Category: Poetry

Teen Tuesday: The Time is Now for Pongo Teen Poetry

11/26/2013

Pongo Teen Writing is a non-profit organization that offers poetry writing programs to at-risk teenagers who may be in jail, a psychiatric hospital, or have other difficulties. Through Pongo, teens are offered a creative outlet. Although this program is geared toward troubled teens, anyone can use their methods to inspire creativity. The website publishes teen poetry and offers a quarterly $100 Pongo Prize.

Based in Seattle, Pongo was founded by Richard Gold in 1992. Richard “is a man with a huge heart -- generous, thoughtful, and compassionate, who wants to make a difference in the world,” says Ann Teplick, a Pongo mentor for 13 years.

Why has Ann volunteered for over a decade? Richard's leadership is one reason. The other is the teens themselves. “I am most interested in story, and in helping to get the stories from those whose voices are often overlooked....”

At home, teens can use the site's Writing Activities which offer a blank page to write, a randomly suggested activity, or a featured activity, such as a template to create a poem about courage and fear. Obviously the process is different when Ann and other volunteers work with a teen in a psychiatric hospital. “When we meet with the teens, we share our belief that they have important things to say, and that the world needs their stories. We share the value of writing from the heart about who we are as people.... One technique we offer as a structure, is to take dictation. To sit with the writer and let him or her talk. We might ask, 'What’s on your mind?' They might respond, 'I wish my mother did not have so many boyfriends.' We are the scribe. We record what they say. We ask them questions along the way, guide them. This may evolve into a Wish poem with the poetic device of repetition."

Write Your Own Wish Poem

To write your own wish poem, follow the structure from the Pongo website:

when I was young I used to wish______________
today I wish________________________________
everyday I wish ____________________________
my wish is the color of___________(yellow flowers, blue ice, ???)
it is the sound of_____________________________
(amusement parks, a match lighting, ???)
my wish feels like_______________ (a birthday cake with lit candles, a stomach churning, ???)
my wish is always___________________________
my wish is never____________________________
my wish is _________________________________

The Time Is Now: Advice from Ann

The time is now! Take a risk and jump in. You will never be sorry. Find a creative writing class (on and/or offline). Find a writing community of teens. Seek resources from teachers, writing centers, community centers, afterschool arts non-profits. Find your people and dialogue, share your work, your ideas. Support one another. It takes a village. Really.”

Sample Poetry from a Pongo Teen

Want to Learn More?

For more information about Pongo Teen Writing, visit their website.

For more information about Ann and her experience at Pongo, check out her article (originally published in Hunger Mountain, journal of The Vermont College of Fine Arts).

Ann Teplick is a poet, playwright, prose writer and teaching artist. In addition to working with Pongo and facilitating poetry circles with youth at the state psychiatric hospital, she also works with Seattle Writers in the Schools program at Seattle children's hospital and with Coyote Central, an arts program for middle school youth. She recently received funding from Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, and Artist Trust, to adapt her young adult novel, Hey Baby, Wanna Dance? (a story about gender identification and homophobia among teens) into a stage play.

Rolling Down on Me
by a young woman, age 17

I am very sad.
I feel like breaking down--
Like a bridge collapsing
Due to holding on to so many barriers,
Keeping so many cars from falling
Into the river below.

My dad is a car.
I’ve been run over so many times.
Yet I feel that he’s been run over, too.
I’d like to turn the anger around.
I wish we could have been
A bridge for each other.
My dad is in prison for 23 years.

My sisters and my family are cars
On the bridge.
I want to keep them from being like my dad.
They’re struggling.
My little sisters have been adopted,
My older brother has a guardian,
My other brother is in foster care,
And my other brother is in a group home.

I am a bridge.
I want to keep everyone safe
And be strong for them,
But I’m not doing well myself.
I wish I could be there for them,
But instead I’m in here.

I am a bridge that has cracks in it --
The cracks in my heart.
Dedicated to my dad and my family

Teen Tuesday: The Louisville Review

Teen Tuesday: The Time is Now for Pongo Teen Poetry

Write Your Own Wish Poem

The Time Is Now: Advice from Ann

Sample Poetry from a Pongo Teen

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Teen Tuesday: The Louisville Review

Teen Tuesday: The Time is Now for Pongo Teen Poetry

Write Your Own Wish Poem

The Time Is Now: Advice from Ann

Sample Poetry from a Pongo Teen

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