PONGO POETRY | My Name Is

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

I've lost all my feelings
But have a lot on my mind
I want to feel something
So much pain has caused me to stop trusting
Everything, to be particular
People

Feelings are dead to me
With no resurrection
I've lost everything I love
I wish my thoughts would speak up
Instead of staying quiet

I don't know myself
It's really just hard to feel
I don't know
I don't know

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

In a place like this,
you really don't have them at all
A person that would always be there for you
and wouldn't talk about you when you're not there
Being able to trust them even when you're not around them
Sometimes I just feel like I'm alone
and that no one understands me

It be like thunder
cuz sometimes with thunder it seems like it's calming down
and then it could just start again and get worse
I be feeling like that

I miss those type of moments
Just talking, having those moments where you could really relate to each other
I feel like in this world people expect a lot from you
I feel like when someone expects a lot from you
and you don't meet their expectations that makes you feel some type of way
and you start to feel like you let them down and it's your fault

But really, it's their fault
I just wanna be able to do my own thin

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

I come from pain
and love
I am of ice
and tears
You should know that

I want peace
I will do anything to get peace
I am cold but warm

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 and how you can partner with it in inspiring healing and relief in youth coping with mental and emotional turmoil, visit its website.