PONGO POETRY | Waiting for a Sign

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

by a young person at the Echo Glen Children's Center

I've been using drugs since 12
I wish I never took that first hit
I've been to 7 rehabs
yet it still doesn't help

Now I'm in prison
100 and 70 days sober
Waiting for a sign
A sliver of hope

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time
A little blue pill called fentanyl destroyed my life

Without fentanyl
life gets worse and worse
I feel like shit without percs
Taking it one day,
one moment,
and one second at a time

by a young person at the Echo Glen Children's Center

If betrayal was a drug, I'd prolly overdose.
People come and go
It's crazy cause the people who go
are the same people you want so desperately to stay
You sit here and put your trust into a person,
all for them to turn around and do you dirty.

If betrayal was a drug, I'd prolly overdose.
I put all this loyalty into people who don't show me the same loyalty in return.
This generation really shows you that it's hard to trust.
One day y'all are cool
the next day those same people are acting weird
and before you know it,
you're getting backdoored

I've learned to watch my back and who I trust cause,
it really be your closest people,
even your blood.
If betrayal was a drug, I'd prolly overdose

by a young person at the Echo Glen Children's Center

Stuck in this cell
creates an ongoing hell
I'm missing home a ton
I'm thinking about how I miss it every minute
and I wish I would've done better
and not brought them down a rabbit hole 

I don't think I would've changed anything in the world
for new parents
Although sometimes there may be rough ridges
we always find a way through 

By sticking together
By keeping loyal
By noticing positive moments

I know I've done you wrong
It's all in this poem
Please don't worry
I'll be just fine

By sticking together
By keeping loyal
By noticing positive moments

If I could tell you how much I love you
I would say it every second