LIGHTING A PATH FORWARD
This week we publish the lantern section of our chapbook, Roots Meet Below the Crossroads, featuring work from our Hecate’s Lantern group at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. We encouraged the women to take the lead in selecting themes and producing work that they refined over time and finally, performed for their peers in the prison’s Chapel. The book is divided into four sections: rope, blade, mirror, lantern. This references the tools carried by Hecate, the Greek goddess who travelled land, sea, and the underworld with people who were outcast. As a group, we decided to consider the crossroads where one would encounter Hecate and the writers dug deep to let the metaphor inform their pieces.
In Wild Mushrooms, Wood Sprites, and Songs of Remembrances, Hannah Brophy casts a spell to transport her protagonist into the prison’s chapel mural painted on the walls. Her language lights the way through a dense forest path laden with wild mushrooms and the promise of a better place — a tempting escape.
Manda Moonlight’s Ceremony in Choice pulls us along her own path. She connects passages through breath-like repetition. This mantra signals her determination to chose her life:
Spiral toward the connection point.
Face the tide as it comes on strong.
The scent beyond lovely,
each day moves along.
We are so grateful to Regional Arts and Culture Council for supporting of this project. | TDS