alexinwords.com

by Alex Russell

It’s easy to go through life and forget about those in prison, to write them off as lost or worthless. It’s just as easy to stereotype the men and women who serve them. This weekend at a Pongo Publishing workshop I met a few of these professionals and learned about working with youth in detention and other extreme living situations. The experience made any convenient forgetfulness and attendant stereotypes impossible.

The workshop was an all-day immersion in Pongo-founder Richard Gold’s methods to teach poetry-writing to troubled kids. He’s been in institutions and shelters for 14 years now, and plenty of times he’s seen the act of writing poetry really make a difference in a kid’s life.

“At its deepest,” says Gold, “it’s very profound and gets to some very spiritual issues, like reconciling our experience in the world and staying strong through it.”

While rewarding, it’s not always easy. Pongo teachers, Gold says, are like receptacles for the pain kids release when given the medium of poetry. He and his volunteers teach six months out of the year because it’s easy to burn out taking on stories about everything from violence and loss to rape and prostitution. He doesn’t try to produce published poets—the majority of kids have such low self-esteem that any real critiques would do more harm than good—but the poetry they produce is always rich with emotion, and often surprisingly beautiful.

At the workshop I met a few people who work with kids in detention day in and day out, and it struck me how caring they were. First of all, these therapists and counselors paid money to give up a whole Saturday to learn how to better serve the kids. And while many of them never had the inclination to write poetry, they jumped right in, nerves and all.

People like Gold, and many others who work with kids in extreme life situations, are not satisfied with doing only what’s necessary in life. They actively do good for those many people never think about. It’s people like these who make the stretch when government spending falls short and the social safety net is riddled with holes. They remind us of what we all should do, and that there is always help and encouragement when we are ready to begin.