PONGO POETRY | My Seasonal Thoughts

Pongo Poetry Project's mission is to engage youth in writing poetry to inspire healing and growth. The Echo Glen Children's Center, a juvenile institution for youth serving criminal sentences, is one of Pongo's flagship program sites in the Seattle area. Studies of incarcerated youth indicate that up to 70% suffer from a mental health disorder and that many have experienced childhood trauma. The isolation, economic upheaval, and turmoil of the last two years have only exacerbated this issue. Youth at Echo Glen have endured significant mental and emotional challenges in the last two years, including increased rates of depression, anxiety, sleep issues, and behavioral challenges.

Pongo believes there is power in creative expression, and articulating one's pain to an empathetic audience. Through this special monthly 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 learn more about Pongo's work and how you can partner with it in inspiring healing and relief in youth coping with mental and emotional turmoil, register for its December poetry reading.

by a young person at the Echo Glen Children's Center

I wonder
About nothing in particular.
The thoughts just come and go.
The deeper I think, the deeper I plunder.
I once loved summer but now I don't.
Now my thoughts of it are as blank as snow.
Like the tree leaves, they fall.

The Seasonal Equinox
What is, once wasn't.
Then we grew up,
And our imagination faltered.
Now,

I tip the cup,
I break the rules.
I do as I see fit,
I do whatever I choose.
I never lose, I never win.

What happened to wonderous thoughts?
Cuz these things I thought, I once did not.
I lay in my bed and I still think,
What is there left to believe?
Nothing but the dangerous trace I leave.

by a young person at the Echo Glen Children's Center

I'm sad about some things.

I've been locked up for two years
And I have seven months left
And I broke up with my girl yesterday.
So that's one of the reasons I'm sad.

I'm sad because I feel like I'm not enough.
No matter what I do, people always expect more.
I try my best to change and it never does
And it makes me feel a lot of anguish.

I tried to make amends for everything wrong I've done
But no matter what I do it's never good enough.
You've got to see the positive.

I'll be able to come home in seven months
And right my wrongs. Every person I've done wrong to
I'm going to try to fix. 

I'm going to help people so they don't feel the pain
I'm going through. But that won't be enough.
Nothing will ever be enough.

I've done too many things I can't atone for.
I feel like it's never enough.
But I'll keep trying, but no matter what I do,
I'll never feel like it's enough.
I have to forgive myself.

by a young person at the Echo Glen Children's Center

I'm hungry
I wish to sleep all day
Cause of how much time I have
Maybe I could draw
Life, but perfect
Being there for my family
Not being full of such hatred
And Sadness
But here I am
In my cell, once again