Poetry Vibes 2022: Voices of Our Youth
April is National Poetry Month and AHB is celebrating with its second annual Poetry Vibes: Voices of Our Youth.
*Content must be age-appropriate & not explicit
We’re All In This Together
Written by Emery, Arman, Miles, Isaac, Stefan, Erin and Mike
A tunnel without light is not a tunnel
and darkness must have a dawn
When times are tough, we stick together
Let’s sing about it in this song
We’re all in this together
We’re all in this forever
We watch our watches, we stare at the clock
Things need to rearrange
We gotta get up and realize
that we’ve got to make the change
We’re all in this together
We’re all in this forever
We’ll pull through every obstacle in our way
With peace and love and caring
Supporting each other to realize
The world is best for sharing
We’re all in this together
We’re all in this forever
When day is done, when it gets dark
When it’s time to go to bed
Only then we realize
The good things that we’ve said
We’re all in this together
We’re all in this forever
A tunnel without light is not a tunnel
and darkness must have a dawn
When times are tough, we stick together
Let’s sing about it in this song
We’re all in this together
We’re all in this forever, forever
The People Who Were Here Before
By Nicole Stipe
Justice is meant for the world. It’s meant for her, for him, and for them. Prejudice and intolerance occur too much to say. We wish we could take back the resentment and pain of the people who were here before.
She gets pushed away for gender. He gets refused service for his color. They become one and hold onto their dignity and honor. Our generation is going to change the way people are treated, ending the hatred and the pain of the generation who was here before.
Our culture thrives when we fill ourselves with hope and aspiration. We keep our heads held high for our rights and pride. And for those who do not agree that all should be treated with respect, we say you’re just like the man who killed another’s son or the person who refused to let her vote. Let us stand united as activists changing the future for us and the next generation. May hope, pride, and faith fill us all.
A Series of Haikus
By Lauren Roger
She sits at her desk,
waiting for the right moment
to voice her ideas.
But she is silenced,
black in an ocean of white,
voiceless, overlooked.
The fury inside,
it takes control of her mind,
oh, it roars and burns.
Slowly, she stands up.
No. She will not be silenced.
And the anger bursts.
She explodes in a
whirl of emotions and thoughts.
It ends. Silent again.
But she will never
forget the power of words
and the explosion.
Untitled
by, Barthelemy Klco
In the craziness of the last few years
There was still hope and light days
Now in the early light some wake in tears
Knowing war could be avoided in many ways.
The young being taken away to fight
All just in order to keep Russia’s might.
Some brave people stand up and aid,
Those innocent people with nothing.
We all have something or someone we love
And right now people are losing their souls,
Leaving only dark empty holes.
No one knows how it feels until they feel it.
While people In Ukraine need to stay in shelters
We give our focus to things like Hair styles.
So I give my thanks to all the helpers
That go and save lives while risking their own.
The Thing in My Head
by, Anonymous
The thing in my head
Is there from when I wake
To when I go to bed.
It’s the thing in my head.
The thing in my head
Can go away
Leaving me with
No trace of dread.
But other times,
It decides to stay.
And its blows upon me
It begins to lay.
“You’re not smart enough,”
It says,
As it breathes fire
On my head.
“They won’t like you,”
It screeches,
As it plummets
Around my stomach.
“You’re ugly,”
It exclaims
As it manipulates
My brain
This thing in my head
I can try to ignore what it says
But it gets so loud
It’ll cover me like a cloud
Pongo Poetry Project’s mission is to engage youth in writing poetry to inspire healing and growth. Pongo writes heartfelt poetry with youth who have experienced trauma at three sites in the Puget Sound region; the Children & Family Justice Center (CFJC), King County’s juvenile detention facility; the Echo Glen Children’s Center, a juvenile rehabilitation facility in Snoqualmie; and the Child Study Treatment Center (CSTC), the only state-run psychiatric hospital for youth in Washington State.
THE FREEDOM OF YOUR LIFE
Anonymous, age 12
If your freedom is the night
you know that the darkness will not bring you fright.
If you are out alone
but it looks like everything is unknown,
the darkness is full of surprises.
You never know just where it goes,
the moon shining up in the sky.
Where could it be up there?
If you know about the dark,
you got to know that you’ll never know
the full truth of the night.
Your freedom lies in the night sky.
Just remember everyday there is a night.
If your freedom is the light,
just remember light is there too.
You can turn freedom into both.
The night and the light comes through.
You can bring the freedom everywhere you go.
To galaxy 951, or to earth where we’ve begun.
Apollo rings, Osiris roars, Scorpio crawls, as Medusa falls
and that’s what makes your freedom
stronger than it was before.
Dedicated to my awesome teacher
FEELING LOST
By a young person, age 17
The first step can be the longest
when you want to go back in time
for a change
Like making amends
The first step can be the most challenging
when you fear death
Death is cold
like the arctic
Stepped in
Shocked
The first step can be the hardest
when you fight against faith
Like losing somebody or someone
It’s confusing
You’re lost for words
Abandoned
The first step is often the loneliest
when you don’t know if you’re going to make it
through night and day
Lost in the jungle
Trying to find your way
Survival
The first step can be an opening
where the possibilities include a change in life
Where you can see the light
It looks like the sunset
over the ocean
at Kalaloch beach
The first step can be an ending
when you think you will lose your mind
and control over self
seeing hurt
The first step can be a thrill
when you experience regaining composure of self
When that happens
I will be home with family
Connecting
Building a relationship
Laughing, joking around
The first step can be joy
when you celebrate the things that I achieved
and the goals I want in the future
That celebration is happiness
At ease
Relaxed
“We connect the mosaic tiling to geometry (area, perimeter, and spatial reasoning). One of the greatest parts of this is seeing the kids who are typically more “right brained” shine and lead the class. This taps into areas of the brain that a majority of the kids are not used to using. Starting with a smaller tile and then using the larger one is a great way to scaffold the activity.”
– Erin Graham, Susan Knottnerus, Ordway 3rd grade Classroom Teachers, describing Resident Teaching Artist Tim Lowell
Vicky Edmonds from New Canoe Media on Vimeo.
“…because it allows ALL students to have an opportunity to explore dance, as some of our students might not get that chance otherwise…they learned that they can express themselves and their creativity in many different ways… so important to their overall development and appreciation of their capabilities.”
– Megan Berg Blakely Elementary Kindergarten Classroom Teacher, describing Resident Teaching Artist Gary Reed
“My favorite part was all of it. She was so good, I didn’t want her to go.“
- Zoey (3rd Grade), Wilkes Elementary Classroom Teacher, describing Resident Teaching Artist Vicky Edmonds
“Something new to me was learning I can move my body like a sea creature.”
- Cypress (2nd Grade), Wilkes Elementary Classroom Teacher, describing Resident Teaching Artist Karen Harp-Reed
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