By Craig White
A Short Poetic Journey through Men’s Circles
The circle is prepared
A sense of sacredness prevails
Stillness, silence, potential, wisdom
A space fit for kings
The men start to arrive
One by one they sit in silence
Like jewels covered in dust
Light shining through darkness
The last man arrives
A jigsaw of immense wisdom is formed
A gaze between brothers occurs
The sealer is contained safely
The circle symbolizes wholeness and unity
A symbol of oneness, original perfection
Together we are stronger, wiser
As one, we can finally conquer demons
We acknowledge our forefathers
The ones who went before us
For they carry our lineage as men
And we carry their souls
The circle is opened, the sharing begins
Men drop down from head to heart
Compassion dripping from each man
A doorway to a deep yearning
A circle of mirrors appears for each man
There is nowhere to hide
Each mirror a reflection back to the inside
Each mirror a gift from the Divine
An uncomfortable charge appears in my gut
What is this man reflecting back to me
Is it my dark side I don’t want others to see?
Is it my greatness I’ve been told to suppress?
My shadow is exposed and brought to the light
I can close, contract, run away, hide
But I decide to open, smile, acknowledge the gift
Immediately I am free, I can breathe, stillness returns
We talk about the light, we talk about the dark
We talk about the past, we talk about our fears
We pour our hearts into the circle, into the magic
We free our souls for the benefit of others
We laugh, we cry, we sing, we are silent
Men cultivating authentic love for other men
What a wonderful sight, a wonderful blessing
A great event in a world of darkness
The circle naturally comes to an end
All men are complete
Each man leaves with a greater sense of wisdom
A greater sense of life
He turns away and leaves for his home
Each person he passes feels his compassion
A man full of love, a man full of light
A man who makes a difference
Craig is a Hridaya Yoga teacher and high-performance men’s coach. You can read more about him on his website. Check out another post on men’s circles here.
