
come with me and
let us slumber and
dream without
nightmare or pain
let our winter
bury us under
for long dark nights
our bones entangled
skin drawn tight
let us slumber in
that everlasting kiss
and evermore

come with me and
let us slumber and
dream without
nightmare or pain
let our winter
bury us under
for long dark nights
our bones entangled
skin drawn tight
let us slumber in
that everlasting kiss
and evermore
mouth bound in suture
arms bound to rust
untrust flowing through veins
mortar & bricks mine,
the real horrorshow
in contraction
pulling back to that
gloaming within
shuttering up spaces
where the light gets in
shush now

i am old ink fading
on paper browned
save a prayer
to send on the wind
after me for
when i am gone
chilldaycrawl
intobedcavegrey
turnofftheworld
sleepysadweary
slumberinthatplace
wherethereis
notevenme

how to upcycle a life
of mistake, misfit
and misgivings?
tug at the seams
pull out the stitching
let panels fall to a pile
trim off the worn
stained and blemished
fill in with color
with what remains and
sew back together
with a passion
that, my friends, is
how to upcycle a life
same same same lame
same lame same
looking for a new sound
new shade new way
new taste new move
new love new dream
but everything's same
who wants to live
forever anyway?

relearning to
read the winds again
to bend an ear to oak
to let her river
wash over me
to rise within smoke
A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.
Today’s rune is nauthiz, which has a core meaning of “need”. Alternative translations have been “hardship” or “constraint”. Among the interpretations, nauthiz is seen as a indicative of a transition or transformation, a period of learning or strengthening of resilience, lacking, and impermanence — inclusive of other related concepts.
Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.

back before the jading
i wore trust on my sleeve
heart portable,
to give away free
but that was
back before the jading
might i carve to whale
with the piling up
of so much green
had i the skill,
i might carve to whale
but time has drifted
and i, a drifter from dream
suspicious of dealers in jade
unlike those days
without whales
back before the jading
having slipped through the land
last night, here, through
this clay stuff found under feet
i wondered at my mouth
forgetting the words to speak
and realize we are blind
and none can hear
what i say in the anyway
including me.
so i gave over to falling
until i could fall no more
and sat unexpectant down
there in the below
waiting for the dark sun days
to call me back up, out
and forth, but only
if what is when might be