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.

A Stamp That Became Postmarked (day 3052)

I wrote your name on an envelope
That closed and sealed with my mark
Long, long, short, two dots and two curves
A stamp that became postmarked.
I wondered there how long it would take
To find its way into your hands,
Would it arrive bent, curled?
Stained from a leak in a roller?
I wondered how high it would fly
Inside the bowels of an airplane
How cold those bowels would become
In spite the warmth so inscribed.
I hoped my meaning would be understood,
That my script legible,
And that each word that you would read
Would be read just as I had spoke.
And most of all, I wondered if
The return address would be saved,
So that your unique letter
Would be sealed
With a stamp that became postmarked.

I Want to Feel You (day 2952)

I want to feel you
Until the lonesome bubbles
Fade away from my open eyes,
Huddled in the darkness;
Wooden chair holding
My scissors and notebook.
I want to feel you
So the open pages
I haven’t found to mark
Stay to the light
Forever low
Outside your door;
Knocking my heart
Ceases, overwhelmed by thunder.

Hill (day 2951)

And so I came to the hill
Wrapped in all things
Left here to dry, to weep and cry
To spell out long letters
To those last glimpses of my truth
Who have left the last marks
Ravaging the little beasts
Smoking atop the hill so crested.
And then it began to drip down
Along the side of my being
Gooey globs of scent infused
Suffering that made me stop,
Gaze uncontrollably
At the giant drops of passion,
And remember how far
I still have to go
For I think I have a hill to climb.

Angels (day 2808)

I took a cut out of ancient Seed
Planted for two mouths
Carrying my load
I walked into
Cave, so darkened now.
When I stood bare,
Face to face
With Angel who knew my name
Who asked me only one question
To learn how I had came,
To which I remarked:
I shall not remain
Only I shall wear your mark.
She then held me
And we shared all
And I became her name.

Day of Work (day 2641)

My best advice has come to this:
Work a day hard daily,
And when it’s time
Lay thy tools
Down for warmth of a tea.
Enjoy thy work,
Enjoy thy toil,
Enjoy each sliver come your way,
Enjoy as troubles
Make their mark
Upon your furrowed brow.
For in pursuit
Of solving mysteries
A day of work’s been done.

Let it be Fire (day 1822)

I can strongly feel the urgency
To leave a mark of sincerity
I can feel the strength surging up
Let it be fire
Let it be fire
Let it be strong.

I have heard the call of transparency
To leave lying exposed my chest
I can feel the beat of everlasting
Let it be fire
Let it be fire
Let it be strong.

I am the heat in the sun
To fuel your animal’s deep jungle
I can feel the day long
Let it be fire
Let it be fire
Let it be strong.

Let It Be Fire by Ned Tobin

Memory (day 1596)

Your heart rings on the bars of my faint memory
Tingling windows that never seem to open right
While lights flicker from unknown sources
As if silent messengers in night’s sky.

I touch my lips and think about a sensation
Once so familiar to my heart that it left an ocre mark
And scalded the new moon twice since
Leaving rays of blood light shifting my reminiscence.

I cannot wait here long, for leaves follow my mind
Upon a downward spiral to freshly rooted dirt
Awaiting new seeds of our ancient memory
And lifting lines that varicose their way back to my heart.

Memory by Ned Tobin