Author: michael raven

  • tossing a rune — 19sep25

    thurisaz
    called to the thornlands
    the stonelands, the fells—
    her phantom visage
    piercing the hoarfrost
    of dream

    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.

  • endless

    Photo by Connor DeMott on Unsplash
    how grey must i grow?
    an endless wait for
    the beat of ravens' wings
    flying low over
    fresh fallen snow

  • tossing a rune — 18sep25

    raido
    fetlock fettered
    the path seems but
    a distant dream
    even as it wends
    mere steps away

    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).

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

  • speed

    Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
    burnout the asphalt mind
    seeking speed, some racer x
    to leave those wending roads
    in rearview and see
    naught but yellow in dripfeed
    fading behind to paradise
    wind screaming much like
    his voice in the void as
    he leaves this world behind

  • wasting away

    Photo by Jan Huber on Unsplash
    oh, that doppelgänger you
    shroud of shadow & secret
    in the hollow hill below
    every wall a door leading
    to more walls and doors, but
    i have drunk your wine &
    i know that i cannot
    shake my fetters free
    all i ask is a kiss before dying
    before i waste away for
    the want of you

  • synaesthesia

    your winter taste
    in dreamkiss
    paints me in din
    let this shamble sing
    in threes without waking

    i never want to leave

  • Half-penny thoughts — 16sep25

    Have you ever started reading a book and find the descriptions of the backdrop to be too rich in the details? While in which the characters seem far too paper-thin and inauthentic?

    (more…)

  • if only

    Photo by Massimiliano Sarno on Unsplash
    having gone to drift
    through silt grit flowing
    and glaring being strange
    on whenever the wind goes

    left at the car burning low
    under a stormfront rumble
    the first fat raintears at
    the mourn's thin passing

    at cigarette's ruddy glow—
    sleepwalking the story's end
    how we wish, if only...
    if only

  • Heading to California

    For a few days, anyway. I’ll be doing my science-y kind of thing for work and visiting a partner laboratory in Sacramento to assess how they do things in an up close and personal manner to make sure they are doing things with an eye towards getting quality analytical results [spoiler alert: they probably are; this visit is mostly just ticking a box].

    While I don’t have a ton of time to do much, let me know if you live in the Sacramento area and want to grab a coffee (or two). I might have time one evening or in the morning before I catch my early afternoon flight home.

    (more…)

  • tides

    to sit of moon and indigo
    waiting on her pale and ebon 
    beyond the veil of sleep