ravensweald

tossing a rune — 22sep25
22Sep25 | 10.27 CDT
© 2025
michael raven
c: 250922.1027
jera
```
while most eyes gaze backwards
from summer's twilight hours
wistful and melancholic
with a crooked smile and raised hood
i melt into the coming night
the song of ravens calling me home
```
A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.
Today’s rune is jera. Jera has a translation of “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.
tagged:
jera, poetry, rewilding, rune
filed under:
poetry, writing
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tossing a rune — 22sep25

c: 250922.0821

black bird perching on concrete wall with ocean overview — *Photo by Tim Mossholder on Pexels.com*

i have a raven
riding on my shoulder
fowl-mouthed, of course
one who cusses up a storm
and you cannot see them
but they ride there
all the same

a nibble on my cuticle
a gnaw upon my nail
a peck upon my fleshy cheek
we get along so well

tagged:

betwixt and between, poetry, rewilding

filed under:

poetry, writing

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companion piece

turning out

21Sep25 | 13.02 CDT

michael raven

c: 250921.1302

a face i wore before
now put upon a shelf
uncertain bare self
raw and scrubbed clear of
façades once dear to me

i scribble, unknowing
becoming senseless with age
forget i once claimed to write
what i spill to ink
has become mystery

reach for the pullchain, please,
and turn out the light

tagged:

poetry

filed under:

poetry

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turning out

left

20Sep25 | 06.47 CDT

michael raven

c: 250920.0647

stuck at left of the dial
where no one roams,
driving lost highways
talking to ghosts

turn off headlights
to follow stars
wolf child howling at
a harvest scarlet moon

her voice riding
static in waves,
do you remember
all tomorrows?

tagged:

betwixt and between, poetry

filed under:

poetry, writing

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left

gone rime

19Sep25 | 13.36 CDT

michael raven

c: 250919.1336

in the pale naked running
of fall on amber fell
granite and shale in cutting

and there is little concern for
if these lilt and lang of words
are sensible or sane

there is only the running

come chill the winds' bite
with the descent of eventide
old jack gives kiss on flesh

in the pale naked running
of fall on amber fell gone rime
granite and shale in cutting

tagged:

betwixt and between, poetry, rewilding

filed under:

poetry, writing

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gone rime

Cath Dédenach Maige Tuired, “The Last Battle of Mag Tuired”
19Sep25 | 10.36 CDT
© 2025
michael raven
c: 250919.1036
Below is a partial translation of the Irish War Goddess Badb’s delivered prophecy after the defeat at Mag Tuired of the Fomorians by the Tuatha Dé Danann. She augers the eventual end of the world, “foretelling every evil that would be therein, and every disease and every vengeance.”
[translation: celt.ucc.ie]
(more…)
tagged:
Badb, irish literature, quotes, Tuatha Dé Danann
filed under:
reading, thinking
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Cath Dédenach Maige Tuired, “The Last Battle of Mag Tuired”
tossing a rune — 19sep25
19Sep25 | 08.41 CDT
© 2025
michael raven
c: 250919.0841
thurisaz
```
called to the thornlands
the stonelands, the fells—
her phantom visage
piercing the hoarfrost
of dream
```
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.
tagged:
poetry, rewilding, rune, thurisaz
filed under:
poetry, writing
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tossing a rune — 19sep25
endless
18Sep25 | 21.33 CDT
© 2025
michael raven
c: 250918.2133
Photo by Connor DeMott on Unsplash
```
how grey must i grow?
an endless wait for
the beat of ravens' wings
flying low over
fresh fallen snow
```
tagged:
betwixt and between, poetry
filed under:
poetry, writing
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endless
tossing a rune — 18sep25
18Sep25 | 11.55 CDT
© 2025
michael raven
c: 250918.1155
raido
```
fetlock fettered
the path seems but
a distant dream
even as it wends
mere steps away
```
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).
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
tagged:
poetry, raido, rewilding, rune
filed under:
poetry, writing
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tossing a rune — 18sep25

speed

18Sep25 | 07.41 CDT

michael raven

c: 250918.0741

burnout the asphalt mind
seeking speed, some racer x
to leave those wending roads
in rearview and see
naught but yellow in dripfeed
fading behind to paradise
wind screaming much like
his voice in the void as
he leaves this world behind

tagged:

poetry

filed under:

poetry, writing

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