• Moving stuff around

    michael raven

    Anxiety reigns, although it really shouldn’t play a role. And I mean, not at all.

    I’m dedicating part of my weekend to migrate my previous site over to my new host and change the registrar over to them as well. I decided that I liked Sceadugenga for a site name and I don’t want to give it up, even if I don’t plan to make it my main site. And, seeing it is up for renewal, and I am allowed several sites for the same price as a single site at this host, I’ve decided now is the time for the move.

    Why am I anxious? I am not certain. I have the backup files. The site won’t actually redirect folks until I point the internet to it, which I won’t do until I have everything set up at the new host.

    It is likely just the lack of familiarity with the process that makes me feel all nervy and itchy. And I’m not sure why it takes a minimum of half an hour before I see what has been broke due to my lack of experience.

    Aded: I think I did it wrong. already. Rework is not my favorite past-time and I’m thinking it is going to require rework.

    What will eventually be sceadugenga is probably almost exclusively my rune pages and other resources that I continue to link to. The posts will probably all go private or be eliminated completely to keep sceadugenga running light. And while I can just park the domain, I typically prefer to not do such things. Use it if you have it, that kinda thing.

    Wish me luck.

    tagged:

    , ,

    filed under:

    17 comments on Moving stuff around

    To like, click comments or:

    Moving stuff around

  • stone alone

    michael raven

    Photo by Jo Amos on Unsplash
    i gave to ground
    & scrimshawed
    all my bone

    called to north of
    badb, my stone
    etched of heart song

    to feather dance
    in spun spiral &
    rhythm slow

    stone alone
    at nightmoons
    here comes her
    snow

    tagged:

    , ,

    filed under:

    ,
    2 comments on stone alone

    To like, click comments or:

    stone alone

  • tossing a rune — 15aug25

    michael raven

    laguz
    from her source
    the first kiss of winter
    to her river flows

    taking up blackthorn
    i seek to pathfind
    her snows

    Another rune poem of mine, where the rune is selected at random.

    Today’s rune is laguz, which has a core meaning of “lake” and, by extension, may be interpreted as “river”, “ocean”, “sea”, “waterfall” or a general body of water. Some alternative interpretations define as “leek”. Following the more commonly accepted meaning, bodies of water were considered liminal spaces, a place between life and death or the threshold space between which spirit and substance resides.

    tagged:

    , , ,

    filed under:

    ,
    2 comments on tossing a rune — 15aug25

    To like, click comments or:

    tossing a rune — 15aug25

  • winternight

    michael raven

    a blue face glowing
    Photo by Merlin Lightpainting on Pexels.com
    crack hands old oak
    wrapped around my love
    i hollow the heartwood
    until she slips inside
    she comes the winter
    she comes the night
    she comes the winternight

    pinpricks my body torn
    needles dance my arms
    we sickle under midmoon
    white kissed before we're born
    she comes the winter
    she comes the night
    she comes winternight

    tagged:

    , , ,

    filed under:

    ,
    8 comments on winternight

    To like, click comments or:

    winternight

  • Half-penny thoughts | 14aug25

    michael raven

    Image of a writing journal and a pencil.
    Photo by Dariusz Sankowski on Unsplash

    I have problems with the logic behind the pithy advice that in order to be a great writer, you must read. Voraciously. I know Stephen King has been credited with saying something along those lines, and I’m pretty certain he isn’t the first author to give such advice. [Oh no! Nobody Author dares counter the prevailing wisdom of the Almighty Stephen King! Heresy!]

    I mean, I think that might be partially true if you are looking to emulate a style, a genre or an author. I will submit that you should be well-read in order to know how others write — as long as when you have done so, you read or have read with a critical eye. Reading only eye-candy and consuming to consume will not make anyone a great writer. But I question the concept that the reading requirement is a persistent prerequisite for writing great things.

    It is probably a good thing that I have no ambitions for greatness. I’m quite alright just writing and enjoying the act of writing. Happy about it, even. So there’s little risk of greatness coming from my little corner of the world. I honestly should let those striving towards greatness deal with this question and not worry my pretty little head about the matter.

    But I’m not convinced being a constant reader necessarily is a requirement towards being a great writer. Especially if you want to be a writer that wants to be the pathfinder type. To boldly go where no one has gone before, or some such thing. Or the subversive, where you need to have enough freedom apart from classic tropes to break them while still remaining familiar with them. I can see several other types of writers who could benefit from not “reading when they aren’t writing.”

    When wisdom seems to not stand up to scrutiny, I get all nervy and bothered and I end up saying something.

    Am I off the mark? Probably. But I remain unconvinced that the wisdom that a writer must read as part of their formula for greatness always holds true.

    I know… I’m all duck and cover after this post. Especially after invoking and questioning the King of Horror’s holy gospel.

    Your thoughts?

    Be gentle as you tear me a new hole. I break easy.

    tagged:

    , , ,

    filed under:

    ,
    32 comments on Half-penny thoughts | 14aug25

    To like, click comments or:

    Half-penny thoughts | 14aug25

  • barbed the wires crossed

    michael raven

    Photo by Jan Huber on Unsplash
    barbed the wires crossed
    and i... and i...
    shut up the inside, waiting
    for the winter door
    to swing wide open
    so i fly
    night against white
    and stop making sense
    to all who might listen

    barbed the wires crossed
    lacking transmission
    wind strumming over snow
    to bring out the singing
    humming across the moors
    building up the drifts
    to blanket the whole

    tagged:

    filed under:

    ,
    3 comments on barbed the wires crossed

    To like, click comments or:

    barbed the wires crossed

  • following stones

    michael raven

    standing stones
    Photo by Suzanne Rushton on Unsplash
    wayfinding the fair
    following the blood she
    leaves for dolmen stones
    to mark her where
    for come november
    when lovers lie claimed
    entwined in her river flow
    'til whispers call to wander
    the burning fields won
    under the forests below

    tagged:

    ,

    filed under:

    ,
    4 comments on following stones

    To like, click comments or:

    following stones

  • sedges

    michael raven

    Photo by Gabriel Miklós on Unsplash
    unconfidante but for
    ravens and crows
    campfires and ghosts
    gone blind due to reading
    gone silent for song

    conspiracy and murder
    have taken all tongue
    broken fingerbones
    have stolen all tone

    shh, now childe
    sleep within sedges at
    green gone wild

    tagged:

    ,

    filed under:

    ,
    10 comments on sedges

    To like, click comments or:

    sedges

  • Half-penny Thoughts | 12aug25

    michael raven

    Photo by Daniel Jensen on Unsplash

    I’ll admit it: I’ve been binging The Walking Dead again.

    If I want to pretend to be an intellectual, I’d say it was research into human nature in the face of an apocalypse. I have not recently seen evidence in real life that suggests that people will act differently than their fictional counterparts if they were faced with a zombie (or any kind of, really) apocalypse. Zombies in TWD might be the overt threat, but the real monsters are other people. The Witcher games and books, fantasy tales about a “monster hunter” mutant named Geralt of Rivia play the same tune. Horrifying creatures are a real threat, but the true monsters are us.

    (more…)

    tagged:

    , , , ,

    filed under:

    ,
    12 comments on Half-penny Thoughts | 12aug25

    To like, click comments or:

    Half-penny Thoughts | 12aug25

  • unboxed

    michael raven

    Photo by Connor DeMott on Unsplash
    not fuzzy
    not prickly
    more prickly fuzz
    or fuzzy prickles
    in a world full
    of shoeboxes to
    put these things
    within

    those left over
    cast sparse
    in the backyards
    of the dream

    tagged:

    , ,

    filed under:

    ,
    2 comments on unboxed

    To like, click comments or:

    unboxed