PONGO POETRY | It's More Like

by a young person at CSTC

Hope is discharging this year
Hope is finding people (friends) to hang out with
Hope is to make a time machine and go back to the 90s

Hope is discharging and getting through high school successfully
Hope is having a successful life
Hope is graduating from a trade school and becoming a mechanic

Hope is riding my skateboard
Hope is getting to see all the concerts that I want
Hope is to see my brother and nephew grow up

by a young person at CSTC

Dedicated to K*

One morning, I’ll wake up
Seeing so much beauty inside myself
I’ll stop thinking about whether my girlfriend loves
me or not because of how I act

One morning, I’ll wake up
having forgiven myself and all those that hurt me
and I’ll open up and take down my mental guard now
that my pain sits behind

One morning, I’ll wake up
in a body healed as much as it could
and I’ll not care about past relationships that have hurt me

One morning, I’ll wake up
having healed from all the shame and pain
and all that’s held me back
and I’ll stay sober
for K

*Name redacted to protect youth confidentiality

by a young person at CSTC

It’s more like frustration
Frustration that I’m still here
My peers are all discharging and I have to wait
I’m waiting for a group home

I feel like a boy that’s lost
In a land that’s never there
A land that’s corrupted
You can’t go to school with gross clothes
You can’t date someone who’s ugly 

It’s ironic how we live to just die and be forgotten
We should all low-key come together as one

If we don’t live the way we are supposed to
It’s gonna be like mad max out here
All desert

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 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 among youth coping with mental and emotional turmoil, join the Pongo Poetry Circle.