As part of the project, young people got the chance to do a lyricism session with Liam Kritikal Powers. Liam taught the group ways to construct poems before together we wrote a list of rhyming words we could use in the poems. This is called Stacking Bars and it helps when it comes to writing.
Once we had created lots of rhyming words, the group started to write their own poems about emotions associated with the care journey.
The group really enjoyed working with Liam and exploring writing styles and structure. Here are the groups powerful finished poems…
Care
I’m falling down, down a well, about to hit the waters,
14 years ago my mum said goodbye to her sons and daughters,
It taught us life is not a race, I can be as slow as a tortoise.
I know I’m not strong, I may break down,
It’s like I’m an old sock in lost and found,
But I wont frown.
I’m going to build my life bigger and tall,
Sometimes it feels like a suicide mission,
And I’m about to fall.
But then something happened to me,
I got a new family, they gave me love, care,
And by God they were fair.
I lived good with them, until I was 15,
It turned obscene,
I said to my new mum, “why you crying, mum give me the answer”,
At the age of 38 she had developed Cancer.
Below: Liam working on lyrics with Kate.
Life is a lesson
I always feel so uncertain,
My life hit a diversion,
All this pain all this hurting,
A one time version.
My aggression held the confession,
Of a broken time that I had never spoken,
I was beating and cheating and sneaking astray,
I wouldn’t dare share my fear of obsession,
And oppression that I felt,
Life is a lesson of a never ending session,
Finding a profession of something I hate.
I had been taken, awakened from a dream,
Taken abroad like a football team,
Hurting, I was alerting the curtain of trust,
Surviving this token, the drive was a must.
I want to feel safe
My face doesn’t even show an expression,
Everyone tells me I’ve got depression,
It’s only because I’m in care,
But nobody seems to be there,
I keep moving from stranger to stranger,
Am I in some sort of danger?
I’m sick of having to think things twice,
I want to feel safe in my life.
I wouldn’t dare
I’m in care, I wouldn’t dare,
It’s like being stuck in a box, square,
Feel like no one cares,
I’m stuck around strangers,
I start to think about all the dangers,
I wish I could say see you later,
Now I have an obsession,
I need to admit my confessions,
I have so much aggression,
I have learnt many life lessons,
But now I want to set an impression,
Something that will last forever.
Open Book
Sometimes life is good in care,
But at first it gave me a scare,
I did not know why I was there,
Sometimes I feel it’s just not fair.
Once my feelings had been spoken,
And I realised I wasn’t broken,
I used to show no emotion,
But now the pages of my book are open.
Fight it
I get told I’m going into care,
Everyone looks and starts to glare,
I get in the car, tears roll down my face,
My heart is beating, it starts to race.
The car starts moving, my hand starts to wave,
I now feel as if I am trapped in a cave,
My stomach turns, what if I don’t like it?
I’m strong inside, I will have to fight it.
Progression
When I got brought into care, I did not dare,
To talk about anything, but we did many things,
I showed no expression, made a lot of progression,
Now I want to share, I am standing there,
With nothing but a chair.
On the edge
From the age of 10, my life was broken,
And all of my possessions were rudely taken,
Always trying, but end up bleeding,
Watching others cope I think they’re cheating.
Wanting to talk to someone because I feel I have depression,
But people say, I just do it for attention,
Losing everything, feeling really bare,
Never really thought that I would end up in care.
Got people saying I need to make a good impression,
But all I am getting is constant aggression,
Walking on the edge with nowhere to hide,
Thinking of taking my life, but at least I can say I tried.
My only friend is a strong piece of rope,
Not sure how long I can carry on like this, not sure how I can cope,
With everything that’s been said I’m really hurting,
Just want to hide from it all behind a huge curtain.
The group created some powerful poems, excerpts of which may be used in the booklet we produce, along side the story shaped by the group and written by Paolo Hewitt.
#acarestory
