Broken Arrow Peddler (day 3139)

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.

Dragon River (day 3135)

Would you cross Dragon river
For an ancient vision?
A world so wild
It seems chaos,
Nothing we can comprehend.
But over there
The drink is good
So freely handed out,
And Horses sit
At card tables
Betting all or nothing again.
The Trees are big
– So gorgeously big –
They take up most the sky,
Very top of horizon!
Monkeys swing from branch to branch
Dropping sweet surprises
Onto hats passing Frolickers
In bed with Froliquettes.
Would you cross that Dragon river
To step upon the other side?
Or would you tighten up your belt
And square down your hat?

Coals (day 2803)

Yellow coals burn in my ancient fire
Radiating my self into night
For I cometh for no depth
No talisman – slender
I come for the full weight
Of each choice I’ve ever met.
So I’m left here spinning
Middle of the square,
Conscious of my coals
In the hands of each soul
My remission dares to re-enter.

Small Places (day 2619)

I want to find love in the smallest of places
I have always hoped it would hit me
Square

It doesn’t it wont.

It tickles me when I’m ready and tries me when I’m not
It challenges me as if I forgot to bookmark
And I dont care if I reread pages
It’s a good book that was handed to me
By a friend I have always known well
And haven’t seen in a long time.

This is not sadness
This is scanning the CB radio for anything that’s not static
This is singing to trees and a dog
This is a thought while sitting in meditation
Along a river that’s as perfect as I could ever dream love to be.

And with raindrops comes new growth
And with hello comes a goodbye
That doesn’t have to stay long
Because memory is a uncontrollable gift
We each get a chance to retrace
Though shall never lead to the perfect day
But make vision in our hands
Clear as the sky we look upon.

Unnecessary Badges (day 1699)

I have begun to soften unnecessary badges of my heart,
Little lines that string my thoughts together
And bury desires and dreams into unnecessary angles.
World keeps turning and I’m crouching down,
Closing my eyes and embracing an uncertainty, insanity,
That’s lost sense in my sturdy hands.
My unnecessary badges and I have lost you –
Which isn’t going to change the moon or sun,
Which isn’t going to flutter my heart any more.
So I carried this unnecessary badge in my pocket,
Two white squares and one measured and cast circle.
Pulling upon corners of a my little lines,
And tangling my dreams because I love you.

Unnecessary Badges by Ned Tobin

Napkins (day 1622)

Ladders have begun
To disseminate my mental state,
Unpacked and re-packed
Long term storage boxes,
Dusty cardboard napkins.

Zigzagged metropolitan markets
With wicker baskets lined
With checkerboard napkins
And leftover spices
Under soiled paper napkins.

This night train is lonely
When the lights flicker just so,
I spend spare moments of memory
Re-reading the same four lines
Written on a folded square napkin.

In Your Teeth (day 805)

I’ve been watching you shift the ever blurring lines that hold society in check
Taking them in your teeth and letting the camera capture your raw moments of sex
I want to understand what it’s like to plan this desire like a premeditated killer
Drinking tea over strewn socks and dirty magazines in a black and white image

I never thought I’d hold your hand walking down this hall
Penis stuck between your legs and there isn’t even any kissing
I’m not sure I understand the lines being blurred here
For they exist singularly in figments of imaginations
Directed by lines of square adults and their best intentions for children

I’ve been watching you shift the ever blurring lines that hold society in check
As you walk away veiled in a cloak of mastermind and glitter
I’m not sure the intention towards my understanding and which end is right
But this is my effort to blur my own lines of this never ending puzzle