How to Tie the Moondust Knot
knot by Tristan Levine, words by Mike Selinker, illustration by Aviv Or
Night drapes the Eyrewood. No sound can be heard.
Ne’er the grove lion’s roar nor the crow of a bird.
Bewitched by the dancer of gallivants lunar,
You hope for deliverance you wish would come sooner.
The Moondust knot is tied when the forest’s dangers are too labyrinthine for a young mind to comprehend. Beware! This is the most complex of all the magical knots. Only the most diligent lookout can learn its ways
There are but three phases of the Dance of the Moon: the Dancer’s Legs, wispy and clutched tight; the Dancer’s Arms, crossed behind and open; and the Dancer’s Ribbon, held for now in between the Arms.
The moon arrives for the dance. See how the Arms play with the Ribbon, gliding it in and under.
To rest it falls.
The Arms cross back, catching the Ribbon.
Now the dance begins! The Dancer’s Legs kick up and back.
And again! Such a lithe and demonstrative move!
Now mark as the Arms cross back.
The Arms catch the Legs in an embrace
Now we see the Ribbon glide back into the dance.
The Arms will not let it go, for they are united with the Ribbon
as one.
Pulled tight, the Dancer pauses for the villagers’ applause.
Cut loose from the bounds of the earth, she rises to the sky.
