There Are Other Justices

Poetry
Written By Stephanie Vander Lugt

There are other justices
and apophatic prayers.
There are other ways of being 
gesturing elsewhere.


There are other languages: 
Mycelium make rhyme.
There are many other clocks
that will not be on time.


There are other knowings.
There are other kin.
The trickster meets them 
At the crossroads with a wily grin.


There are other worldings
that queer the modern path.
They crackle from the margins
and make the trickster laugh.


There are other sciences
That set the spirit free.
They bless the grief and wail and sing
the language of the trees.


There are other healings
Deep inside your bones,
Marrowed with the rocks and sky,
beckoning you home.


There are other wisdoms that
shine through self-help cracks.
Find the un-cartographies:
There are other maps.


There are other politics—
Economies of moss
There are other activisms
composting the loss.

There are other stories
that live in wild edges
The ancestors go there whispering
The passwords of the hedges


There are new communities
Tender in the weeds
Forging new belongings
And sharing broccoli seeds 


And though you seek for refuge
Inside this white-washed dome,
Fugitive, keep breaking out,
The search may lead you home.


This poem was written as a witness to the ongoing decolonial journey and gestures of postactivism, inspired by the teachings and phraseology of Bayo Akomolafe 


Stephanie Vander Lugt

Stephanie Vander Lugt is a minister and practitioner based in Charlotte, NC who works at the intersection of justice, faith, healing, and personal/communal transformation. Living and working in four different countries, Stephanie has been formed and enlivened by the richness of many communities and cultures. She has spent the past 8 years organizing against mass incarceration with returning citizens in Charlotte and currently works with residents at the Mecklenburg County detention center teaching courses in life skills and embodied transformation. She is the director of Kinship Plot, an emerging organization dedicated to reimagining just and resonant relationships through learning, contemplation, activism, art, land care, and life together. She holds an MA in Theological Studies, is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and is pursuing an MSW from The University of North Carolina. In the wild edges of her time, you will find her tending the garden, fermenting something in the kitchen, sharing tea with a friend, or engaging in creative practice through textile arts.

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