Category: writing

a ghost in the machine

all obfuscation & confuddle
all illusion & unsubstantial
a wraith, nothing more

i must have died
so long, long ago, now just
a ghost in the machine

23 Dec 25

casting runes — 23dec25
othala
```
undercloak, reaching back
to bones & stones
through blood & black
rime-eyed & cataract

we razor high drifts
highspaces we roam
with gills on our tongues
drinking burning skies &
slipping closer to home
```
A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.
Today’s rune is othala, which has a core meaning of “heritage”, “inheritance” and “legacy”. These are all associated with home, kin, ancestors, stability and (in some interpretations) past lives or spiritual legacy.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
23 Dec 25
Kind
I wonder whatever became of Kind. She drifted away like a mote on the wind one summers day, flitting here and there before in the distance she did fade, leaving neither full lips or ashen hair to guide the way to where she went on drift. Perhaps she burned away, like any dream does when the sun shines on something at such length — and so wan she was in the begin, that slim girl Kind. It was a wonder she had not been consumed years ago.
I check balconies in the gloaming; I inspect the shadowtall oaks, gnarled in the their age. But Kind is no where and no when, our pale empress aloft on the wind. I miss our lady Kind, and the delirium euphoric that she did bring.
And I wonder at where she took her drift.
22 Dec 25

teenage angst

cafe glances at that
jigsaw girl writing
in coffee-ringed
moleskine & her
pen mouthchewed
& all dangleshoed
oh, you would
love to love her
but you know
she is not one to
want to love to love
someone at all like
you

22 Dec 25

casting runes — 22dec25
wunjo
```
waxing sun, waxing moon
with a world full widdershins
we walk in beauty with both
to set our world's spin to right
```
A rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.
Today’s rune is wunjo, which is translated as “joy” and has been interpreted in both the earthly sense as well as in spiritual ecstasy. It has been associated with healing (emotional, mental and interpersonal) and some sources connect the rune to luck, the act of making a wish, or applied will. Wunjo can also be the inspiration for creativity.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
22 Dec 25
casting runes — 20dec25
thurisaz
```
all thumbs & blackthorn
to mark my face at blood

this goes beyond fey,
driving cold iron to heartwood
a give to ash & alder...

you would not understand
in either way
```
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.
20 Dec 25
casting runes — 19dec25
laguz
```
skiff & solemn sliding
through mist & mere
to lay down these arms
& surrender
to her petals fell
```
A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.
Today’s rune is laguz, which has a core meaning of “lake” and, by extension, may be interpreted as “river”, “ocean”, “sea”, “waterfall” or a general body of water. Some alternative interpretations define as “leek”. Following the more commonly accepted meaning, bodies of water were considered liminal spaces, a place between life and death or the threshold space between which spirit and substance resides. Laguz is often associated with feminine energies and journeys via water.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
19 Dec 25

waterdown

we wander broken edge
only she knows full this waterdown
and i am always guessing

facewashing frenzy, poison years
and to quench the fevers raging
a mountain in skywater chill

she sings the dusk at waterdown
stepping past all edges
and i am left again guessing

19 Dec 25

casting runes — 18dec25
raido
```
his backstep to gloaming
cloakworn & graveled
as bonesky carries her down
all at the edge before dreaming
with raven feathers in their hair

to awake?
when cries burn obsidian
```
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.
18 Dec 25

night, embers

given of shadows
painted sliver moon
a fingernail pressed to
flesh renders cinnabar

chipped-tooth, still
i skate thin the edge
pricked pine at all bends
singing pain to wash pain
— here we go again

night, i slip to her embrace
rooted inside
a heart cries embers

18 Dec 25