PONGO POETRY | Healthy Love

Healthy Love

by a young person at CSTC

I used to think poems about love were really cheesy
Even gross
I didn't understand
I wasn't sure how to feel it

Now I know how to love in a healthy way
Love goes both ways
You trust the person enough to let them out of your sight
You are always glad to see them

I feel hopeful even through rough times
Having someone that I want to grow old with

A year ago, I didn't think I'd live past twenty
That I could feel love without so much pain
That I could put my trust in someone without it being broken

In Japan, people used to mend broken glass with gold
It's beautiful
My heart is no longer a pile of shattered glass on the floor
Where I thought it would just sit around and gather dust

Love is no longer a distant fantasy in my brain
There was a point that, for me, it just felt like a fairytale
I thought I'd be alone forever

This person has proven all of those bastards wrong
That I can have people care for me

I used to be completely blind to anyone's love or care for me
I'm glad this person met me when I was able to put my trust in someone
Someone who I can be emotional with, laugh with
That will talk with me through all of it and listen
Telling me what's on their mind

It's like a dream come true
A dream I also wake up to

It's still a very complicated emotion
Now I can see and understand it a little bit more
And I don't think words can properly describe how thankful I am
That I've lived this long to experience it

Dear God

by a young person at CSTC

Dedicated to my dad and my stepmom

As many people have, I have a lot of questions
That I would like to ask.
And I don't want to hear it from a human
Because they don't know
What you're gonna say.
How are we supposed to know you're real
If we can't see you?
How are you in multiple religions
When there's only one God?
Why does one person take another man's
Work for the attention—like when people
Publish Bibles?

As of six months ago,
I was a believer
And I still am.
I try to convince people that
God isn't something you can see—
He's something that you have to have faith in.

Six months ago, I was in a treatment facility
And the only thing I could do
Was reminisce on the past.
Seeing all of the bad things that I had done
It made me think that
If I have faith in God, then I will be safe
From the sins that come from the devil.
As Jesus declared, "If you come to me,
You will never go hungry. For I am
The bread of life. If you believe in me,
You will never grow thirsty."

I think of how much I used to pray
And how much I still do pray.

God, thank you for another chance
At life. Thank you for the food on my table,
The clothes on my back, the roof over my head,
And the bed I sleep in. And I forever will be in your debt
And will always be your servant.

Amen.

Thanks for Watching Over Me

by a young person at CSTC

I'm dedicating this poem to my dad.

Dear Dad,

I wish you were still alive
I miss what we
Do together
I miss living
With you
Miss having Christmas
With you
When it comes to Christmas
It really breaks my heart

One of the things I miss
Is going to car shows with you
And watching the Hawks games
The game before the Super Bowl
I was so happy
My heart wanted to jump with joy

I still remember the day
You took me out of daycare
And took me to the circus
It was my first time going to the circus
I cherished just sitting with you

In spite of the pain of missing you now
What gives me strength
Is thinking about you
In positive ways
And carrying the memories of you
Inside me

Still, I miss your heart
But I have pieces
Of your heart in mine

When it's time for me to die
I want to be cremated
And my ashes spread in Hawaii
So our ashes can mix

📸 Featured image by 周杰意 Jieyi Zhou.