The teen poetry collections below are currently in print and available for sale. A complete list of books published by Pongo and more sample poems from these collections  can be found in the Teen Poetry section of our site.

KENAN, age 17

Hurt

Hurt is a painful thing

an emotion which comes about

after events happen in your life.

As I remember, I’ve had hurt

ever since I was about six years old.

I felt the hurt from my mom

when my father would actually hurt her.

I felt the hurt when my sisters

got assaulted in multiple ways by my dad.

I felt the hurtful pain when

drugs took my spot in my father’s heart.

I felt the hurt when my dad left

for years upon years.

Hurt is a thing we all feel.

It makes you feel emerged with hate

and thoughts that you wouldn’t imagine.

Hurt is a thing—a feeling

that made me who I am today

and it’s hurt

I want to thank.

My Spaceship
by Peter, age 16

Sleepless nights
Like I am on a rocket ship
Flying through the solar system
Upside down, right side up
Chilling in a spaceship
The walls melt
And the days are endless
It feels like I am in a labyrinth of time and space
I feel trapped with no way of escaping
Sleepless nights because of my mania
My eyebrows are stuck up
Because my eyes won't blink
My skin feels like wax
Touching my hands, my fingers stick like plaque
My whole face feels numb
I try to close my eyes, but they are stuck open
Constantly jolting up
That is my bipolar 

There Had to Have Been
by Chantal (age 14)

There’s no important person in my life.
There just isn’t.
Hasn’t always been this way. 

At some point there had to have been a person
That made me feel
Happy,
As happy as my splat pink hair. 

At some point there had to have been a person
That made me feel
Loved,
As loved as a small baby bluebird
In Mama Bluebird’s nest. 

At some point there had to have been a person
That made me feel
Important,
As important as The President
At her inauguration. 

Right now
There’s no important person in my life,
But at some point
There had to have been.

Lost
by Payton (age 15)

I am 15 and I am lost don’t know
what to do.  lost because I get no love.
lost because I messed up my life.
lost because my dad left for some
women.  lost because I got caught
up in gangs.  lost because I lost
real friends my family.  lost
because I screwed my life
up.  lost because I lost
respect and trust.  lost
because I am a kleptomaniac.
lost because I don’t show enough
love or respect to peers or elders.
lost because I am always in detention.
lost because I got nowhere to hide.
lost because I got no guardians.

What I Want
by Larissa (age 16)

I want to see you
But I need you to hold me
I want our friendship
But I need to trust
I want your love
But I need to learn to love
I want to believe
But I need to understand
I want to smile
But I need to cry first
I want closure
But I need a new beginning

How Tucked in the Corner
by Chuck (age 13)

You see that I’m alone
You see that I steal
But you don’t know me.

You would know me if
You knew how hard it was to live alone
You knew how love has hurt me
You knew your mom didn’t love you.

You see that I smoke
You see that I fight
But you don’t know me.

You would know me if
You knew how I turn emotions to haze
You knew how I don’t fear death
You knew how tucked in the corner was sadness.

Dedicated to my mom

untitled
by ajp

you say i'm cute
you're up on me
     till you know
you tell me i'm not a guy
     when you find out i'm not bio
what's wrong with not being bio
why can't i just be a boi

If God Were Looking at My Life
by Cedric (age 16)

He'd wonder why I sin so much.
He'd understand that I'm a whole man,
     That I can take care of myself.
He'd know the way things had gone. Bad.
     My parents don't care about me.
He'd remember when I was very little. I was
     Confused because I wasn't with my real
     People.
He'd know that I'm trying to change.
He'd know that it is hard to change. The people
     I deal with are the people that raised me,
     My friends. They've got me confused.
He'd want me to understand that life is better
     Than I'm making it.
If God opened a new door for me,
     It would lead me to my childhood again.
Then I could start all over with my life.
     Be treated like a human. Not treated
     As a thug.

I Feel Like a Lion
by Ann (age 17)

Dear Dad,

My life right now is f__ked up. I'm in jail, and I know you've been there too. It feels like I'm following the whole entire footsteps of your life.

You may think I was young, but then I still knew what you was doing when you treated mom bad. You'd take her money and spend it on beer and drugs and sometimes your other females.

I remember the time you brang a b____ home, and I kicked her and closed the door. You didn't care about none of us, but you are my dad. And I do still have love for you, even if you are dead.

It's hard loving someone who treated me this way. Sometimes I wish you were alive so I could tell you how I felt and how it affected me, the way you treated my family.

You Wish I Was The Girl I Was
      by Sherita (age 17)

Dressed in all white
Wearing my blue slip-on shoes
Hair pressed out to my shoulders
With my blue and white purse
Rushing to get to Sunday School
With you, Grandma,
And my sisters

I was respectful
Your favorite granddaughter
Not doing any drugs
Going to school
Dreaming that I can be an artist
Drawing hearts with birds
Whose beautiful voices were
Telling you, Grandma,
Have faith in Sherita
She'll become the girl she was
Real soon

Dedicated to Grandma