Dandelion Scribes editors Cheyanne Leonardo, Amber Sparks, and Cari King at their first Possum Poets open-mic night hosted by The Wrigley in Corbin, KY. They have been poet pals ever since, strengthened by each other’s courage to share their words with the world!

Dear Reader–

Dandelion Scribes is a brand-new publication brought to you by a trio of poet pals hailing from the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area in East TN/KY. From the forest we all call home, we are honing our revolutionary voices, honoring our creative spirits, and sharing our words with the wide world– aiming to inspire others along the way!

You see, the dandelion is a resilient and adaptive creature, blooming on the brightest mountaintops and rising through cracks in the sidewalk. She is food. She is medicine. She is a symbol of the sun. She ages gracefully, and leaves her soft seeds to be wished upon by any hopeful heart. And she is named after the teeth of a lion, which means she’s got bite.

Scribes have a sacred duty to record their stories. To capture the present moment and preserve it for the future. To make meaning from the chaos and beauty of life. To connect our individual realities to the divine epic of our collective existence. We believe in naming our experiences, telling the truth, and creating a safe space for other poets and artists to do the same. Thank you for being here as we journey through this crazy world together.

Keep reading to experience a selection of 3 poems from each of the Dandelion Scribes editors. We chose to share poems from our current works-in-progress that we feel best represent the overall direction and focus of our poetry– and we sure hope you enjoy them! We’ve also included a list of 9 writing prompts at the end, based on each featured poem, just in case you feel inspired to write a little something of your own. ⚘

she's a lovely yellow flower & she's got teeth.

Poems by Cari Lynne King

Cari Lynne King is a 36-year-old poet from Pine Knot, KY. She and her husband Jesse live a quiet life with their dog and 4 cats. As you read Cari’s skillful verses about her lived experiences – including infertility, grief, depression, and self-growth – you will find yourself living those moments with her. She fell in love with poetry at the turn of the millennium in her 7th grade Language Arts class and has used pen & paper as a source of healing ever since.

Cornbread
after Silas House

My accent falls somewhere between
a golden pone
fresh from the cast iron
And the fingerboard of a fiddle
bowed with precision
yet never pretentious

The phrase “country as cornbread"
has always fit me
just like a Sunday apron
in the kitchen after church

If I close my eyes
I see Grannie's seasoned hands
pulling a fresh pone from the oven
as we all sit around the table
eager to tear off our hunk

When I'm ailing –
be it sickness or sadness –
the crispy, comforting crust
crumbled in a bowl of potato soup
is all I want from Momma's stove

The way my husband smiled
as he told me I'd done it –
“This is it, baby
This tastes just like Gramms's" –
brought it all full circle
Just like that golden pone
fresh from the cast iron

⚘

This is the Poem I'll Never Write

About the beauty
painted upon my body
by the glow of pregnancy

About labor pains of love
and crying along with you
as you take your first breath

I'll never pen a poem
an ode to how you have your daddy's eyes
and my nose
and a laugh that cures all wrong

Your first words
first steps
first day of school
will never make it onto paper

Motherhood
Is the poem I'll never write

⚘

Sanguis Lunae

Even the moon bleeds
upon a wounded earth
The heavens rage red
as the wars wage on
Hatred for our neighbors
who share the same sky
Until we wake up
peace won't come at dawn

Poems by Amber Sparks

Amber Sparks was born in the bluegrass with the brain of a scientist and the soul of a poet. She has a background in military research and development, and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Science in Chemistry. Amber blends science and art beautifully, earning her the Hometown Poems POETIC SUPERNOVA award, a title she embodies. She loves to travel the world with her two bulldogs, Scarlett and Ellie.

Love Letter to Myself

Hurricane woman
you’re far too
powerful a force
to be held
by someone
afraid to get
their hands wet.
You taste too
much of the sea
for a land-locked love.

⚘

Mother Phoenix

The fire in my chest
this burning incantation
no longer comes
from procreation
but self-immolation,
renewal from ashes.
Daughter of Ra,
how comfortably close
you fly to the sun,
soaring on scorched wings.
How equally comfortable
you are in the depths.
Daughter of Osiris,
even the underworld is dying
to become you, Benu.
Your golden aura shines
too fiercely for the weak
& their narcissistic tendencies,
jealousy that only one
of you there can be,
their unoriginality outshone
by divine femininity,
that no ancient authority
questioned your immortality.
500 years is just the beginning.
These flames have spread
across many generations.
When the time draws nigh
to pass the torch,
when aromatic boughs
& spices adorn the nest,
She fears not death
nor funeral pyre.
The myrrh encapsulation
placed in preparation is
strength formed from cremation,
echoes of the women
who combusted before
from being ignored
serve as a reminder to
my daughters & their daughters
of their voice.
So, rise & sail the skies,
my phoenix mother,
until it’s my turn
to burn.

⚘

A Letter to My Daughters

The fires in your heart
were lit by a dragon,
who lies sleeping within
guarding glittering gold.
The breath in your lungs,
a gift from a siren,
for laughter & lullabies,
or shipwrecking sailors
who set sinister sights.
The feather in your hair,
woven in by a phoenix,
perseverance preservation
through the hottest flames.
Never forget, my princess,
you are forged from stardust
of both mythical creatures
and legends before you.
Reign fearlessly knowing
how quickly we wake.

Poems by Cheyanne Leonardo

Cheyanne Leonardo is a poet, performance artist, teacher, and forest-dweller who lives to explore the world with her partner & fellow artist Stephen. She has published 4 of her own poetry collections as well as a community poetry anthology. Her work gravitates toward themes of spirituality, reality, nature, memory, language, and collective liberation– as she endeavors to infuse her poetry with passion, musicality, sacred rage, and divine love.

reality

i left on the last day of winter
ready to wander
back to the mystery of myself

and spring opens like a new wound.

somewhere in the world the sun
screams, obscured by clouds of dust
and debris
and no one seeks
to scale the walls
of this strange and false
reality.

when did the world become a prison?
mining hell from the mouth of heaven –

we had it all before
the script got flipped, the actors
switched –
a snake sells out
truth takes the hit –

eve was not the one who bit
brutality
out of the apple.

tell me, reader – where
do you recognize the real?

we hunger only for ourselves
as fortune claims the wheel.

⚘

artifice

i scan my memories for evidence:

has the world always been this fake?
or has the whole thing been replaced
by illusion and
simulacra?

life is all about motive– though
the trick is
nothing matches.

i can’t make sense of jagged edges
presented
as something soft and sweet and right
and fair. beneath the seams
of artifice– is anything

there?

nowadays i spend most of my time
praying for a patch of sky
to finally f
a
l
l
open–

as if the riddle would rain down, arrange
the ravaged pieces
into answers.

the first façade forms in the mind
brick by brick– contrive the design
then learn how to build it out
constructing walls that frame the doubt

we’ve been taught not
to feel.

but truth cannot be bought for a steal!

i say peek behind the barrier!
beckon the beacon
and summon
the real.

⚘

experience

is the point of it all i suppose

god wants
to see through all eyes sense
with all bodies speak in all
tongues–

a task
to exact
all possibilities, both
in beauty and
in agony.

the lines we draw are arbitrary
largely
made in misunderstanding
and consecrated
in confusion.

borders: enforced
by betrayal of the self
as we view distinctions
where there are none–

where there is always
only
one

unowned, yet
belonging
to breath and belief
and abundance.

experience
is a collection
of moments
shared by all.

let us make it meaningful!
and d i s m a n t l e

artificial
walls.

Writing Prompts

In “Cornbread” by Cari Lynne King, the poet reveals how a simple recipe passed down through her family has been a source of comfort, pride, and happiness. Write your own poem about a piece of your heritage & family history – whether it be a recipe, heirloom, photograph, or story – in which you explain the deeper meaning & emotional connection it holds in your life.
In “This is the Poem I’ll Never Write” by Cari Lynne King, the poet offers a deeply vulnerable perspective on struggles with infertility. She takes a close (and painful) look at a longed-for experience that she cannot claim as her own, imagining the poem she would write if such an experience were her reality. Create your own poem in which you explore an experience you’ve yet to have, but always wished for.
“Sanguis Lunae” by Cari Lynne King is a short yet powerful poem, connecting elements & symbols in nature to human conflict. Whether it be the moon, the sunrise, a tree, a river, a mountain, a flower, an animal, or something else – write a poem in which you identify the overlap between an image in nature & our modern human experience.
“Love Letter to Myself” by Amber Sparks shares some traits with the above poem by Cari: short yet powerful, focused on connecting an image from nature (a hurricane) with the human experience of finding a fulfilling love. She boldly declares that this woman’s power cannot be held by weakness. Write a poem in which you invoke the power of a natural force – be it storm, volcano, tsunami, or sunrise – to illustrate your own personal strength.
In “Mother Phoenix” by Amber Sparks, the poet addresses ancient mythological figures – specifically those that relate to femininity – in order to connect past, present, and future generations of women along a shared and evolving thread of power. The poem serves to remind all the world’s daughters of the eternal strength of the feminine voice. What mythological figures or stories from the past inspire you? Write a poem in which you bring the past into the present, embodying something old or ancient right here and now.
In “A Letter to My Daughters” by Amber Sparks, the poet continues her quest to own her feminine power and call upon future generations of women to do the same. Write your own letter to a future generation – be it daughters, sons, or humanity in general – and tell them what you want them to know!
In “reality” by Cheyanne Leonardo, the poet poses a question to the reader: where do you recognize the real? Write your own poem in which you answer Cheyanne’s question. What feels truly real in your life? Where and how do you identify it? What does it mean to you?
In “artifice” by Cheyanne Leonardo, the poet addresses the fact that our larger culture has taught us to suppress certain feelings & intuition, leaving us trapped in mental cages that separate us from who we truly are. Write your own poem in which you give voice to something you’ve been holding back. Put it on the page and acknowledge it for what it is. Notice whether this process seems to help you free yourself from it.
In “experience” by Cheyanne Leonardo, the poet attempts to reconcile opposites & differences, bringing them together under a single shared roof and complete picture of oneness. In your life experience, where do you notice separation between things, people, or places that might make more sense if brought together? Write a poem in which you bring them into the same room or space, and explore how it feels to do so– even if only in your poetic imagination.

P.S. – Dandelion Scribes will soon be collecting submissions! If you write a poem for any of these prompts, we would love to see it– and perhaps even publish it in our next post!

To kick things off and build our new poetry community, we are especially interested in getting in touch with other writers local to the Big South Fork area. But we hope to make connections with writers & artists near and far, so whoever & wherever you are– we will be thrilled to hear from you!

For now, please visit our submissions page for more info and to sign up for email updates & announcements. This is the fastest and easiest way for you to be notified as soon as we open submissions!

With endless love & gratitude,

Introducing the Dandelion Scribes

Dear Reader–

she's a lovely yellow flower & she's got teeth.