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 partner with Pongo in inspiring healing and relief in youth coping with mental and emotional turmoil, join the Pongo Poetry Circle today.
by a young person at the Echo Glen Children’s Center
Today I am a raindrop
When it’s early in the morning
And raindrops are sitting on the grass
Yesterday I was
At school, in cottage, then bed
On the street I am
Kinda just there
Not really standing out specifically to anybody or anything
Just kinda there
In my room I am constant
Thoughts of memories
To my mom I am
A boy in orange
To my father I am
The one following footsteps
I don’t really know what my friends think anymore
It’s been five months since I’ve seen any of them
And I’m not the same person I was back then
I’m not the same person I was when I got locked up
Nearly
Really, I am
A vertical shadow
When the sunset hits the trees
by a young person at the Echo Glen Children’s Center
Thinking of leaving tomorrow
Empathizing for everyone who’s here
Getting over all the sorrow
Thinking of every little tear
Every little thing counts
It happens in everyday life
It could make you successful
Or it could backstab you like a knife
I don’t want to be alone
Why don’t people answer the phone
I don’t like to go to detention
I don’t like to commit crimes
What happens is what happens
I hated those harsh times
Yesterday is the past
Everything doesn’t last forever
Thinking of things in contrast
Should I make this decision to get into trouble
It could affect my whole life
Or it could help me gain double
It sucks being in all this strife
by a young person at the Echo Glen Children’s Center
What’s on my mind is writing a poem.
I’m thinking about writing
About what I’m thinking about life.
I’m thinking about how life is not a game.
You can’t just press reset.
We’ve only got one life and we can’t take it for granted.
I’m thinking about how life is valuable
And something to not play with.
Life is something you could lose in an instant
If you play around.
I’m thinking life is good when you’re young
Because you can mess up as much as you want
But when you’re older it’s different.
You get more consequences than you do when you’re younger.
I wish life were the same as when you’re older
But when you were young. Life is a game
When you’re younger, but not when you’re older.
I wish it were.