I’m so proud of the writing my incarcerated teens did with me that I decided to share some of it for Poetry Friday. Below are just a few of my favorites from what they did in 10 sessions of us working together. Because they are incarcerated I can’t post their names.
Don’t know why nothing goes right.
I try. I try. I try.
But it’s like one of the three little pigs . . .
Devil is the wolf.
I build.
It gets blown down every time.
I remember the day I would never forget
I remember it like it was yesterday
I remember something I would never get and never say cause I’m not strong enough yet,
but still I stand.
How Do I Love Thee?
I appreciate what you do for me.
I will always care for you.I’m grateful to have you in my life.
I’ll always respect you.
I will try to understand you.
Listening to you will be my first priority.
I remember when I was little and got raped without my consent.
I remember I hurt and I passed out.
I remember I was scared to get hurt.
I remember it went by slow.
I remember. I remember. I remember.
Resurrection
Looks like a new life, but not for me
I am a father, a son.
I wonder what life has in store for me.
I hear my family telling me to do good.
I see my son graduating.
I want to be free.
I am a father, a son.
I pretend to hold my son in my arms.
I feel hopeful.
I touch people with my words and make them believe in me.
I worry for my family’s safety.
I cry when I see my son cry for his daddy.
I am a father, a son.
I understand that it is up to me to change.
I say it is time for a change.
I dream the outs and being with my son.
I try to show my son I’m not a failure.
I hope to be home soon.
I am a father, a son.
Something I can share most people won’t bare
The staff or teacher will say don’t go there
Something I can share some people in here won’t care
They think they know it all inside and out there
Something I can share me I guess
I have a lot to say but some ain’t the best
Something I can share is my family with you
You’ll beat them til their face turns blue
I’m sharing right now my feelings with you
I’m not trying to talk down but I gotta
Let it out and if I can’t do it like this
Then someone please tell me how.
Beautiful, heartbreaking, hopeful, shattering…wow.
Poetry Friday
Wonderful, powerful, right from the heart and gut. Thanks for sharing. Mary Nida
So powerful and raw. You did some amazing work with them, Susan.
Wow. These are all excellent poems. Those teens did great work. =)
I think my favorite is the sixth poem (I am a father, a son). It seems to stand out a lot to me and the emotions it portrays are fabulous.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful poems, Susan.
These are so powerful. Thanks for sharing them with us, Susan.
from Laura @ Author Amok
I love “Devil is the Wolf.” So glad kids have poetry to help them get some distance from and perspective on the hard stuff.
Such emotion there mostly written from a place of pain. The place no one likes to go but can’t escape from it. I write to let things out and like the last person I too believe if I can’t do it that way for me there seems no other way either – so sad.
– Anne McKenna
Wow. What an important gift you gave these teens. I hope they find a way to keep writing a new story for themselves. I hope they remember that eventually the wolf loses.