The circle has no front row,
The circle has no back row.
No standing up, no sitting
Down by rank or class.

Thirty chairs in a circle,
Thirty equal voices, thirty
Pairs of eyes and ears, thirty
Eager minds on alert.

This picture is a learning
Space, a teaching space, a
Safe, sane, willing home
For opening up, for truth.

This circle has few rules,
Its ownership is shared,
No boss, no king, nobody
Wins or loses.

This circle has no colors,
No vibrant palette, no code
Of dress, no pledge of
Allegiance, only the cypher.

Each chair is mobile, it may
Speak, it may be silent.
Each chair faces inward,
Each one opens to the rest.

Fear is absent in this place,
The circle is freedom and
Its cohort sings and dances
The opera of love.

© Lewis Bosworth, 7-2017