February 18, 2021

By Robert Sand Founding Director, Center for Justice Reform

The New Year invites a time for family and reflection, sometimes even reflections on our own childhood. Thinking about childhood often leads to reminders about nursery rhymes and other stories for kids. Looking at those stories and poems now shows how horrible some of them really are, full of fright and harm.

So why not rewrite those old stories and poems through a different lens, a restorative lens? We welcome submissions of your Restorative ReWrites and will publish some of them in upcoming issues of this newsletter. Please send your submissions to Alanna Ojibway at aojibway@vermonlaw.edu by March 5, and include a bit about yourself and the inspiration for your Restorative ReWrite. We can’t promise we will publish your submission and we reserve the right to use your submission as we chose with appropriate attribution.

Below is an effort at a Restorative ReWrite of Humpty Dumpty. Be creative, have fun, and happy Restorative ReWriting.

Humpty Dumpty

Adapted by Robert Sand

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

So even with the king’s command,

The horses of course did not have hands.

And asking of them to fix and to mend,

Most surely could not create a good end.

And using only men to aid

Was doomed to fail, I’m afraid;

Seeing what’s broke, we must work in tandem

To use just men, seems utterly random

To fix the hurt requires a team,

With a shared commitment to a dream.

And though it might seem like a chore,

Great things take place when we restore.

So, Humpty, please do not despair,

Your community will offer care.

And provide you aid throughout the ordeal

With love and support and the chance to heal.