• casting runes — 05feb26

    michael raven

    uruz
    spring moult, rough granite
    aids to cast off old morns
    gathering on melting snows;
    an amble off to new moors

    A 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 — 05feb26

  • wild horse

    michael raven 

    with talons in scalp & neck
    with gravel voice inside head
    black blade scraping skull
    within red cedar rising tall...
    someone rode their wild horse
    & that someone was not me

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    wild horse

  • Twenty years of WordPress

    michael raven

    I wonder if I’m eligible for the Dyson bladeless fan or if that’s 25 years…

    [If not obvious, this is an example of my not-very-funny sense of humor. WordPress does not give out anniversary gifts as far as I am aware.]

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    Twenty years of WordPress

  • It Never Rains in Southern California — prompted flash fiction

    michael raven

    I’ve decided to up my flash fiction output after trying out two of the prompts from Jolene’s site. I need to try and stretch out that muscle and strengthen it a bit after letting it atrophy for a long spell.

    Unless otherwise specified, I am leveraging Google’s Gemini AI to give me daily prompts. I don’t currently know the frequency at which I will actually post the flash fiction developed as a response to the prompts, but probably not on a daily basis.

    In this current series, I am going to explore random subgenres of speculative fiction, fantasy and horror.

    Required Plot Elements (per Gemini)

    1. A rain-slicked neon alleyway
    2. A prototype “memory drive” that contains an animal the protagonist has never seen [edit: I replaced “sunset” with “animal”]
    3. A debt collector who accepts childhood nostalgia as payment.

    Genre: Cyberpunk / Noir

    Someone felt the need to share their affliction for retro-premillennial oldie covers with the alleyway. As if the neon were not headache-inducing loud enough on the eyes by itself, they blared some nonsense song that echoed though the narrow chasm between decrepit brick buildings built around the same era as the music.

    (more…)

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    It Never Rains in Southern California — prompted flash fiction

  • casting runes — 04feb26

    michael raven

    ansuz
    sharp breath intake,
    razor sharp shredding
    everything inside

    an uncaged spirit
    given to fresh singing

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is ansuz, which has a core meaning “a god” (intended to be Odin), “mouth” or “breath”. Odin is representative of many, many things… in this case, ansuz is most representative of the mouth/breath (speech) that gives life to poetry, magic, song, language, and spirit — largely inseparable in the Viking worldview — and Odin is considered the supreme master of these intertwined concepts. By way of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, the rune is named æsc, which is translated to “ash”, a tree associated with Odin and is representative of resilience and strength.

    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 — 04feb26