Pongo Poetry Project's mission is to engage youth in writing poetry to inspire healing and growth. For over 20 years, Pongo has mentored poetry with youth at the Clark Children & Family Justice Center (CCFJC), King County's juvenile detention facility.
Many CCFJC residents are Youth of Color who have endured traumatic experiences in the form of abuse, neglect, and exposure to violence. These incidents have been caused and exacerbated by community disinvestment, systemic racism, and other forms of institutional oppression. In collaboration with CCFJC staff, Pongo poetry writing offers CCFJC youth a vehicle for self-discovery and creative expression that inspires recovery and healing.
Through this special bimonthly column in partnership with the South Seattle Emerald, Pongo invites readers to bear witness to the pain, resilience, and creative capacity of youth whose voices and perspectives are too often relegated to the periphery. To partner with Pongo in inspiring healing and relief among youth coping with mental and emotional turmoil, join the Pongo Poetry Circle today.
by a young person, age 16
What's on my dome,
I gotta put in my pen.
To talk to my mama through this jail phone…
Even though she don't say it,
I can hear disappointment flooding through her tone.
Only thing I can do
is to make it right when I get home.
Stop leaving her in these streets alone.
I'm about to do time
but I don't know how long.
The only person I know
who will be there whether I'm right or wrong,
is my mom.
But before it was just her,
there was a pair.
Whether it was good or bad at home,
I always had either/or to fall back on,
but when my dad left, I was left
Alone.
But if he was still here
would I still be talking to him on this jail phone?
Or would he have steered me down the right road
like a traffic cone?
by a young person, age 16
I have my forgiven my dad
ever since he wasn't with me.
Last time I seen him
was when I was a younger kid.
I have not forgiven the person that shot me.
It's hard to forgive that person
because I was at the wrong place,
wrong time, so I just got to learn
from my mistakes
and do better with my life.
It was easier to forgive my dad
because I can't do nothin' about that.
I deserve forgiveness too
because I know the things that I did
were mistakes.
I deserve forgiveness from my mom.
She was always around.
She didn't think I'd become the kind of kid
that I am today,
getting locked up too much,
going to jail too much.
She thought I was going to become
a kid that graduated.
But I deserve her forgiveness
because I could still become that kid.
I could change.
I could go to school
and work on graduating
and make her happy.
When someone forgives me,
it's like the person making it up to me
and always being by my side.
Dedicated to my mom
by a young person, age 17
I can't control what I can't control
I can't control the way you feel about me
and I can't control
what you think about me
I can't control
all the things around me
I can't control
this facility
Who comes and visits me
What I eat
Where I sleep
Who I see
But I can control who I love
Who I trust
Who I call upon when shit gets tough
and who'll live the rest of my life with me
I can control me
Dedicated to nobody but me
📸 Featured image: illustration by Alexa Strabuk.
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