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  • wait here

    06May26 | 18.15 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260506.1815
    & all our engines have gone to rust
    or torn pages to scatter to wind
    forgotten, what your good book said

    & i wait here & i long here
    & i wait here & i long here

    & of ghost that the wrath it were
    her voice has gone to calling, now
    come o'er the rowan hills, fallen

    & i wait here
    & i fall here
    & i wait here
    & i fall—

    stop.

    tagged:

    melancholia, poetry

    filed under:

    poetry
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    wait here

  • Ep 5.4 of VMH has gone live

    06May26 | 12.01 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260506.1201
    start readingVengeance, My Heart

    The Argument:
    …flutter…


    Episode 5.4 of Vengeance, My Heart (episode link), my serialized Sepulchral-Gothic Western novel, is now live at ravensweald.art.

    ❧

    The site is designed with reader-modifiable typographic elements so that you can adjust the experience to suit your needs. Click the sliders to the right of the content to adjust.

    If the sliders do not appear, be sure to “share” with a native browser or click the compass icon in WordPress Reader’s browser (which does not support the required JavaScript). If you prefer to not let scripts run in your browser, you are welcome to read it with the default settings.

    ❧

    WordPress has elected to make it a manual process to subscribe to a site in WordPress Reader if the site is not running the Jetpack Plugin. Navigate here on how best to add this series to Reader, according to your favorite platform:

    How to add Vengeance, My Heart to WordPress Reader

    tagged:

    ash & thorn, episodic fiction, gothic western, ravensweald.art, sepulchral western, serialized fiction, vengeance my heart, web novel, weird west

    filed under:

    Ash & Thorn — Vengeance, My Heart
    1 comment on Ep 5.4 of VMH has gone live

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    Ep 5.4 of VMH has gone live

  • crossbones and bloodcheek

    05May26 | 21.27 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260505.2127
    we sit
    crossbones and
    bloodcheek
    flintfaced and
    sharpbeaked
    our heart of hearts
    breathesync

    i know these
    twine times
    only slipstream
    of otherhymes
    careful so careful
    we seek at
    crossbones and
    bloodcheek

    tagged:

    betwixt and between, poetry, rewilding

    filed under:

    poetry
    2 comments on crossbones and bloodcheek

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    crossbones and bloodcheek

  • Tweaks and Geeks

    05May26 | 13.11 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260505.1311

    Something I learned today. The old (ancient) method of letting people subscribe to your blog on WordPress Reader has been killed entirely by the Jetpack team. It was unsupported, but still worked as recently as a year ago. I tried to make it a simple process of subscribing to my RSS feed at ravensweald.art (which is attempting to remove the social elements from that blog), but that workaround no longer works around.

    So, I modified the site to include instructions on how you can add the story feeds to Reader manually. I wish they would not make it a multistep process, but alas, I’m not sure they really want you to follow a site operating outside of the WordPress.com/Jetpack ecosystem — which is a little silly when you think about it, if my suspicions are true.

    If you have been enjoying Vengeance, My Heart, please consider following the steps outlined on this page to add it to your feed.

    Failing that, consider bookmarking the site in your browser and swinging by a couple times a week: currently M/W/F — I may take a break this Friday to polish Episode 6.1 over the weekend. The episode is mostly ready, but I think I want to make another pass at edits before publishing.

    Hope y’all are doing swell. Let me know if you encounter any issues with my instructions.

    tagged:

    how to subscribe to a feed in WordPress Reader, Jetpack-free sites, no love, ravensweald.art, Reader tweaks, site design, vengeance my heart

    filed under:

    Ash & Thorn — Vengeance, My Heart
    11 comments on Tweaks and Geeks

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    Tweaks and Geeks

  • casting runes — 04may26

    04May26 | 14.22 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260504.1422
    eihwaz
    head to mud
    feet to sky
    hanging for hanging
    save for the pierce
    and an eye

    A 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.

    tagged:

    eihwaz, poetry, rewilding, rune

    filed under:

    poetry
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    casting runes — 04may26

  • Ep 5.3 of VMH has gone live

    04May26 | 12.01 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260504.1201
    start readingVengeance, My Heart

    The Argument:
    Pointed questions asked.
    Answers delivered in lead.
    Another spent returned to the deck.


    Episode 5.3 of Vengeance, My Heart (episode link), my serialized Sepulchral-Gothic Western novel, has now gone live at ravensweald.art.

    ❧

    The site is designed with reader-modifiable typographic elements so that you can adjust the experience to suit your needs. Click the sliders to the right of the content to adjust.

    If the sliders do not appear, be sure to “share” with a native browser or click the compass icon in WordPress Reader’s browser (which does not support the required JavaScript).

    tagged:

    ash & thorn, episodic fiction, gothic western, ravensweald.art, sepulchral western, serialized fiction, vengeance my heart, web novel, weird west

    filed under:

    Ash & Thorn — Vengeance, My Heart
    9 comments on Ep 5.3 of VMH has gone live

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    Ep 5.3 of VMH has gone live

  • One of those writing about writing posts

    03May26 | 15.16 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260503.1516

    As the story in Vengeance, My Heart shifts from setting tone and atmosphere to character evolution and development — and quite possibly as a result of changing focus from short, snappy bite sized pieces of the story and shifting over to giving the story more room to breathe — I’ve discovered more tolerance as the writer for longer episode fragments.

    My goal up through the end of Episode 5, was to make sure there was a targeted max word count for each fragment/part/sub-episode to finding in Episode 6 that character development doesn’t work so well with those kinds of metrics. I don’t think it is a significant spoiler to say it is about time to move to that tone/color-setting of the early episodes to dig down into the motivations and explain, in drip-feed fashion, the previously unexplained.

    (more…)

    tagged:

    designing for long-form reading, episodic fiction, forked site, ravensweald.art, site design, writing about writing

    filed under:

    Ash & Thorn — Vengeance, My Heart, writing
    4 comments on One of those writing about writing posts

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    One of those writing about writing posts

  • casting runes — 02may26

    02May26 | 18.36 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260502.1836
    tiwaz
    it is for
    the lost & the freaks
    the crippled & the weak
    we stand stone strong
    sending flames to the sky
    we, too, rise tall and true

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is tiwaz, which is named after the Norse god Týr, and the second weekday (Tuesday) is named for the god. According to Norse myth, Týr offers his right hand to the wolf Fenrir, who bites it off when he realizes the gods have used the offering to distract the wolf while they bind him. The rune is typically considered symbolic of honor, loyalty and justice, as well as of sacrifice. It may be representative of discipline and faith. Some interpretations have associated the rune with the North Star.

    Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.

    tagged:

    poetry, rewilding, rune, tiwaz

    filed under:

    poetry
    7 comments on casting runes — 02may26

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    casting runes — 02may26

  • gaol

    01May26 | 20.28 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260501.2028
    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

    tagged:

    poetry

    filed under:

    poetry
    2 comments on gaol

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    gaol

  • casting runes — 01may26

    01May26 | 13.55 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260501.1355
    uruz
    stubborn enough to
    school the stones
    standing still
    on a drizzled morn
    shaggy & alone
    waiting waiting

    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.

    tagged:

    poetry, rewilding, rune, uruz

    filed under:

    poetry
    No comments on casting runes — 01may26

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    casting runes — 01may26

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