Category: writing

after the flesh

it is unkindness
painted a dark blade
they deliver blindside
a haunted wondering
of what was left
unsaid in the
somespace beside
as black warmth
clings cooling
after the flesh

04 Dec 25

casting runes — 04dec25
fehu
```
i traded too much away
for comfort's sake—
i would give back
most of my gold
in exchange for
a simple block of wood
```
A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.
Today’s rune is fehu, which has a core meaning of “cattle” or a more generalized “livestock”, which was a representation of personal wealth or earned prosperity. Sometimes luck played a role. Wealth and prosperity was valued, but was looked down upon when material accumulation appeared to be excessive, greedy, miserly or turned to hoarding, especially when those around you were lacking.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
04 Dec 25

red red wine

*Photo by Andriyko Podilnyk on Unsplash*

on the drift
i close my eyes
beckon & recall
raw chapped lips
stained red red wine
yours, mine, both—
who could tell?

in thrall;
that was the day
of my dying

03 Dec 25

casting runes — 03dec25
gebo
```
for what seems a forever
i have made myself a gift,
ready to trade this chilled cheek
for a summer's kiss from you
```
A rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.
Today’s rune is gebo, which has a core meaning of “gift”. This relates to all forms of reciprocity: transaction, generosity, hospitality and sacrifice (in the sense of giving up something). It may also mean offering up a talent or skill, and may suggest a synergistic, possibly romantic, relationship.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
03 Dec 25

another tangle

Campfire — *Photo by Ville Palmu on Unsplash*

another tangle of winter
at slick crags open water
i shed these bones for you

chisel shadow, wax & stain
heartbeat heavy slow
ancestors flow on whisper

gather flame of heartwood
collect forgotten songs
here raises laughter
here we belong

03 Dec 25

catscratch

with skin kissed in rope burns
and pricked of thorns
sheets stained of summer and
whispers screamed at forlorn

all barbed with catscratch
do you desire anything more?

02 Dec 25

casting runes — 02dec25
dagaz
```
drawn to earth
more than that just under
ragged-hewn fingernails
scratching at blood soil—
toss aside your frame-drum
and follow me down
```
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.
02 Dec 25

some kind of old

getting old is when
you've lived too long
after folks once laid odds
on if you'd see
twenty-nine

it feels like
some kind of old
a very steel grey 
kind of day

01 Dec 25

with pictures

i kiss you with pictures
windswept and forlorn
with winter racing across
the unfrozen pond
everything stained scarlet,
pierced pale & bruised black
pricking skin in hoar
to bring bright on pink

i kiss you in pictures
burning as flame draws fire
burrow deep, now
under the root's tangle
bury me deep inside
& draw me ever down

01 Dec 25

casting runes — 01dec25
mannaz
```
flint to flesh
scars to wash the blind
she waits on blood to briar
to staunch the stinging
with her coldstone kiss
```
A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.
Today’s rune is mannaz, a rune that translates to “man” in the sense of “humankind”. The rune is associated with family and the social order, and in trusting the intuitive process or seeing clearly — both from within and from without. Mannaz influences relationships of all kinds, including those of a romantic nature and encourages compassion, for oneself as well as for others.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
01 Dec 25