blades bite thorn
my hands, my skull
my heart, my soul
all wrapped in
razor wire bone and
scratched of fingernail
pierced walled alone
Category: poetry
taking pains
casting runes — 10mar26
sowilo snowflake but
climbing up
shadows slink
to scheme away
whiling until
after the fallA rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.
Today’s rune is sowilo, the sun. Sowilo is the source of enlightenment, for lighting the way and illumination. It is also called the “icebreaker” and gives power to an “attack”, ensuring success and/or prosperity. This rune also represents hope, the light at the end of a long darkness.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
he fool calls
he fool calls crow
in pale wood, black stone
he red calls ghost
from the south to the north
he road calls spirit
to her medicine ride train
he wing calls kindred
to carry night skies againcasting runes — 09mar26
hagalaz crack seed pellet
crystal kissed
side-step, slipstream
burning on within
weary of voices ghostA rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.
Today’s rune is hagalaz, which has a core meaning of “hail”, which was associated with potential, transformation, renewal and change; hail is imagined a seed from which change will arise. Hagalaz is also seen as representative of things beyond our control: a clash between fire and ice.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
brokework
he mad dog barked at
walls drawing down
he jaw chomped hard
at cage and at leash
with hatpin hands
and neck rust screech
a brokework heart
and tinsel teeth
dragging behind loathing
in razor wire, unsure
which self to throw
to mists from peakcasting runes — 07mar26
uruz iron pierced these & thistle,
in nettle & thunderhead
dredge of horn furrows
over open & naked hand
lost teardrops
lightning shatters skyA rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.
Today’s rune is uruz. The rune is named after the now-extinct aurochs, a wild ox and has become associated with standing up to challenges, having both confidence and courage, stubborn tenacity, and boundless strength and health. Uruz is alternately associated with the more raw elements which include rain, primordial potential, and the slag/dross cast away during the making of iron.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
long hours
no one hears pain
grind teeth clutch ache
bone taste of dry leaf
of die want long hours
knives drive nine
slice tendon night
sleepless sleepless razor
of die want long hourscasting runes — 05mar25
dagaz i seek you in umbra
slipping 'twixt & 'tween
between bone & meat
there, in the hollows
where twin shadows meetA 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.
casting runes — 04mar26
hagalaz as stiff as storm &
as sharp as bone
a burr joins them all
i stand at hollow
arms outstretched
a wight without a stoneA rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.
Today’s rune is hagalaz, which has a core meaning of “hail”, which was associated with potential, transformation, renewal and change; hail is imagined a seed from which change will arise. Hagalaz is also seen as representative of things beyond our control: a clash between fire and ice.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
scrawl
Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy on Unsplash here is me writing heartletters
with bare finger; my page, your skin
words flowing over rolling hills
and scrawling your valleys, too
all through gloaming to night
to taste shadows growing long
with each and every bite
every syllable song ringing
rhyme with euphoric firefly
