Tag: poetry

  • casting runes — 13feb26

    tiwaz
    standing as stone
    my blood waters earth while
    ink-stained fingers smudge
    the performative lies smeared
    crimson across the page

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is tiwaz, which is named after the Norse god Týr, and the second weekday (Tuesday) is named for the god. According to Norse myth, Týr offers his right hand to the wolf Fenrir, who bites it off when he realizes the gods have used the offering to distract the wolf while they bind him. The rune is typically considered symbolic of honor, loyalty and justice, as well as of sacrifice. It may be representative of discipline and faith. Some interpretations have associated the rune with the North Star.

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

  • ripsaw

    poplar crowing at height
    a city's dirty snow
    stretched out below me
    leaning into tumble
    for but to pray to fly—
    a ripsaw shredding harsh
    songs against the grain
  • casting runes — 12feb26

    raido
    gentle rocking, creaking wain
    twilight tints storm eyes
    returning to lost highways
    alone but for dense, winter fog

    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.

  • casting runes — 11feb26

    laguz
    not only eddy
    but river as well,
    i meander her gardens
    drinking in her scent
    gathering sakura
    with every twist & bend

    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.

  • horror story

    the horror is not being in
    the thrall of a leannán sídhe

    the horror is being not in
    the thrall of a leannán sídhe

    wraith wanderings,
    stoney moors on the
    crisp & hollow
  • casting runes — 10feb25

    mannaz
    we slip
    sphere to sphere
    time after time
    touch to touch
    while the wheel
    keeps turning

    i no longer can even
    guess at the why...

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is mannaz, a rune that translates to “man” in the sense of “humankind”. The rune is associated with family and the social order, and in trusting the intuitive process or seeing clearly — both from within and from without. Mannaz influences relationships of all kinds, including those of a romantic nature, and encourages compassion, for oneself as well as for others.

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

  • drifts

    dragonfly cattail sunning
    in gentle summer winds
    watching my lips trace
    the curve of your calf
    to the plop of a turtle
    moving from sitting logs
    to taking plunge for a swim
  • casting runes — 09feb25

    dagaz
    poling across
    the lake of mists
    following the scent
    of apple blossoms
    in seeking an
    island's far shore

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

    Today’s rune is dagaz, which has been translated as “daybreak”, that transitional moment between night and day. By extension, it might also be interpreted as “twilight” and is representative of liminality, transformation, the space between worlds, and suggests walking in both the material world and otherworld.

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

  • torpor

    barefoot and slumber
    half under the covers
    the other half wrapped
    up in you

    tangle and torpor
    who cares for warm summers
    while a'winter in the
    afterglow of you
  • casting runes — 08feb26

    jera
    back to the begin
    & been mistaken in
    taking flint for fire

    wraps & rags
    wound 'round wrists & arms
    time again to strike steel
    for sparks

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is jera. Jera is translated as “year”, and has also been translated as “harvest”. This rune is representative of cycles, the “wheel of the year”, the union of opposites (implied by the summer half of the year ending, winter half of the year beginning), balance, as well as cause/effect relationships.

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