the thread from the stars

inspired by the folklore of angel falls & devil's jump in the big south fork

the thread from the stars – My very first handmade book commission is complete! Featuring six original poems, collage art and illustrations, this one-of-a-kind collection is dedicated to my friend Lindsey, whose vision brought this work to life. Equal parts eerie & ethereal, the setting she pictured brings us to a haunted forest: where dreamcatchers hung / tangled in trees / twisted and mangled / they swung in the breeze…

Inspired by the local folklore of our home in the Big South Fork, these poems explore the strange world between Angel Falls and Devil’s Jump – two landmarks along the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River, bridging the gap between Scott County, TN & McCreary County, KY. What otherworldly beings does one encounter, as the river runs from the realm of the angel to that of the devil himself? Where is the line between the past and the present, and how does one know whether such a border has been crossed? And if hope finally arrives in an eternally hopeless place, what kind of future can we look forward to?

Read on for the answers to these questions, and enjoy the thread from the stars, pictured & transcribed below in full. And don’t forget to get in touch if you’d like to commission a one-of-a-kind, handmade collection of your own.

~ Horse & Lion Cardmaking Co. / by the dithyrambler

𖤣.𖥧.𖡼.⚘

THE THREAD FROM THE STARS

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the thread from the stars

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SCRAPS

i don’t know how to say it
any more eloquently:

you broke me.

and i explore the pieces
left behind in poetry.

some of the words are truly
mine – and some i’ve merely
memorized –

made a point
to learn every lonely
line by heart.

this shrine i built to you
with patched-up scraps of art.

⚘

THE MOON & THE MASSACRE

once upon a time
i danced

to the beat of light, with fireflies
underneath the full
moon.

i watched it rise
over the ridgeline
and always for a moment
it appeared as if
at rest –

cradled
by the crescent
carved into
the mountain.

this was then – back when
i lifted my head
toward swirling skies that
sang the ancient stars
to life,

toward a future
that promised plenty
and beauty
and certainty.

those magic nights i moved
with the moon

and my spirit
was wholly
within it –

connected
reflected

composed of the same glow
that met the treetops

in the middle
of celestial
wonder –

but now my world is one
of thunder

raging
and shaking

breaking

every gentle,
peaceful thing
with nothing
but the violence
of noise.

and so
i hide.

here in a cave
where i am safe
from the massacre
outside –

⚘

PHANTOM

i knew there were places deep
in the forest, far beyond
the heartbreak and
hopelessness
that made everything
hurt.

but how could i find them?
how could i cross this
desolate landscape,
these barren mountains –
plagued by angry storms
and apocalyptic omens?

i knew there were stories
made of more sadness,
loss and tragedy than i
could ever imagine

because i could feel them –
their presence a constant
pulse beneath my feet

and i became a part of them –

my memory – just another
phantom haunting these hills,
keeping time
tied
to the rhythm
of never-ending
mourning.

i knew there were doves
with songs like flutes
who sang the sunrise
across the sky

though i hadn’t heard the
colors of their call, hadn’t
seen the sound of their music –
quiet and magnificent –
since saturn’s last return.

i knew some season soon
would have me wandering
into a new world that i couldn’t
quite picture, couldn’t quite
name –

but for now i was alone
in this punishing place

holding –

remembering –

all this pain –

⚘

THE PAST & THE PRESENT

sometimes the past
eclipses the present
in the matter
of a moment –

you know that shadow on the moon
is only earth
blocking its own view?

this happens every so often
and the silhouette is
not black but red,
browned
like blood
running through soil –

pooling –

fooling a world that thinks
what it drinks is wine.

someday
reality will return –

a perfect circle,
an endless spiral:

the clock
at the end
of time.

⚘

THE THREAD FROM THE STARS

where dreamcatchers hung
tangled in trees
twisted and mangled
they swung in the breeze –

bellowing voices,
songs of the ghosts
grief-stricken, anguished
in search of new hosts

to shelter the spirits
that time had forgot
looking for life-blood
lest they could not

summon their stories
back up from the graves
for judgment was coming,
arriving in waves –

reports that the waters
were winding up red
in the wake of the devil
who jumped as he said,

the heroes and villains
have gotten mixed up –
where one sells his soul
in exchange for a buck

the other is pushed
down into the mine;
he earns a whole dollar
but takes home a dime –

and who of these two
is the greater success
in the eyes of the owners
who keep us in debt?

the villain is praised
while the hero falls down –
they rewrite the rules
as they rob the whole town

then move to the next –
they’ll come for us all
if we don’t come together
and answer the call

to rise from the mountains,
remember ourselves
for we hold the power
twixt heaven and hell!

and as it turns out
the devil was not
cruel and corrupt
as we all had been taught –

he merely revealed
the truth behind lies
that ruled all the world,
laid claim to our lives –

they called him a demon
when he was the mirror
through which the masters
saw themselves clearer –

such monsters they were
and murderers, too –
the devil – the angel –
they cast out of view

but the day he returned
like he rose from the dead
he looked to the ghosts
and showed them the thread

shining and golden,
he spun from the stars
to weave the lost dreams
into light, from the dark –

we watched as the land
came alive with new hope –
the people, the angel
and all of the ghosts

united in spirit
arrived to reclaim
our birthright to beauty,
abundance, the flame

that burns in the hearts
of the free, far and wide –
the time has now come
for the turn of the tide!

⚘

THE MOONDANCER

the moondancer felt
the earth underfoot
for the first time in years
on the ground where she stood

she moved with the wind
and leaned leg to leg
her arms were like arrows
that rose o’er her head

and lifted her body
back toward the beyond
she went flying skyward
from where she had come

remember the river
she heard a voice say
a whisper no louder
than lilacs in may

blooming with vigor
and hardly a sound
the flowers were lost
then in august were found

they arrived out of time
though beautiful still
they offered a warning
inspired a will

to forge a new way
direct from the dark
carried by starlight
awake with the lark

singing a memory
music like breath
the moondancer spun
into life out of death

⚘

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Thanks for reading! If you’d like to see more poetry from the Big South Fork, head on over to dandelionscribes.com and enjoy dozens of digital collections, freely accessible to poetry lovers far and wide. And, as always, ALL ARE WELCOME to submit poetry for publication on the Scribes!

–the dithyrambler