The Story of My Heart—Pongo Poetry from Child Study and Treatment Center

In a poem called “Can You Hear Me Yet?” Wyatt, age 14, writes, “I just met my mom this year / I was told my family all died / But there my mom was, waiting for me / on the porch at my aunt’s house.” Bam! In this collection, poems spring from revelation, trouble, complexity, difficulty, and the sheer honesty of young voices. The book is a testament of life, spoken by participants in the great Pongo writing project of Seattle, which has, for many years, supported youth who experience trauma. The streets are not easy. The days do not always shine. But the Pongo project is miraculous. Sure, poetry is art, but it has also been essential therapy forever. Kudos to Richard Gold and the hardworking staff and mentors who make this miracle happen.

Through juvenile detention centers, psychiatric hospitals, community health centers, and elsewhere, the counselors and teachers of Pongo conduct their profoundly supportive work, encouraging young voices to experiment with language and share their perspectives. In surveys conducted since 2005, 1,580 young writers reported very positive effects from their creative-writing workshops. Ninety-nine percent said they enjoyed their writing experience, and 81 percent said they felt better after writing. On the back of this anthology, I wrote, “The happy contagion which springs from telling one’s own true story, writing one’s own thoughts, following the trail of imagination … passes from person to person as a healing gift.”

The group poems are often as moving and meaningful as those by individuals. Poet Ellen Bass celebrates how the poems in this book “speak of strength and resilience” as well as hardship, and she quotes Sasha, who writes, “The story of my heart is so high and shiny, only eagles hear it. Deep and velvety—moles wear it tunneling home.” Pongo could be a model for every city in the world. National trainings and free web resources are offered via www.pongpoetryproject.org.