Author: michael raven

  • casting runes — 24nov25

    dagaz
    i shadowstride twilight spaces
    neither other, nor here
    a trail of crimson cut snow
    dividing me from me 
    to realize the whole of me
    so as to rest a weary heart

    A rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.

    Today’s rune is dagaz, which has been translated as “daybreak”, that transitional moment between night and day. By extension, it might also be interpreted as “twilight” and is representative of liminality, transformation, the space between worlds, and suggests walking in both the material world and otherworld.

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

  • Half-penny thoughts — 24nov25

    Someone over the weekend asked me what I like to do for fun.

    (more…)

  • casting runes — 23nov25

    eihwaz
    it was all mists
    along red cobble
    cast under flint on
    that november day

    a draft teasing bare
    under velvet skirts
    there, before the rains
    that november day

    you were all riot,
    damp dark curls & glaring
    fell into last loving on
    that november day

    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. It is 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.

  • all that remains

    of a passion felled
    on burning leaves
    and smeared scarlet
    of lipstick from
    mouth to cheek;

    for ruins remaining
    of waiting at
    flint-skied piers
    in the everlast of dusk

  • forgotten

    phantom me
    slipping the edge
    promises knotted in lace
    waiting to be undone

    i was that woman
    once

    but you have forgotten

  • drifted for a spell

    it's all a wish i could go back
    to going crazy
    just like the kind of crazy
    when i was young

    nevermind, i forgot
    to stay in my lane,
    i drifted for a spell into
    the place i am from

  • songlets in 120 minutes — 22nov25

    Picture of an audio soundboard
    Photo by Anthony Roberts on Unsplash

    I decided that I needed something to shake up things a bit, some incentive so I didn’t keep dithering around when I was creating music. I often catch myself playing around and never actually writing anything while I was horsing, so I said to myself: “Self, you need to have some motivation to do more than press buttons and listen to sounds.”

    “Oh no, what are we going to do now, Boss?”

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  • casting runes — 22nov25

    thurisaz
    ragged torn
    old drunken blade carving a way
    to benighted trailheads
    shadowed by elder ghosts—
    a staggering path to
    the only thing real

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is thurisaz, which has several core translations: “thorn” or “giant”. The rune is often associated with pain or discomfort (often for an important transitional or transformative reason) or raw power that may be destructive. It is also considered protective, regenerative, and is frequently associated with women’s menstrual health.

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

  • hello

    my one burning desire
    is for someone to
    smile hello

  • whispers

    duty bound
    to do away with sense:

    can you firewalk
    with me under a
    tumblemoon, with
    stars slicing eyes?
    let our feet fail ground
    before our wedding day
    you & i laying down
    rainy grey under
    at the quayside...

    —and i think you know
    how this story ends;
    with whispers wraith
    kissing ears
    as all suns bury down