performing empty theatre
with my ghost mask on
waiting for the cruelty
to settle in, absurdity
to set electric every fibre
to awake every vibration
shudder, we shake & fall
curtain call to rise revenant
again
an ice to psyche &
given to axe
given to steel
rising from stone to
gaol the without, shadows
playing in the dank
while linger languishes
absorbed & unknown
gaol
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gaol
casting runes — 01may26
uruz stubborn enough to
school the stones
standing still
on a drizzled morn
shaggy & alone
waiting waitingA rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.
Today’s rune is uruz. The rune is named after the now-extinct aurochs, a wild ox and has become associated with standing up to challenges, having both confidence and courage, stubborn tenacity, and boundless strength and health. Uruz is alternately associated with the more raw elements which include rain, primordial potential, and the slag/dross cast away during the making of iron.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
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casting runes — 01may26
Episode 5.2 of VMH is live
In case you missed the fanfare, I have created a heavily modified installation of WordPress to host my longer, serialized fiction instead of posting it here.
Vengeance, My Heart Episode 5.2 is now live at ravensweald.art — Please check it out over there if you were following my foray into Gothic-Sepulchral Western.
The site is part proof of concept, part hypothesis test, and mostly designed around giving the reader a better experience than normally available via standard themes and via community plug-ins.
I really encourage you to give it a spin, even if you don’t care for my brand of fiction. It is designed to give the reader some element of control over the reading experience itself (typography, paragraph spacing and layout, font size, line width, night/day appearances), and to test just how important it is (for me, at least) to receive immediate, conversational feedback via “likes” and interactive comments — or are those things a distraction from the reading/writing experience. On the backend, I have also focused on privacy-forward elements: removing stats and tracking cookies (that I can control), not maintaining a database of email addresses and comments (the guestbook should be one-and-done, no database entries other than, maybe, an IP address to put a cooldown on guestbook spam attacks; Cloudflare is part of the security and content delivery, but should not pose too many privacy issues). And it is zippy (rating >90 for mobile on speed tests, ~100 for desktop).
Anyway, I’ve done rambled enough. Come on by and let me know how it went for you.
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Episode 5.2 of VMH is live
Ice cream man
Here’s another quick little bit of flash fiction in support of my friend, Jolene’s writing prompts. This one has the following four elements that should be included:
- driver of an ice cream truck
- competitive eater
- wrong side of the tracks
- stairs
Enjoy.
Dennis Marley sat on the stairs with their steep climb to the top of the hill, his destination within sight up where that hill crested. It was only a little more than a city’s block worth of climbing and he would finally arrive.
There was only one problem. The truck.
The damned truck.
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Ice cream man
casting runes — 30apr26
eihwaz a turn around maypole
rainbows tied of ribbon
every pass a trade of smiles
imagining their tasteA rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.
Today’s rune is eihwaz, it’s name meaning “yew”, is a rune of change and transformation. It represents the cycle of life/death/rebirth and is symbolic of the axis mundi (the world tree). The yew is envisioned as a path towards both the underworld and the heavenly realms. Eihwaz is frequently associated both with poison and protection as part of its perceived dual nature.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
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casting runes — 30apr26
casting runes — 29apr26
algiz i point tine north
i point tine cairn
my banhus windshorn
amble i, wander i
chalked moors aloneA rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.
Today’s rune is algiz, which may mean either “elk” (there is some uncertainty if this is the case) or yew (Old Norse). It is associated with the Otherworld, protection/sanctuary, and with guardian spirits/fylgja. The unconscious mind is also sometimes associated with algiz.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
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casting runes — 29apr26
Episode 5: Elsewhen II, Part 1
Vengeance, My Heart is a work of serialized fiction.
Jump to the new table of contents to read earlier content.
Important!
After this episodic post for Vengeance, My Heart, the serial gothic western novel is migrating to a new home on the companion site at ravensweald.art. That site is designed for a distraction-free reading experience, with reader-focused improvements to enhance the reading experience with you, the reader, in mind. The series will read more like a book and less like it was shoehorned into a series of blog posts. In fact, this post is live over there as soon as you can see this one, and you might want to give it a gander for an improved experience. For best results, be sure to view it through your preferred browser. It will render just nicely in the mobile Jetpack browser, but you’ll miss out on the typographic modifications I’ve embedded in the site to let you read the fiction in a way that best suits your whims and preferences.
To repeat: The series will continue over at it’s new home at ravensweald.art. I have not abandoned it.
Now, on with the story…
My boots needed resoling. I’d been telling myself that since Harrow’s Creek and had done nothing about it, which was either laziness or a quiet faith that the road would end before the leather did. Too bad the road was winning the battle.
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Episode 5: Elsewhen II, Part 1
ravensweald.art notes
A couple of new things that I am trying out on the new site…
A Curated List
I’m leaning in on the idea of nontraditional means of cross-seeding readers amongst other writers I have met and appreciate on WordPress over the years. In the old days, they called it a blogroll and it sat prominently in the sidebar of your front blog page. This one is intended to honor the more “Zen” like aesthetic of the site and is tucked away behind a menu item. You can check it out here: Elsewhere
If your name is not on the list, it is likely because we either don’t banter back and forth or your creative output on your site is less than once a week on average. No insult intended if you feel you should be included. Let me know and I’ll consider adding you.
Reader Feeds: Entire Posts → Excerpts
I’ve decided to start crafting “Argument” excerpts instead of publishing the entire episode part to the feed.
Each feed entry will now read in order: Series/Book, “The Argument”, “Read this episode at Ravensweald” and a copyright notice. If you are using mobile JetPack, you may need to configure the app to open the actual page in a browser instead of in the app’s more limited browser, although the site is so lightweight that only the readability features are impacted (i.e., do not appear). And the floating Ko-Fi button… but I don’t know how many folks feel like buying a coffee anyway.
This is quickly addressed by tapping the compass button that appears on the Jetpack browser, which will launch it in a proper browser.
This is to encourage people to step outside the bubble of WordPress Reader, just like many of the other design decisions. Being in the bubble is not a bad thing, but it does have a “fixed” feel to it, which I think adds to the eye fatigue. Besides, the readability tweaks are really cool. 😁
Other plans
I have so many plans. But I really should get to actually writing the story more than designing the blog, so…
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ravensweald.art notes
casting runes — 28apr26
hagalaz reseeding begins
in another spring
giving over to
ephemeral stones
buried within
a transient beautyA rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.
Today’s rune is hagalaz, which has a core meaning of “hail”, which was associated with potential, transformation, renewal and change; hail is imagined a seed from which change will arise. Hagalaz is also seen as representative of things beyond our control: a clash between fire and ice.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
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casting runes — 28apr26
Episode 4: Elsewhen, Part 4
Vengeance, My Heart is a work of serialized fiction. Jump to key story links to read earlier content.
The Dusk hit her like a hand — the perpetual bruised light of the wastes pressing against her eyes after the cave’s absolute dark. She blinked heavy eyes against the light and groaned as she lifted her head to look at who had spoken.
Above her, on a flat stone at the mesa’s edge…
Dee.
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Episode 4: Elsewhen, Part 4
