Category: poetry

  • casting runes — 29sep26

    kenaz
    a feverdream
    fingers flowing for
    to brilliant the light
    from fingertips bright
    drowned of shadow
    flickering the night

    A rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.

    Today’s rune is kenaz, which has been translated as both “torch” and “ulcer” . It is conceived as symbolic of flame, which is the illuminated creativity as well as the source of purification/healing/cautery. Fire is a a source of transformation and unmaking as well as heat, passion and light. As an ulcer, kenaz can be associated with a fever or inflammation, perhaps a wound which requires healing.

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

  • better this way

    to say of storm river 
    to heart of ghost tree 
    to lichen of dreaming
    i guess it's better
    this way

    all heads burn frenzy
    all arms give of wave
    to eyes brambled ocean
    i guess it's better
    this way 

    better,
    this way

  • tether days

    of all things to be could we
    just try to get along?

    of all the you could mean to me
    could we be nothing
    at the end of it all?

    occasionally right,
    i'm mostly so very wrong
    and you're right
    when you say i fight
    just to not belong
    i don't belong

    cut the thread
    cut the thread
    it was a tether all along

    of all the things we might be
    might we just get along?

  • mirror-mirror

    scars disguised as skin
    stretched taut over flesh
    the mirror people
    are never deceived

  • casting runes — 25sept26

    jera
    hand in hand
    through wynds & narrows
    'twixt sunlight & shadows
    we are but phantasms
    within the dream

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is jera. Jera is translated as “year”, and has also been translated as “harvest”. This rune is representative of cycles, the “wheel of the year”, the union of opposites (implied by the summer half of the year ending, winter half of the year beginning), balance, as well as cause/effect relationships.

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

  • skipped

    standing here
    waiting for my turn
    to come around
    only to discover my number
    was skipped
    a long time ago

  • flint drags night

    with red eyes raw
    for sleepless, searching
    for whatever bone is
    left of love lies scattered
    stone shores washing
    ocean in every latinate
    spoken crossing white crests
    while flint drags
    night to morning

  • casting runes — 24sept26

    wunjo
    deep the well &
    little from which
    to draw except
    sharp objects—
    flint, bone & nail

    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.

  • casting runes — 23sept26

    ansuz
    brack-a-crack &
rattle bone branch,
grey on the autumn come

howling hollow places
our breath down low
gather change winds
come them home

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is ansuz, which has a core meaning “a god” (intended to be Odin), “mouth” or “breath”. Odin is representative of many, many things… in this case, ansuz is most representative of the mouth/breath (speech) that gives life to poetry, magic, song, language, and spirit — largely inseparable in the Viking worldview — and Odin is considered the supreme master of these intertwined concepts. By way of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, the rune is named æsc, which is translated to “ash”, a tree associated with Odin and is representative of resilience and strength.

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

  • when we winter

    all we stand pines
    many winds we speak
    dark heartwood groves
    our brown on ground
    in skirts found flowing
    below in chinese whispers
    carried around, around
    until all sense lost falls

    when we winter, 
    we crackle & pop