Youth Voice Writing Contest 2022 — Finalist, Poetry
A world without foster care
Let me think on that for a minute
Recall all the memories of
Times I had never spent in it
I would have never been neglected
I would be loved by Mom and Dad
I would live with my siblings
And my life would not be sad
I would have never been smacked on the head
Glasses flying clean off my face
Or foster dad screaming at me
That I am such a disgrace
I would have never been neglected
At the tender years of infancy
No oxygen tubes as a baby
No juvenile delinquency
I would have never been so shy
Frightened to death to speak up
For no foster parents to say to me
You’re not good enough
And to all the peers in foster care
That I would have never had
They would never have to worry
About their things being in trash bags
And they would never have to worry
About moving from place to place
Or keeping some major anonymity
For no system would hide their face
I would have never gotten the strength
Or grow in the turmoil of adversity
I would’ve never advocated for social change
For foster youth to represent through diversity
I would have never had a story
That showed how much I’d overcome
I would have not had the obstacles
And battles would not have been won
After giving it some thought
And pondering this idea:
To me,
A world without foster care
Leaves a world without resiliency