PONGO POETRY | My Life
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 children at the Child Study and Treatment Center (CSTC), the only state-run psychiatric hospital for youth in Washington State. Many CSTC youth are coping with severe emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges. Approximately 40% of youth arrive at CSTC having been court ordered to get treatment; however, by the end of their stay, most youth residents become voluntary participants.
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 partner with Pongo in inspiring healing and relief among youth coping with mental and emotional turmoil, join the Pongo Poetry Circle today.
Content warning: sexual violence/rape
Adios
by a young person at CSTC
I am worried
I feel hurried
To leave
But I have yet to weave
My life beyond this place
What will I do when I leave this space
What will high school be like
It will be a whole new hike
Will I fit in
Or be stiff like tin
I'll have to say bye to friends
And go around the bends
What will the work be like
I'll be riding a whole new bike
Don't put me in math
I won't like the path
Multiply, subtract or add
It will all be bad
I can't wait to play sports
On all of the courts
I'll be on the field
Facing a shield
On a defensive line
I'll just bide my time
School might be fun
Under the sun
I might find my people
Under the steeple
It should be great
Like its fate
Embrace Family
by a young person at CSTC
Dedicated to my biological mom and her family.
Two weeks ago, I saw
My mom and sisters again.
It was amazing to see their faces
Because I was starting to forget.
The image of seeing them again
Was almost a picture that I would have taken
That exact day, from young to old—
When I last saw them, they were babies;
My sister was a bit bratty, but I was able
To tell her to stop, and she would listen.
My mom is getting older,
Her body is hurting now, when before, we used to
Ride bikes, walk all the time, go to the park.
It's heartbreaking seeing her in pain,
But I know it's a matter of life
It's bound to happen
Because people change.
She did so many great things in her life,
And sure, she did some things wrong,
But the way she does things now
I believe she's made up
For all of her sins.
And now finally at this moment
I could be in the picture.
My Life
by a young person at CSTC
Dedicated to everyone who has been raped, you can always be better than the person that raped you.
Love is like a dove, flying through the air,
a pair like one that will never leave.
Pain is like a million-pound weight
pushing you to the ground.
But don't give up
there is hope.
Hope is like a rope
pulling you to safety
in the middle of a hurricane
that is destroying everything.
Fear is like a spear
stabbing you with pain
but the rope of hope can pull you up
to safety from the spear.
Love is like a dove
holding an olive branch
for the people I love—
like my mom and my dad and siblings.
Pain is like a million-pound weight
Like holding the sky
After a loved one dies
And after you are raped.
Hope is like a rope pulling you to safety
after my mom died
and people helped me by taking me into their care.
Luck is like a duck
Happy and cuddly.
When I moved away from Dave.
The man who raped and hurt people, including me.
Fear is like a spear
After I was raped
And then my mom pulled me back to safety
after we moved away from Dave.
Love is like a dove
Flying home with me
After I was hurt and raped
Even in the hardest times.
📸 Featured image by 周杰意 Jieyi Zhou.
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