PONGO POETRY | Butterflies

by a young person at CCFJC

so beautiful but so delicate
if you watch, the truth of what the butterfly’s
been through shows through the illusion
the wings that have flown away from
all her traumas, the anger that burns
like a raging fire in her soul,
the tear that graces her cheek

Butterflies
running from her troubled past
no one sees as she flies into the spider’s web
the devil’s deal
promising money and happiness
as she tries to wiggle free

Butterflies
so beautiful and so delicate
her beautiful wings hiding so much pain
Crumble
she drops to the floor like nothing

by a young person at CCFJC

My black hole was trying to be somebody that I’m not
Most people are in here because they’re somebody they’re not
They want to be drug dealers, shooters, or robbers
They want to be bad people
when they’re actually good people deep down

When I first got here, I was mad that I got caught
Not that I could’ve hurt people or killed people
I think a lot of other people in here are still mad that they got caught
They’re not mad for the right reasons

A lot of us are here because of drugs and alcohol
When people say “man I wish I had this drug or this alcohol.”
they don’t realize that’s what got them here in the first place
They’re mad they got caught
They’re not mad that they did what they did

God already sealed your fate
God knows what’s going to happen in ten years
Nobody pressured you into being here
You made the decision
You went down the road
You fell into the black hole

There are good people and there’s bad people
Who do you want to be?

by a young person at CCFJC

We all had a choice
take the easy pass or the hard.
For some the easy pass was
the right choice, for some it wasn’t

The easy pass is the straight and narrow
staying in school playing sports
listening to mom and pop

The hard pass is being disobedient
being hard-headed
not listening to no one but yourself

For me, hard was
dropped out of school
ran away from home
choosing my own path
no adults to guide me.

Before I dropped out
it was sports.
Football was my thing
the adrenaline when you hit someone in front of everybody
and you know they’re rooting for you.
A good way to let out your emotions
without going to jail
it was like my high before weed.

The hard pass is what got me in here.
Lost a lot of things,
lost my family, lost myself.

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 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 partner with Pongo in inspiring healing and relief among youth coping with mental and emotional turmoil, join its end-of-year campaign today.