Since 2003 Art from Ashes provides poetry and creative workshops to high-risk youth, facilitating expression, connection and transformation among the most neglected and vulnerable segments of our community. Executive Director Catherine O’Neill Thorn tells host Nikki Kayser about conducting transformational poetry and spoken word workshops at juvenile detention facilities, treatment centers, and schools—including post-trauma workshops for Columbine High School students. For struggling youth she helps build strong interpersonal skills, encourages literacy, and empowers young people to lead confident, violence-free lives.
Featured Youth Poem
by Molly (Urban Peak)
Rocks
A big white bone. Solid, cold, unforgiving.
The hatred in my heart toward the ones
who did this to me. But like the bone,
my hatred is inside my body.
It will always be there, even
6 feet under.
A curved wooden stake. Pointed, smooth, sharp.
The pain I feel when I think of him.
Sharp & violent, like the death of a vampire, brought
about by the weapon I hold in my hand.
It will always be there, like a splinter,
deep in my skin.
A clean slate. Smooth, cold & open.
A blank canvas. A chance to
collect the shattered pieces of my life.
A moment of clarity. A chance to fix what was
broken.
I’m ready.
Rocks II
Chewing on my bone of contempt
my teeth will eventually break.
Holding onto my wooden stake of pain
I will eventually gain nothing but splinters.
My slate is still clean,
larger now, ready to carve
a new story with a happy ending
into the granite, kept for
all centuries.
Rocks III
Setting my pack down by the river, I pull out 3 things:
A bone, a wooden stake, a piece of clean granite.
The bone, my hatred. It floats down the river
and out of sight.
The wooden stake, my pain. I throw it
in the river and watch it drift away.
The granite. My optimism. I drop it and
it sinks.
I smile,
my optimism is here
to stay.
I pick up my pack and walk away
from the river of time.
