Life in My Cell

As I went to my cell all cold with dread

I took a look at my life and realize I'm dead.

Sitting on my bed in this smelly cell

I realize I cannot tell

the time it is until I get my bread.

Stuck in this hell

'til the day I'm frail

that's the day I might get out on bail.

But until that day,

I'm stuck in jail.

J.F.

Life of an Addict

I remember when I was eight and innocent

little and non-belligerent

Thought I could touch the sky

was never getting high.

I remember when I was twelve

turning into a mischievous little elf

being rambunctious

and obnoxious.

I remember when I turned fifteen

trying to be prestigious and always unclean

I used to be muscular and lean

now I'm filthy skinny and mean

doing drugs and trying to be unseen.

Life is taking me on a roller coaster that never stops

always being looked for the the cops

now I'm hated by my pops.

Disowned and alone where else is there to go?

My thought process is slow, I'm in an addiction

I can't let go.

Sleeping outside in the cold night 

Waking up to a fist fight

when there's hardly even any light

what as this world come to?

Rage and destruction and sometimes the deadly flu

When I die show no pity,

send my soul to a peaceful city. 

E.V.

Origami cranes and boxes folded by the youth for a Christmas Tree, donated to a local fundraiser. 

The Silence Within

  There's this noise.  Not really a noise.  More of a silence.  It occurs when the cell doors are shut behind you.
  Once the door to your cell shuts, the silence slithers under the door, through the cracks of the walls and window.  Not even sleep can conquer this recurring silence.  Not even books or music can terminate the quiet that creeps into your mind.
  The quiet of the unit creeps into your veins.  No matter how many books you try to read, it still seeps in.  You can sing, you can whistle, you can thump beats to a song you know, but no matter how hard you try, the silence stays inside you.  To eliminate the silence, you must leave the cell.
  But there's a catch.  The cell can't and won't open, unless you find yourself within. That could take days, months, even years.  Some kids can find themselves within like a snap of their fingers.  Others have to completely change their lifestyle in order to get out of the recurring silence that haunts within.
  There can be a pause to the silence.  But it's only temporary.  Like a taste of what you can get once you free yourself.  Like a lick of freedom.  But not really.  Hence the part where it says a pause.  Sometimes you can surround yourself with other kids that are trapped inside one of their own beings.  The tricky part is to avoid the kids who are so stuck they try sucking others that have worked to get out of themselves.  To free your own being you must avoid the trapped ones.
  If you truly want to conquer the silence you must believe in change.  You must believe in yourself and know you can be normal.  You must have hope and faith and be humble enough to make a better being of yourself for your own sake.
  But if you don't, you may have to surrender yourself to the silence for longer than you thought.  The deeper the silence gets, the harder it is to free yourself of the haunting silence within you.
          M.A.