World Poetry Day reminds people of the power that language has to create individual and system change. Peer Power Youth’s Young Partners use their creative skills to write poetry about their experiences in the social justice system. Here are some poems and creative pieces written by Young Partners that highlight the lasting impact of the justice system.
My Message
(1)
Yesterday was hard to live with.
All the memories flooding back.
Sat in managed away remembering,
My head full of anxieties.
My life looked worthless.
I tried to control myself but everything else got in my way. Hoping it would go away:
No support from anyone.
My present is getting better.
Managing myself more and getting more support every day: feeling happier.
It makes me feel better about myself and happier for my family.
I am starting to appreciate the bad memories more.
My future is bright and I want to help other people. Whether working with kids or being a police officer,
I want to help people with their problems.
I have the power to change my future and try and do my best in life.
(2)
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, Exercising helps improve your health and brain. Don’t smoke or drink,
Be responsible and have respect,
Treat people the same and get happy effects.
Listen to staff and you’ll get out quicker,
The more you mess about and go round and round you get stuck.
Don’t chat rubbish yeah bruv!
To the staff:
I don’t know how you do this job sometimes. You’re life savers cause you save lives.
I like poems it makes me feel calm after,
Don’t bottle it up or cause harm.
Caged and Free
(1)
I am caged by social services.
They keep me locked up when they don’t know what to do.
The cage feels horrible and sometimes scary. It looks like secure and court on repeat.
To escape the cage I need support and social services to care.
To me freedom is being out with my mates, having a laugh, and acting.
With freedom I could go far in life and help other people.
I could help people still trapped by telling them my experiences and supporting them through theirs.
(2)
Freedom is priceless,
Free the guys they need freedom,
Our voices broke in Year 9/Year 10/Year 11, Voices is still breaking, hasn’t broken yet.
We use our voice to be heard, and to voice our opinions To speak, communicate
Don’t use our voice to listen
Don’t use our voice for violence.
We use our voice for most things,
We use our voice to get our emotions across, to spread awareness What if everyone else was able to use their voice apart from you? This is jail.
We’re chatting to the Govs but they’re not hearing us.
(3)
I am caged by jail.
The jail looks like bars.
To escape the jail I must keep my head down.
Freedom is life.
Being free is important
Without freedom I feel trapped.
I am Caged
I am caged by my inner demons. Fiction or the truth, do they exist? I need to impress that girl, but I put on a persona. The cage feels like metal lining with electricity running through, making it a hazard to break through. It feels like a bag over your head in Guantanamo and water is pouring into your mouth.
It looks like the endless Indian ocean. You can’t really swim across the Indian ocean? To escape the cage, I need David Goggin’s discipline. I need to stop making excuses for myself and have a don’t think just do mentality. Freedom is not endless amount of cash. It’s smiling and mastering the art of not giving a f*ck. To think that person’s opinion of me is not going to give me another pay cheque.
It’s thanking yourself for being alive and healthy. It sounds like birds chirping in the early hours of the morning. The smell of fresh street food, it’s telling that girl you find her leng. Its overcoming.
With freedom I could be anyone I what to be. Take on new challenges without fear, being assertive, you could do anything you put your mind to. Without a cage I could flourish, my skin clear, me, myself and I. So am I caged by my demons? The answer is yes.
Imagine if we…
Imagine if we lived in a world where murder was never committed.
Where lies were never told. Where the rich built towns for the poor. Racism became non-existent. Opportunities came back to those who beg for only one.
People never tried to backstab nor gossip. Ignorance never occurs not arrogance.
Negligence to children who long to be loved by there parents. Negotiations took place to resolve. Violence being the absolute last result. Trust in others being the first thoughts, instead of being thought twice.
Trees were cared for, animals were loved. Homes being given to the homeless and money never as powerful as what it is…
Imagine if we lived in a world where we could be free, but have morals to survive off the power of love.
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