A Constellation of Stars (Drake Chronicles)

A Constellation of Stars

Drake Chronicles SPOILERS AHEAD!

Read AFTER Bleeding Hearts

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Ready?

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a constellation of hearts: on becoming a vampire

a poem by Christabel

there are a hundred hearts

in the woods,

beating under moss and mountain

and shooting from tree to tree like stars,

trailing tiny sounds like cosmic dust.

the deep thrum of the owl's heart, slow and hungry,

the patter of the rabbit,

the mischievous dance of coyote;

louder than rain and the autumn thunderstorm

that shakes the branches bare.

every step I take shifts tiny universes

hidden under the roots;

underground rivers, beetles and spiders and

moles searching for the dark quiet,

a hunt I can now understand in a way

I never could have

before my own heart fell silent,

silent enough that I can even hear yours

though it too, is silent

as the sky

and the stones.

they have their own way of telling stories,

as we do,

soft and cold as snow

forever suspended, beautiful but stark.

they say there are drums being played in the caves,

leading us to each other

when the silence is too much to bear.

I will map these hearts like stars.

the precise flutter of a crow,

worms sliding slowly through the half-frozen soil,

deer in a bed of wilted grass,

a wolf howling for its mate or its mother.

there are still secrets here,

it is only that now I know exactly where they are hiding,

if not the language they speak.

and I know exactly where you are too,

even where you are not here.

you are another map in this strange new country

where the dead walk,

and the sun has grown arrows and spears, and teeth sharp as swords.

it is enough that when the hundred hearts

are horses threatening to trample me,

you are there,

a silent constellation

in a dark sky

that is close enough

to touch.