you, late leaf
in tremble on wind—
this river was ready
to receive long ago
※

hail seeks no permissions—
it arrives as revelation
small & indifferent
the field it falls on is i—
the silence after, too
roots that never
believed in a summer
grieve not when
one draws to an end
A 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.
tincture these reflections of
tracing sweat beads down
your side with a kiss, pressing
cherry petals to your skin
and on drunk your wine
lost, so lost, this time again
slipping those witchy snares
letting hedges fall away—
i am not here to cosplay
i sky scree lake water blue
i dark root mycelium bound
i æsclāst, that wending path
fever, dreams draw heat
forest and wode, grown old
crows rise calling—
blood on virgin snow

ancient this wood
sheltering spirit
a compact made
in the ever ago
moss at north
& lichen scalloped
at deadfall we hoard
fox bark, underdark
a crow calls, naming
from branch & from floor
A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.
Today’s rune is othala, which has a core meaning of “heritage”, “inheritance” and “legacy”. These are all associated with home, kin, ancestors, stability and (in some interpretations) past lives or spiritual legacy.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
i am not of dreaming
her eyes mind not me
laugh crow at skies
laugh stone at feet
i am hoar of unnight
shattered & unseen
laugh flint scrape skin
laugh bone under me
those lips still cut
with every touch
with every view, so
tie me to the screen
to bring them closer,
still closer, to me
there is no such
thing, love
there is only bruise
a thumb pressed to
heart-boxes caged
within rows of ribs
and vanities
so give over blind
a seer for sweet pain
rending through
to see so clear
it hurts
We held feather to flame and come out charred, there, in the underwood, the oaks rising sentinel high. The many mutter and shuffle, not wanting to be left behind. But the barrier is the bending of knee supplication, to both the underwood and also the trees.
And stiff knees bend not.
Though fevered and enflamed, I wish I could remain here kissing, improbable memories, unlikely times. We might talk to the old skull stone and antler, carving names with flint beyond the skin’s deep. We might slumber afterglow warm, sweat dripping chill on your side.
This bone atelier, sanctuary and rain. Inkstained. I close blind eyes tight to stay.

a discarded broken thing
you wouldn't look twice
at what can be seen—
an old thing overlooked
raindrops splinter
on corrugated steel
A 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.
there was a used-to-matter
and now a not-certain-it-does
laid across existence-as-wraith
as the haint at the bottom
of the stairs and down the hall
it could beautiful, one supposes
if such a dream were real and
i am dreaming of us dreaming
of one of us drowning and
one of us is just me just dreaming
of slipping under the wave
surrender comes easy with
no ropes cast to the deep