underwater flowing
over silt and stone
rub skin, stream wash
rub mud, you and me
make land, this flesh
make river, this blood
rub wash, stream skin
rub silt, me and you
can't you hear them crying?
can't you hear their scream?
flesh and blood and silt and stream
spirits in the night—
originally posted 23jan2021
I am taking a short break from blogging and have scheduled a few older poems to fill up the empty spaces in the interim.
badh touched my shoulder
as i held the remains of
old friends in a wooden box
i turned to the battle crow
as she leaned forward
laying her night beak
on my pale lips in kiss
numbing my flesh to tingle
well after i woke under
the reapers moon
all out of space
all out of time
carving the sickle moon
and dancing wrists
i slip back to stone
where blood runs thick
perhaps it is home
eye closed become fells
the pale and the grey
lichen and moss the taiga
blue, sage and stained
this grows home and stone
of a passing day, lost
etch me bone and twig
paint me undercloud
sway the cattails and
rain down
here, we stand in stillness.
cold still in beauty
stone against flurry
rimed eyes clear
we chill flames
burning too hot
here, we stand.
Another of my rune poems for a Elder Futhark rune selected at random. Today’s rune is isaz/isa, whose core meaning is “ice” and which secondary meanings are all those normally associated with ice: stillness, enchantment, beauty and, yes, stagnation, blockages and cold.
I was thinking recently about sceadugenga.com and the runes found there and decided that, rather than let the domain lapse into a WordPress.com variant when the hosting period is up at that site, I will transfer the domain to this host and continue to own the domain. I will likely reduce the content to just rune-related matters, but the annual fee is nominal for continuing to own the domain name. I will likely have to overhaul the pages to correct for some of the elements that don’t transfer over to non-WordPress-hosted variations of sites, but I should probably do that anyway to correct how some of my understanding has evolved over time (continuously). The decision to refer to the rune as isaz instead of isa is reflective of some of that change in understanding.
hallways wandering
puckish laughter and
you know i am a fool
for shadows and light
in play
but i tire of dead ends
with glamour and lure
bare wrists exposed
waiting for light’s knife
across aging skin
estranged of night
citrus rot, bitter nuts
no one trusts a scry
wipe away these eyes
fevered thrum pounding
a head song drumming
tongue void tasting
shadows on shadow veil
sacred in the fallow
winds sweep the stone
for rain
Previously posted on sceadugenga.com on 18mar25. Reposted with audio.
going back to the real
hands smudged black
and dirt under nails
gravel yellow crush
i listen at forests for
wisdom crowing loud
leave to crowds where
crowds are wont to go
enough of deaf gods mute
i am not what they need
left to wending paths
through silent sentinels
gone to follow the call
standing grey
heron stone tall
can you carve the
shape of me?
can you carry the
weight of me?
slate skies over
of the under below
mouth to mouth
sends us to hum
mouth to mouth
cages winter sun
i fever weary
slaked in slick
slaked in foam
beyond threes of three
tide cold carry me
tide cold carry me home
