Transformative Justice

 Talking In Circles

Folding chairs ring an altar offering

kente cloth, candles, fruits, photographs

Men shift through discomfort in silence, then

break through the ice between/in them

laying down layers of trust among them

These are the terms they agree to

This is the language they will speak

Integrity

Generosity

Vulnerability

Humility

Curiosity

Courage

Still, he will hesitate to unhide his heart

One trip around the circle –

Pass

Two trips –

Pass

Third time is a charm –

here is the harm he harbors:

Mom’s boyfriend’s fists

Fourth time around –

wet lines streak down cheeks

A friend. A bullet. An exit.

Fifth circle of Hell –

compassion was a luxury item

his turf didn’t allow to sprout

The sixth circling in on his story –

he wants off this stationary cycle

but to thrive he needs a revolution

(Inspired by the Garry Malachi Scott interview in Healing Justice - Documentary Film by World Trust and Shakti Butler)