Fragments of Meaning

Take my visual fragments
And place them at the foot
Of an old chedi,
For I don’t want my queues
To scatter my own thoughts
Like a back alley
I’ve stood for too long admiring.

Take my meaning
And lessen it’s grip
For it crawls
And has not yet learned
The intricacies of
Falling and getting up,
Though these scuffed knees
Have surely tried
Against the pain.

Hold my hand and remember
That I’m not here for a long time,
This shall become dust
And my subscriptions shall expire
Like organics back to earth,
Like music into silence
For it is without question
That life surely begets death.

Fragments of Meaning by Ned Tobin

Path (day 3121)

Did you think about the path
That took your shoes
From there to here?
Pebbles and roots
That touched your feet
And gave you
Little messages
That reminded you of a dream.
I woke today
With my clear dream
Where I watched
The ball of your foot
Circulate through
The forest so calm
And every step
That you took
Brought you silently to me.

Ode To My Favourite Pen (day 3067)

I found you down a darkened road
Construction and rainy smells
Inside an old historic building
In to what felt like a historic store.
The walls were lined
With countless pens
And items supporting pens,
All illuminated so eloquently
Showcasing the finest specimens
Any penman could want.
In here I walked back and forth,
And fellow patrons wandered deep in thought,
Where finally in the deepest corner
I found you resting on a stand
Not a fingerprint laid your barrel.

And now so many years have passed
Yet not once have you let me down
Though the world we’ve traveled by foot
No wear shows upon your barrel,
Your nib a perfect flow.
And your mark has been inscribed
On countless pads sent afar
With, what I believe, quite an exquisite touch
Unique to me, my penman mark
You so critically help me lay.
I look and hold you every day,
Proud to know you by feel and weight
To have you by my side,
And to know that when I need you most
You’ll be right where I lay you down
Ready with your perfect balance
Upon paper we do play.

-20°C (day 2705)

The thermometer reads -20°C
Just outside the door
I watch sunlight filter through.
Clear skies at such temperatures
Steam from my breath.
The dog still has all his energy
But my fingertips exposed
Rapidly induce the fear of frostbite
Tingling away in an odd sensation
One knows better than to ignore.
The trees cackle at the wind,
No leaves left to protect,
And snow crunches loudly under foot
As one trods across
The slippery, frozen ‘stead.

For They Would Rust (day 2664)

If your answers solved
What mystery remains between lives,
Where would our trial be held?
Where would we lay down our tools
Dear for this unquenched need
To work until our knees are sore
And our feet curl up at the seams
Of our understanding, our dreams,
For they would rust
Lost in a gaze of submission
Caught by the hand that pierces all hearts.
I would be lost
For I compete with a memory
Complete and detail oriented.
I ask not for your question,
I speak not for your silence
I read not for your passage
I hold not for your gift
I growl for your soul
That bites off what it believes it can chew
I snarl for your essence
That rips apart belief structure
And I cry at the foot of all you have become
For I know not how to unbecome
What I had never waited to be.

Ancient Forest, Ranger (day 2142)

Walking through the ancient forest
I pick up broken sticks
I pick up what has left the home
To wander alone, to wander, Ranger.

Many times I’ve shared my thoughts
With wholesome handsome faces,
In a trunk of ancient bark
I sing songs of fallen trees
That show me signs of what has begun
In silver rays of spying lightness
And broken sticks below my foot
Though an ancient forest I remain.

Adore (day 1882)

Lover be my undying
Let my foot damp thy path
As sun still sets
My love will rest
Between all fancies your play
And in the morning when we wake again
Let’s hold all dreams some more
As whimsies take away delay
And floating is our route ahead
And to our nose shall always rouse
What heaven best can send