To Live Your Life

To Live Your Life,

To heal today I must forgive and forget.

If I don’t I’m no better than you and your acts.

The glass is too high for me on tiptoes.

I see frightened faces.

Get your ass up and be a man..

We broke the code of cool,

By undressing our souls,

Discarding robes of vanity and pride.

Learn from our mistakes young men and women,

You can have a beautiful future.

~Collaborative poem created by boys in the Evening Report Center. Each person randomly opened the book, “Letters to My Younger Self” and read that page, then shared a line or passage that struck a chord and touched their heart. This poem is made with the words that men from Graterford Prison in the Creative Writing workshop wrote to their Younger Selves -youth in juvenile detention centers - to share what they wish someone had shared with them when they were younger. These words touched home with the CCYC youth. What a powerful piece they created!