©2023 michael raven

cold iron & eye for
quarter crows calling
          crossroads wait
        that hungry man

'ware the greystone
           grass growing
         at edge of sidhe
for a touch will
                          be all
that ice lingers
                          night

©2023 michael raven

drawn to the candy
at the edge of the wood
just where mam and pap
said it would be
hanging from trees

strange fruit indeed

she didnae trust it but
hunger won the battle
so long since she ha' a bite
so she ate her way
down the trail that day

unwary of the grow'n dark

the ladies waited patient
at path's end 'side the bog
as did the silent host
a'waitin' the dark beyond
a'waitin' the mire beyond

a'waiting her to find her
way bound home

©2023 michael raven

folklore and forest
edging all near the mire
rust-stained giantcast stone
restless roots tremble shift
under mother moon
howl of triumph or the dying?
leaf cairn and mews

©2023 michael raven

first:
napped flint
under flesh
drawing out
poison festered

then:
go back to
tomorrow
with your wicker
fetish swaying
in the breeze
catching
moonbreath
just before
dawn

you will hear
the bells
shining

that is when
you will
understand

©2023 michael raven

she moves as mists
silent & sluggish
save for the parting
shush of legs lapping water
white dress trailing tow
hollow eyes forward
fevered & hungry
dancing round her, all
foxfire & wisp
foxfire & wisp

©2023 michael raven

underbridge he
ash wraith tremble
for rock on mortar
building stonearch
ripple water under

wicker effigy twisting
by fallowwind flutter
hanging there innit
somat quite meatish
fruit wyrd hanging
underbridge, he

scree cold wind shiver
winter comes june
climb backladder chill
shudder slender lean
a hint song on
whisperwinds sung
underbridge he

©2023 michael raven

we can't stop, no
we can't stop
lambs wool eye blind
into autumn's wood and
down by the river
down by the river
tonight

effigy on the harrow
what did he do
to earn such a face?
boneless heap, raw head
kudzu carry me carry me
down by the river
tonight, tonight
down by the river
tonight

she slipped
between fingers
and floated away
blood in the water
thrashing, thrashing
there, blood in the water
down by the river
tonight

chronic town
headache hollow tree, we
lived coughing in the
halloween tree
throw back the wool
in blind eyes, your eyes
down by the river tonight...

©2023 michael raven

go ocean to river
seal to salmon
raven laughing
at stones
follow the trail
learning to fly
antler, blade
& bone
edgeseeing w/
eyes shut wide
sable furred beige
scarlet blood home