Tag: poetry

  • casting runes — 27mar26

    laguz
    is she she or is she crow?
    her stillwaters gliding over
    there is little enough divide
    maybe a razor cutting shore

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    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. Laguz is often associated with feminine energies and journeys via water.

    Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.

  • what else?

    just leave me pinions pierced
    leave me nailed to oak
    leave ink welling up of soul --
    what else am i here for?

    shrieking mandrake dreams
    barbed wire 'round my neck
    leave me bound and sold --
    what else am i here for?

  • casting runes — 26mar26

    wunjo
    all at face to her light
    rising on the eastern reach
    to feel her warmth
    against my cheek
    to turn to her return

    A rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.

    Today’s rune is wunjo, which is translated as “joy” and has been interpreted in both the earthly sense as well as in spiritual ecstasy. It has been associated with healing (emotional, mental and interpersonal) and some sources connect the rune to luck, the act of making a wish, or applied will. Wunjo can also be the inspiration for creativity.

    Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.

  • casting runes — 25mar26

    ingwaz
    i draw on bonefires
    burning shadow
    from the long night
    the dance mantic
    against tall oaks
    & selling dream

    A rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.

    Today’s rune is ingwaz, a rune named after the god Ing or Freyr. It is representative of a channeled energy or transformational process. It is also be seen as the male component of life, and therefore a symbol of sexual passions and the contributed “seed” of life (and, therefore, an aspect of one’s ancestral ørlǫg, or fate/destiny). Some interpretations conceive the rune as a symbol of darkness, solitude or dreaming.

    Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.

  • undertow

    what's the point?

    scrape bone with flint 
    phantasmagoric
    and toss finger broke 
    i can hear her calling
    over the wave;
    so slip me undertow
    before i wake

  • under a blood moon

    i cut my lip while
    kissing your lazuli eyes
    under a blood moon
    last night, at least
    a decade ago
    it seems today

    bone pale, you laughed
    as you tossed your
    ebon hair away
    cast it to the stars to
    wash my cut away

    i only wished
    i had listened harder
    before i grew stone
    in sternum and
    memorized the how
    of that song on the
    breeze that night

  • marionette

    my scrimshaw heart
    ink etched and pale
    bound in rust wire
    wound around old nails

    tired for explanations
    eyes shutter-slip click - - -
    stop.

    then comes that
    marionette walk
    back to gods’ little
    alcove behind
    her priesthole
    waiting for another
    tick of the tock

  • casting runes — 22mar26

    othala
    we walk the high wire
    with all of our pasts trailing
    down old roads, old paths
    those frayed threads slipping
    through our fingertips
    twisting at the spindle

    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.

  • carnival

    all eyes turn aglow at dusk
    casting shades on faces facing faces
    the song on the wind
    faint as the laughter
    at carnivals dark trading youth
    for hearts' deepest longing

  • casting runes — 20mar26

    raido
    the whisper-trace of song
    slendering on the breeze
    and crow — crow calls
    echoing slumber dreams
    held by dragonflies sunning

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is raido, which has been translated as “ride” and the implied “journey”. This may be spatial and literal in practice (a physical journey), or it may be more figurative (an inner/shamanic journey, i.e., útiseta). The rune is associated with cyclic motion and the movement of the sun. Some consider the journey represented by raido to be that of returning.

    Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.