PONGO POETRY | Superpowers

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 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 bimonthly 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 CSTC

Let's talk about my mental illnesses
I have autism
and it's OK
and it's OK because it makes me stronger
I have ADHD
and I'm always moving
and that's OK because I'm good at sports
I have ODD
and I'm always stubborn
and sometimes that saves me
These will never get the best of me
and they will always make me stronger

I have a friend
who is always hating himself
because he has autism
And I always tell him
that autism is a superpower
and ADHD a supercharger
My brain always tells me
that my mental illnesses are part of me
but my mental illnesses are not me

I kept telling myself that
I couldn't figure it out at a younger age
and I wouldn't be here now if I had figured it out back then
and my mom always tells me
that it doesn't matter
and you will get through it all.

I dedicate this poem to my buddy: "You will get through it too."

by a young person at CSTC

My question is: "Why?"
Why do hurt people hurt others?

Is it because they don't know
what to do with their pain?

Why do insecure people try to
make others insecure?

Is it because they need to work
through it and they won't?

Because these two questions
affect so many people, like
hurt parents that hurt their kids,
and those kids grow insecure
and only try to bring people
down with them, and if
the parent would have tried
harder, the kid would be okay
and it would help more people

You can sit around and ask,
"Why?" and just let people hurt you
or you can help yourself and make yourself feel
better. Leave it to them to say, and you
don't have to believe it, only
you know what's true about you

You can take their hurtful words
and make them into affirmations
about you

by a young person at CSTC

When I was younger,
My mom had to flip over
On her hands and knees
And give birth to me straight away
Because the doctors didn't have my heart
On the monitor.
When I was two,
My parents got divorced.
My dad was cheating on my mom.
I've had my behaviors
Since I was five.
I have anxiety, anger issues.
When I get mad
I lash out
I get aggressive
It feels like there's something inside of me
That needs to get out
Like a ball of fire going up my spine.
As I got older,
I met a friend
That went through basically the same things
As me. He gave me advice:
You got this, you gotta do it for your family.
If you want to see your niece and nephew
And have a good life,
It has to start out with you.
He had to go on vacation for a while
To help himself.
He promised he'd be back for my birthday
But he never came back.
And ever since that,
I've always had my guard up
Like a brick wall.
I don't talk to my family.
I don't like to meet new people.
I like to stick to the people I know.
That's why I just have my boyfriend,
Aaliyah, and Gabe.
I live in the country
And I deeply care about my mom.
People have used her for her money before
And I tend to fight. Fist fight.
That's mainly why I end up in juvie
Is from assaults on cops
And things like that.
But what my mom always tells me is that
the wall's always gonna win.

Dedicated to CSTC