed
We felt their powerful teeth
Ripping out grass
And then chewing with their rolling jaws
Seemingly no other care in the world
We felt their combined
Powerful hooves rattle the earth
As they slowly came and then went
In their great migration North
Now that the winter ice shields
Were rapidly melting in the spring thaw
We felt their consistent calls
For whom did they send
And from where did the return come from
We could only guess the meanings
But warm breaths
Meeting the cold spring air
Continually sent steam spouts
Up from their great masses
We could smell them
The very essence that they were
In wild and natural pungency
That can mean so many things to the alert
And told us the story of their hardships
They had faced the previous winter
We saw their curiosity
With everything that they passed
Wondering if it was food
Or if it was predator
And if it was at all safe to be here
When they wandered close enough to us
The closest to us would jump back and be alerted
And the others beside it
Would also jump
And scuttle back towards the bulk of the herd
Many would get so close
That we could hear their powerful nostrils
Testing the air for security.

After the third day
We decided that we would take one home with us
So I sent an arrow through the heart
Of a male, ensuring the mother would be able to provide
For the calf until it was able to be on its own
As I dressed the Elk
Willow sent thanks to the Elk gods
For their offering
By evening we had made it out of the valley
And were set up camp by a small stream
Where we washed ourselves
And watched the stars.

part XXXXXXVI