lizard tails and tail feathers
our hearts lined in trees
bloodstone inside and
marching square toes
in steel rings and bootblack
down the horizon roads
scented with burnout:
come night, she sings
Category: writing
horizon roads
in the unbelonging
we are all immigrants
here, in the unbelonging
all swarthy and sullied
by drifter dust and road
with bold farmers' tans
and gravity frowns
dragging us down
we only wanted world
nothing terribly profane—
we only wanted love
drag boot scrape shoe
we shuffle the broken road
heedless of the dreamless slumber
where nightmare monsters wear
faces we call neighboruntil the end of time
i watched as the shallow boat
carried two dead lovers
into the mists and away
to the place of apples at
the hands of destiny's child
wiping away tears,
i bid them goodbye
rest well
rest well
until the end of timeSacramento, CA
I’ve been spending some time in Sacramento for the purposes of checking out a laboratory that my company uses to analyze environmental samples to either better understand a site we are actively trying to remediate, or as part of the actual remediation process. Yes, my day job is part of a team cleaning up other folks’ messes.
And while I was pleasantly surprised that it was not purely for show to visit the lab and make sure they were on the up and up (checking the box, as it were) and not “dry-labbing” their results (e.g., making up some reasonable numbers and putting them into a report as results when they never actually analyze the samples; and yes, I’ve seen it happen in the distant past), I got several bonus out of the affair that were unexpected: a better understanding of “exotic” service offerings that have come up on my radar in the past that I couldn’t find a lab to perform, some good chatting about other possible partnering opportunities, discovering some of the best Thai food that I’ve had in years (dinner was even better than lunch!), getting something on the order of 30k steps in and getting to see a lizard (gecko?) in the process, and (best of all), getting to meet someone in person I had only previously known via WordPress, Bridgette White.
(more…)out of the car
even cities, oft disparaged
provide plenty nature
if only one would
get out of the car
and lookhush
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 sleepcasting 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.
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 anewhalf-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 moonflow
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
