Author: michael raven

hush

that she cries
her stone tears
this dark angel at
thresholds waiting
while the sun
burns away her
stonefield shadow
hush now, tired one,
stolen one,
hush now and sleep

07 Oct 25

wisps
Photo by Goran Vučićević on Unsplash
How can one miss something they have never known?
06 Oct 25
casting runes — 06oct25
thurisaz
```
lock the doors
lock loved ones inside
the wild hunt rides
the storms tonight

twice the banshee
wail rose up to the skies
who's death will
the trice betide?
```
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.
06 Oct 25

of nimüe

of nimüe at the lake in gazing for

a reflection of her other selves

gazing in an unblemished return

for she wears these many faces



having become so many

she has lost her original view

so she waits and waits for fogs to burn

to see herself anew

06 Oct 25

half-sick

everything return and
goes to loaming in under—
call rook or declare crow

truth is of water
unstirred by eddy
as by the reeds her
shallow barge flows

half-sick of shadows
she whispers, lips dry
as she rivers through

i, too, grow
half-sick of shadows
aching for the moon

05 Oct 25

flow

she flows scarlet and scarred
through leaden falling snows
grace over fell, wending 'round trees
with black hair and crow—
a drifter gazing in thrall

05 Oct 25

wisps
One should ask oneself: Why so angry?
04 Oct 25

shadows

nothing to lose
nothing to prove
slipping along that
thin grey line
surrendering to
the lady of shadows--
let her bring
what she will bring

04 Oct 25

drops
```
slippers slap her feet
as she walks the snaking
curve of the street
she stops every few feet
when one or the
other  drops
away

phone in hand, debating
if i should call to get her help
but too mesmerized by
the step, the slap, the drop, the pause
to dial the phone today
```
Aside from the sense that the passenger through life was not quite in full charge of her actions, there was no real reason to dial for assistance for the woman. She was my age, give or take, a little bedraggled and was wearing a house robe, but otherwise seemed to only be suffering from footwear that was entirely inappropriate for her journey. I decided that my intervention was probably not welcome and I put my phone down.
04 Oct 25

scatterleaf

here, her season blows in
hair dancing, standing razors ledge
wings stretched in embrace air

scatterleaf and fallen umber
we ache for her voidkiss
to carry us breath for wind
while thunder hooves drive
hearts to pound

03 Oct 25