PONGO POETRY | Door to My Mind

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 learn more about Pongo's work of inspiring healing and relief among youth coping with mental and emotional turmoil, register for Poetry in Motion, its upcoming event.

by a young person at CCFJC

I wanna go home
In here is too boring for me
I like action
I like to take action
being in here
it feels like it does something
to my mind

Sometimes it feels overloaded
like water in a cup going over the rim
I start overthinking
and end up getting in trouble
I feel angry at myself
for letting myself get here
I need to get out

I have a lot of things I wanna do
like get tattoos
see my family on a daily basis
I want to play sports
I want to have my own family

I'd have somewhere I could call
my own spot
my own kids
my own car
everything that's mine
that no one can take from me

I'd feel complete and successful
like building my dreams
and helping the ones I love

I wanna go home

Kinda squeaky
I remember
When I was young
I used to try to act like I was grown
But my voice was high pitched
When I told my mom,
"I'm a grown man.
I'm the man of the house."
and it was high pitched and squeaky
I was trying to yell
And stamping my foot on the ground
She smiled
Laughed a little
I think she said,
"Not yet."
She picked me up
We started wrestling
I think she said,
"Alright grown man: cook me some food."
I think I made cereal
She laughed a little
She ate it
She had smile on her face and said,
"It's good."
Being a grown man
Taking care of the family
Being a leader
Showing them the right path
I think I am that
Yeah
I always tell my little brothers:
Do good
In a deep voice
My voice is serious
I remind them every day I talk to them:
Don't wind up in here
I don't want you to be in my shoes
Think about mom
She's a single mom
With five boys
And she can't do it all by herself
I tell my brothers:
Graduate
Go to school more
Put food on the table
My two older brothers
My older brother works at 7-11
He comes every week
And brings my mom food
And money
His voice is deep
Serious
I think he's a grown man
He tells me to do right
He tells me,
"Mom's not going to be here forever.
Make sure she's straight
Make her proud
Walk the stage
Graduate."

by a young person at CCFJC 

When I think about when I'm gonna get out
I'm worried about the time
and worried about the future
worried if things are going to change
worried about if I'm going to graduate 

When I think about the time
I feel like I'm lost
I don't know what to do
I can't think about the future
I'm worried about the time

When I think about the future
I worry if I'll be able to get a job
wonder if I'll have to live with my mom
struggle to find a job

When I think about change
I think about my mom
if she doesn't live in the same area
about how things are going to look 
my house, where we live
it's a nice area where you can play football

I'm worried about being incarcerated,
if it's going to be easy for me to graduate
It's important to me because it can help me
get a job but also because it can show
I'm responsible

I also worry if I could get into trouble
and end up getting more time,
or if trouble comes to the house,
cause there's been a couple times
my house has got shot up

In here, I try not to think about it