Thug Dance (day 1577)

I’m an East Van thug
I’ve got dimes for your eyes
I wrote empty lines
For shoes your size.

Beats’n’bustin
And breakin signs,
I’ve locked this hood
On playing this rhyme

Crack crack
Break a ga-lack
Break your mother fuckin’ knees
Smack; my attack

From Hasting’s to Oppenheimer
To Railtown smokin’ crack
These pimps are all small time
Knock’n at my back.

I’ve got thugs in my pocket
From Strathcona to Clark
Commercial to Main,
Remember sucker, East Van’s the land

All you rebels cryin’ loud
My shit’s locked tight
Now strap on your booties,
Baby, let’s dance!

Nite Mare - Ned Tobin - East Van Candy Gangster

Predicting (day 1511)

This is a window.
This bilge is a dance
That lifts souls into grace,
Purifying attack
And forgetting to release
And lying down, prone,
To accept every torrent
Lapping at this vessel
Without expectation,
Without predicting
And judging little nuances
So defining our spirits
As if they were character flaws.
Don’t let this come as a surprise.
Don’t fall down blankly,
Dumbstruck by unmanageable inputs
And acting out in ignorance.
No, this is a window;
Cleanly un-hinged and placed into
A four corner boxed view
Into unexpected.

OK, Lovely (day 1469)

Ok, lovely,
Choose a delicate dance
With sitars, tablas
And magical finger symbols
To gaze upon at request.
Choose a fine hearted view,
Wobbling blue birds
And squabbling hens.
Choose elaborate decor,
Gray walls with fancy lace,
Antlers painted gold,
Desire painted red.
Choose heart,
For nothing else matters.

Warm Summer Eve Memories (day 1462)

Where have I seen you before?
I’m sure I’ve had you walk through my heart
For some time
With those light steps leaving such an impression.
Tha-thump tha-thump (heartbeat)

Your heartbeat sings choruses
That zig-zag up and down these zipper walls
Made for flexing, made for dancing,
Made for hanging by two hands grasping
Horizontal beams stretching side to side.

And I waltz on
With a memory of top hats and devious winks
Singing me softly
Into warm summer’s eve.

All Night Long (day 1458)

There are leftover bottles
Sitting on a dusty piano
Forgotten in the corner
Singing heartfelt bluegrass
To drunken loners
Habitually smoking
Leftover cigarollas
From playboys and their lovers
Who wore deep pocketed holes
In a beer stained dance floor
That sang hip songs
From an old jukebox
With burnt out numbers
Shuffling in the corner
All night long.

Illusion (day 1438)

Whispers cease to fill the rounds
Your eyes become my cast-off stones
Black serpents are what thoughts become
I have spent my last reason

Tear apart fickle justifications
That purify all your moves
Lasting memories are all I save
Inward voices: my own Hades.

Dance your heart around our fire
Widows weaving, nevermore
I am undone amidst this body
I am not alone in my illusion

Ashram Day 16 (day 1419)

Dance with me now
Through effortless flow:
Thick overgrown trail,
Dandelion row.

Dance with me now
On windowsills: old,
Like old and refreshed;
Long love letters confessed.

Dance with me now
Where colors match rainbows,
In tropical poison
I am your randsom.

Dance with me now
Sunrise to sunset,
Typeset and subset,
Tea set with chocolate.

Moon Rain (day 1400)

Rain has been falling a thousand ways today,
From every angle and darkened cloud one could ever find up high.
As I lie here attempting sleep,
Rain continues to dance around.
It is here I think to myself:
“Sounds of music
In my ears
Can always carry me,
But this pitter patter
Could never replace
My moon that shines so bright.”

When Out Walking (day 1327)

I woke up one morning
And all I could see was stars and flickering lights and little bits of human nature fluttering about the place,
Which is when I said to myself:
“Ned, you’ve made quite delight of this so far, you’ve had your way with a lot of things that have always kept your legs moving forward.
Do you know what time it is?”
Upon this thought I was forced to think for quite some time.
You see, I didn’t have a watch, and on account of the stars in the morning, I was already quite perplexed.
But someone came around at this time and motioned to the wall where there rested a round clock.
To which I was once again delighted in for I could tell time on these funny machines.
But my morning walk, which stretched on for a good number of hours, brought me to one sudden stop as I stared face to face with an angel who had come to hold my hand.
We didn’t dance, but we waltzed through the streets as we discussed what was on both our minds.
One thought after the other. One question after the other.
I returned home, but the lights had all been turned low. There were candles all around showing me peace and I stepped in.
And as I stepped in to a dream I knew and loved and had pushed away, I also stepped out of a unconsciousness I had been living under.
For today was no ordinary day,
Today is the day it all began.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/185739934″ params=”color=ff0000&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Empty (day 1325)

A light that shall not come;
Shadowing my lonely heart
Into depths of wild regret.
A wild stallion rears it’s fiery mane,
And a God opens her palms
In an intimate reveal;
My heart shall always ask in dance.
And there sits the emptyness,
A lone bucket untouched,
Unshaven. Unfilled.