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  • Down by the wyching tree

    27Aug26 | 14.03 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260827.1403

    I toed off my shoes all mouse quiet to avoid the verbal hiding I was about to receive, but that weren’t gonna fool him. The man was like one of those psychic kids from the Stephen King books. The early ones. Those good ones left all beat to hell in the library cos so many hands have held them they are permanently fanned out with especial gaps where the good parts are. The scary parts. Sometimes the sexy parts.

    It weren’t the well-oiled hinges that betrayed me, but the gust of autumn wind come raging through the open I had slipped through on my way in tattled by way the flickering of the candle light dancing shadows as it rush on past.

    “Where you been.” It weren’t a question.

    “Out.”

    “Out?”

    “Out.”

    I didn’t bother hiding my footsteps no more as I walked down the hallway, didn’t skip that creaky part right by the picture of my ma when she weren’t much older than me.

    (more…)

    tagged:

    more experimentation, probably some genre, short fiction, swinging anvils

    filed under:

    fiction
    2 comments on Down by the wyching tree

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  • Hei, skogkatter — 27aug26

    27Aug26 | 08.48 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260827.0848

    For the time being, it appears we have cooled down in Minnesota (yes, the “land of snow and ice” often has temps around or warmer than the 90°F/32°C range with tropical humidity to go along with it during August and July). Summer’s not done with us for at least two or three more weeks and I’ve seen August levels of heat in October in my life. At least once in November.

    If you don’t like the weather in Minnesota, wait fifteen minutes, as we like to say.

    Anyway, yesterday evening was fairly cool (closer to 75°F) and so I decided to experiment with the Norsk skogkatter kittens. I pulled out the fancy and schmancy backpack carrier and simply opened it up. Grendel, who actually likes carriers, hopped right in — he’s explored the backpack in the past and saw nothing that warranted concern. Grímnir was not terribly interested in sharing the smaller space with his brother and went to explore other things in the house. I zipped it up (a first) and that didn’t seem to bother Grendel.

    Then we went outside into the backyard. And just sat.

    (more…)

    tagged:

    hei skogkatter, leash training cats, norsk skogkatt, Norwegian Forest Cat, outdoor training cats, skogkatt

    filed under:

    Grendel and Grímnir
    4 comments on Hei, skogkatter — 27aug26

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  • casting runes — 27aug26

    27Aug26 | 07.34 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260827.0734
    raido
    a roads are wont to do
    this one turned in of itself
    back out and wended 'round
    so tangled as to tie in knots

    with eye turned inside
    the road returns constraint
    set on a winter path
    cluttered in the palest birch
    a phantom passing through
    the moonlit wood

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is raido, which has been translated as “ride” and the implied “journey”. This may be spatial and literal in practice (a physical journey), or it may be more figurative (an inner/shamanic journey, i.e., útiseta). The rune is associated with cyclic motion and the movement of the sun. Some consider the journey represented by raido to be that of returning.

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

    tagged:

    poetry, raido, rewilding, rune

    filed under:

    poetry
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  • him, caught in barbed wire came

    26Aug26 | 20.21 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260826.2021
    chickenwire fox got him
    caught in barbed wire
    came barking top
    there yonder hill
    where still the
    bonefires still burn
    in that iron night of
    overcast skies waiting
    on for drizzle to
    cast off like it do

    ungreased axels turn
    on the world g’round
    have you heard?
    have you heard?

    an eye for an i
    a tooth for the truth
    goin’ to set that
    barbed him wire to burn

    peat dusk, with
    flame all but shrieking
    set embers on the dawn

    tagged:

    betwixt and between, poetry

    filed under:

    poetry
    3 comments on him, caught in barbed wire came

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  • kissing kittens

    26Aug26 | 13.47 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260826.1347
    kissing kittens
    because who can
    resist kissing kittens?

    i tell them they
    are good boys
    though both rogues
    through & through
    because they rarely
    scratch & never
    bite & the worst is
    they are ghosts that
    go boop in the night

    besides, who can
    resist kissing kittens?

    tagged:

    kittens, norsk skogkatt, poetry, things that go boop in the night

    filed under:

    poetry
    14 comments on kissing kittens

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    kissing kittens

  • awake lies dreaming

    25Aug26 | 22.08 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260825.2208
    my sad is dreaming awake
    clutching fingers grasping
    for threads gossamer away
    web memories tangled
    of us in winter again
    i grew cold since then,
    you see, cold left standing
    of hollow of tree seeking sleep
    when all my awake lies
    dreaming

    tagged:

    betwixt and between, poetry, rewilding

    filed under:

    poetry
    7 comments on awake lies dreaming

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  • A tale to be told of murder and betrayal:

    25Aug26 | 15.19 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260825.1519

    There’s this story I have flipping around my mind. Yeah?

    Maybe it’s a true story.

    Maybe it’s not.

    I haven’t written it down yet, so it could be either.

    It might even be both.

    (more…)

    tagged:

    experimental, fiction, noir-ish

    filed under:

    fiction
    17 comments on A tale to be told of murder and betrayal:

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  • Campfire sessions — 25aug26

    25Aug26 | 10.27 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260825.1027
    Campfire
    Photo by Ville Palmu on Unsplash

    There is wood but no flames; striking flint under the overhand seems an unnecessary thing these days and I ask if campfires are what calls the spirits or if the spirits call the campfires and it does not really matter when I ponder it longer.

    Stones and bones and endless lakes do not require flame for light, for warmth, nor do the woods — only the living and those that remember a living think of flame. And sometimes then, only when it threatens their homes.

    So I forego the campfire and sit upon the log someone dragged out to sit on while they watched hungry flames eat the air and dead in front of them. Crow has gone off to do crow things and She will be back soon. Perhaps with another bauble, perhaps with nothing more than words.

    (more…)

    tagged:

    animism, campfire sessions

    filed under:

    writing
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  • under a cascade of stars

    24Aug26 | 22.01 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260824.2201
    and then the waves
    pulled at my legs
    slipsand and under
    cold against my groin
    leaving a wonder of whys
    at the end of day
    would even the sea
    leave me under
    a cascade of stars

    tagged:

    betwixt and between, poetry

    filed under:

    poetry
    5 comments on under a cascade of stars

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  • Hei, skogkatter — 24aug26

    24Aug26 | 20.20 CDT
    © 2026

    michael raven

    c: 260824.2020

    I realized today — sitting in the vet clinic and wondering who thought getting a new kitten was a great idea (much less two kittens) when I was looking at the charges associated with their vaccinations and impending neuter — that I have not recently updated the site with their progress.

    Grendel, 16 1/2 weeks

    Nor have I taken any decent pictures in the past few weeks. These are from two weeks ago. They are now MUCH larger and starting to develop personalities as well as picking up a few training things.

    Grímnir, 16 1/2 weeks

    My sticker shock came from finding out that what I thought was going to be a single booster shot and bloodwork for their upcoming surgery ended up running several hundred dollars more than expected with additional boosters, rabies vaccinations, additional bloodwork to look for markers for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and being talked into giving them a topical preventative for heartworm (because they may be exposed to mosquitos carrying that disease as harnessed outdoor travelers.

    (more…)

    tagged:

    floof, grendel, grímnir, hei skogkatter, norsk skogkatt, Norwegian Forest Cat, skogkatt

    filed under:

    Grendel and Grímnir
    18 comments on Hei, skogkatter — 24aug26

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