i wonder if a part if me
is lost there on the path
seeking blaze left behind
either to or away from
recalling both nervous
and tremble hands
she wore over coffee
at the allnight café
cigarettes smoke
staining the dim lights
as stained as either's
reputations unsaved
i wonder if this dying
had any point at all
save for another branch
lost on a meandering path
leading towards
redemption or none
dead or not dead
does it matter?
these are ghosts lost
to the mists of time
filling in the wake behind
i drank river water
tasting of whiskey
so very long ago
with autumn leaves
i skitter towards my
stone twilight grey
these words are just echoes,
pebbles thrown to the pond—
brave sakura riding the ripples
to go back to mud
root in and ashen
rest awhile & slumber
winter in the long
dark come
this scrimshawed heart
slenders back to
a lingering song
playing on the wire
in the wind
all daggers deserved,
crimson drifts to drain
to spell you a song
of under dusk breath
of under branched canopy
we tanglelimbs wending
through winds these twine
riding old ash tonight
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.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
my jawbone in hand
waving away at wraiths
i offer this token for all
the insults & cruelties
it is not much, agreed
but it may yet yield
glass satisfaction at
the end of your fist
digging for roots to
see what grows below
but there is no
untangling of that weave
so cover it back with soil
A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.
Today’s rune is pertho, which has a disputed meaning and there is some indication that the ascribed meanings might be corruptions. The general consensus is that there is likely some relationship to ørlǫg (fate/destiny), luck/gambling or hidden knowledge.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.
grey fading crabbed hand
clutching for the only, sleep
her slow eyes follow, arthritic
waiting on a sharp grin crooked
while he shambles thresholds
waiting for felling to come
destiny is cruel and uncaring
making itself known by
streetlight halo wee hours
leaving restless and waiting
those wraiths that haunt
still the night, unforgiven