Voices of Youth, Voices of Community
A selection of poems written from
Mosaic's 2009 Voices of Youth Series


Mother
I just want to rip my hair out,
we can't just work this out.
Where are you going?
Please don't leave me here.
Mom, come back, don't leave me
here with him. My heart
has enough sad dark secrets.

Are you blinded by some slick way of seduction?
Can you not smell the thick air of lies
smothering you in your own cloud of cancer
and denial that causes you to chose a man
over your own flesh and blood.
Destini


A Heart Turned Hard
Feeling so much pain turns a boy's heart,
which is naturally caring and loving,
to being cynical and self righteous.
Their was a time when all I wanted to do
was love unconditionally, yet so much
manipulation and indignation robs
the boy of his innocence.
My opinion finally turned to the notion
of punk or get punked.

As the younger me, I could not see myself
skimping your bag, or telling you:
"Don't you fuck with me."
But, the cycle of society makes us hard at heart.
Not our own will, but that reciprocal relationship
becomes what we pass down
from one generation to the next.
Justin


Abandonment
How does a mother leave her child?
Maybe in the middle of doing laundry,
when the smell of bleach reminds
you of your own mother;
how when you were only 13,
she swallowed a bottle of pills,
and you found her the next morning,
lying there amongst the unfinished chores.

She hadn't wanted this life;
those chores or those children.
You laughed hysterically at her funeral.

Your dad felt responsible. You found
stacks of letters from her,
blaming him for her pain.
She hired a detective once to follow him,
trying to prove that he wasn't loyal.
But, the report only showed him
going to work, and coming back home.

I remember sitting in the bathtub
while you threatened to leave me again.
You smashed a dish on the floor
while screaming and screaming.
She drove herself crazy, your mother.
In a way you did too.
Mary



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