I believe in transformation,
pupa-to-winged emergence.

I believe in the
pulsating chrysalis
the eating of lessons and
the uncurling from fetal winters.

I believe in the stillness of
calm after storm
the redressing of old wounds and
the snake-shedding of bandages.

I believe in anger as grief in new clothes,
I believe violence her stillborn child.
Wrapped in cloth and carried
over our jagged terrain, cradled
in the skeletal arms of the dead.

I believe in the fading of scars,
and the catching of tears in the old jelly jar,
I believe in drinking in their medicine.

I believe in transformation.
And the movement beyond.

Justice is a mediation on the power of transformative and restorative ways of navigating the aftermath of harm and conflict. Justice was first published in the Spring 2020 issue of CURA Magazine and has since been featured in Poethead and performed in civic readings. 

Rachel Lauren Storm is a poet and artist from Urbana, Illinois, where she works in arts and cultural development. Her writing has appeared in CURA, Montage, Rust and Moth, buzz, and Woman Scream: International Poetry Anthology of Female Voices. She’s taught creative writing in workshops and university classrooms, in the community, and to incarcerated writers.

Rachel Lauren Storm was born in Aurora, Illinois and educated at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is the author of Ache & Love, a collection of poetry. She serves as a judge for the regional Poetry Out Loud competition and has curated two poetry salons in Champaign-Urbana: Open Scene and Writ n’ Rhymed. She founded the City of Urbana’s Poet Laureate Program and assisted in the development of various initiatives therein, including the Poets on a Park Bench TV series, Poems on Glass, Postcard Poetry, and The Laureate’s Showcase. She has been a featured poet of Pygamlion Poetry Marathon, Poets at the Post, Resist Art, and Poets at the Wheelhouse.