Author: michael raven

  • let us slumber

    Photo by Andres Siimon on Unsplash
    come with me and
    let us slumber and
    dream without
    nightmare or pain
    let our winter
    bury us under
    for long dark nights
    our bones entangled
    skin drawn tight
    let us slumber in
    that everlasting kiss
    and evermore

  • Same as it never was

    Photo by Peter Herrmann on Unsplash

    I went to one of the few big bookstores with physical storefronts remaining yesterday. I don’t need to name names. It was not the best experience and I had not realized just how far things had fallen since I last visited large chain bookstores.

    Where it used to be shelves upon shelves of books to choose from, their inventory was greatly diminished and nearly half of what remained was only tangentially related to books. Lego. Jigsaw puzzles. Stuffies. Overpriced boardgames. Toys. Journals and bags to carry those journals.

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  • escape hatch

    mouth bound in suture
    arms bound to rust
    untrust flowing through veins
    mortar & bricks mine,
    the real horrorshow

  • in contraction

    in contraction
    pulling back to that
    gloaming within
    shuttering up spaces
    where the light gets in

    shush now

  • fade

    Image of a writing journal and a pencil.
    Photo by Dariusz Sankowski on Unsplash
    i am old ink fading
    on paper browned
    save a prayer
    to send on the wind
    after me for
    when i am gone

  • slumberinthat

    chilldaycrawl
    intobedcavegrey
    turnofftheworld
    sleepysadweary
    slumberinthatplace
    wherethereis
    notevenme

  • 1%

    Photo by Jeff Wade on Unsplash

    I’m toying around with joining the less than one-percent.

    No, I’m not buying into a get rich quick scheme involving illusionary money (all money is illusionary, but that’s a topic for a different post). Or joining an “Outlaw” bikers club.

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  • upcycle

    Photo by Serenay Tosun on Unsplash
    how to upcycle a life
    of mistake, misfit
    and misgivings?

    tug at the seams
    pull out the stitching
    let panels fall to a pile
    trim off the worn
    stained and blemished
    fill in with color
    with what remains and
    sew back together
    with a passion

    that, my friends, is
    how to upcycle a life

  • forever

    same same same lame
    same lame same
    looking for a new sound
    new shade new way
    new taste new move
    new love new dream
    but everything's same

    who wants to live
    forever anyway?

  • tossing a rune — 04sep25

    nauthiz
    relearning to
    read the winds again
    to bend an ear to oak
    to let her river
    wash over me
    to rise within smoke

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is nauthiz, which has a core meaning of “need”. Alternative translations have been “hardship” or “constraint”. Among the interpretations, nauthiz is seen as a indicative of a transition or transformation, a period of learning or strengthening of resilience, lacking, and impermanence — inclusive of other related concepts.

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