Everyone deals with anxiety in different ways and art can be positive outlet. For one of the summer 2020 projects youth were asked to create expressions through poetry and visual art focusing on their own anxieties and feelings.
Art & Poem by Abby Liang
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I tell myself to stop as I harshly yank my brain to come back
But instead, it hops like frog further and further into the future It feels like someone is strangling me It feels like piles of needles are piercing my hands So much to the point they’re numbed It feels like my heart is about to burst out That’s when the endless thoughts come creeping in “Am I doing enough” “She said I did good, but did I really?” Heck I’m even panicking whether this poem makes sense or not The cold breeze radiating from my window brushes my skin And that’s what brings me back into this scorching hot world My mind flies back and forth, like a bird trying to find their place I retract my wings as I remind myself that I’m not supernatural I can’t do everything, I cannot be the best I’ll never fully get rid of this anxiety parasite sticking against my body But I can try my best to diminish the anxiety particles I can control I gently breath in a ball of love, for myself, my body, my face and others Then through my mouth, I slowly breath out the tension I softly declare that I can become the best version of myself The envision of what’s best is like snowflakes Everyone has a different pattern and it may change overtime And I have decided that my snowflake Will be, to have the future generation experience the beauty in this world too |
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Art & Poem by Ai Huynh
Click to enlarge drawing
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Wake up(n)
1. There was a time where I was unsure. 2. Unsure whether the heartbeats in my heart were in panic or joy. 3. My thoughts race fast until I hear the words come out of my mouth. 4. “I’m scared” 5. And then I woke up. 6. I looked outside and realized.7. Let wake up from my slumber and reason with myself. 8. Let me get this straight. 9. I’m not ashamed of my pain. 10. Anxiety is not my name and I will not apologize for it |
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Beat & Poem by
Alan Navarro The way the world is going
It makes my head spin round. We’d like to thing it’s healthy But truthfully its going down There is not much time left to truly save the world But if we act fast, we can surely reverse the twirl. If we act now we can save the boys and girls It is not their fault, that the world is slowly dying Only thing we need, is for people to start trying. |
Beats & Prose by
Martin Finley I Can’t Breathe
I can’t BreatheI can’t breathe or have an anxiety attack when my asthma flares up or I’m having an attack. I start to panic sometimes when I’m gasping for air and my Inhaler doesn't work and I have to use my second Inhaler or my mom has to run the shower so I can have the steam to breathe. If all that doesn't work then I have to go to the hospital and they give me more treatment and I can calm down. They also give me a blue ball to squeeze so that I can calm down. I hate having asthma and allergies symptoms. But when I can’t breathe I just panic and have anxiety issues.Being able to Breathe is a very serious issue for me.BRRREEEAAATTTHHEEEEEEEE........ |
Poem by Anonymous
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Art & Poem by Alexzander Austin
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Forest Fire Demons Slam Poem
I scream Black Power even though I feel like I lost that power My mind doesn’t just have inner demons or shapeless voices destroying my thoughts and my choices. I have to look at my core lower than the floorA FIRE. Or something more. Something dire My own forest fire It continues to grow higher as my body becomes an immortal pyre. These flames I cannot see These flames won’t let me be. I am a prisoner in my own mind Now I find this fire I thought was just mine. All the time I lied and said I was just fine It was Something I should have left behind it has left my body but got stronger inside my mind. The world took my breath. You killed my clean air. As my fires and skin destroyed my voice. Now isn’t that fair. My head spinning, Continuing to tell me they don’t care Don’t care... D. O. N. T... The fires outside of my body kills the bear As my inner fires make me blare into the void Destroyed being able to share. |
But I am supposed to be a man
I need to try and do what I can But I never made a plan. I just want to make a stand The world you created for me is dying That doesn’t mean I am dying. Even though I am crying You Drain my water, Feed forest fires Then try to debate with about problems across the sea. Telling me about Isis Instead of saving polar bears where the ice is. Co2 fog is making it so people can not see. Can’t you see these are people like you and me I just hope one day I can flee Become my own tree. Instead of my own enemy unfazed by the fires within me Just let the planet be. So that I can see the beauty inside of me. Stop the Fire because my body is the tree. Concede your greed You Cut trees just to watch it bleed. I mustn’t cedeI dream of the day I am... FREED |
Art & Poem by Bibiana Casillas
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My Voice
My voice, I can't find it. Nowhere to be found, nowhere to be heard from. Is it under the sea with the turtles that wear plastic like necklaces, Is it in the forest where animals must leave because they got an eviction notice, Or is it lost between the many other voices grasping for the little air that we have left. Grasping for land that was never ours Or maybe we never had a voice to begin with. The world spins faster than the Tasmanian devil tornado, and it won't slow down. I can’t breathe, the air I breathe carries shards of glass. Shards inked with pollution. Maybe if I sleep I can dream of the perfect world, only then will I be at peace. |
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Poems by Monique Birdsong
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Air Pollution
Cough cough all this smoke in the air make it stop oh no the trees can’t produce oxygen oh how I mourn for the land animals oh when will they live in peace away from the smoke in the air oh make it stop, make it stop please, please, please shut off your factories oh how I am saddened so much smoke, ugh why won’t it stop oh why oh why we don’t need more smoke We need clean air. |
Trash
Splot, bam, cans falling everywhere oh no, a fish got trash in his gills. Cough Cough oh no, a deer swallowed a candy wrapper oh now in am in rage all these good animals are dying oh I feel down put your trash where it belongs not just anywhere. |
Art & Poem by Cameron Brown
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The Animator
Anxiety was and is a part of my life. Anxiety breaks pieces of me that I try to find in strife. Anxiety was my drunk father who was a mentally abusive lazy bum. A father that took me almost my entire life to overcome. Anxiety haunts my nightmares like an annoying ghost. Anxiety makes me an idiot and makes me hate myself the most. Even though anxiety is waiting and knocking outside my door. I won't answer, because I'm too busy being an awesome animator. |
Carly McClungArt by Dawson Lear, Eric Torres-Mejia and Carly McClung
Carly McClung
Carly McClung
Carly MArt & Poem by Ean Rains
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Through my head run the memories of the wrong I have done.
Every mistake cycles on loop, Every regret adds another boulder, The burden on my shoulders forces me into the dirt Pounding on my head, Hardening the exterior like bronze, But leaving me trapped in a shell of my own mistakes. My demeanor hard, but my core soft, I pray for someone, polished into a diamond, Pure enough to cut through the shell I have built, Built to keep myself in, And others out. With one crack, my shell could shatter, letting my emotions erupt, But with a clean cut, from someone polished inside and out, They would run free and constant, A state foreign to me for years. |
gArt by Jack Huggins, Naomy Napolitan and Rosalind Beattie
gArt & Poem by Emily Strand
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I’m Overthinking Again I’m overthinking again Thoughts swarm my brain Growing heavier and heavier But I can’t seem to catch them. They are alarms Pulsing urgency and danger But I can’t seem to hear them. There are thousands A million different things to consider But they don’t form into words. I finally reach them I grasp the questions I’ve created But I have no answer. Am I supposed to bring this? Did I forget something? Will I know anyone there? What do I do? Am I doing this wrong? What do I look like? How do I make a difference? |
I create false realities in my head
Tricking myself into believing them Paranoid about situations that don’t exist My bubble of thoughts enlarges Growing out of proportion What was I thinking about again? Overthinking my overthinking Stuck in a whirlpool of thoughts Stuck with a stomach of stones Stuck in time, frozen in place Stuck in my head, going in circles… Wait. I have to be conscious Speak out the worries Reflect them onto others Reflect upon myself I’m overthinking again The thoughts begin to shrink Everything seems so small Compared to the world before me That’s right Big projects, big problems Broken into pieces Into steps Into to-do lists I can do this And I’ll remember this for when I’m overthinking again. |
gStory & Poem by Micheal Herrera
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The Wrath of Mother Earth and the Story of Young Ava
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Anxiety
Anxiety is a sharp blade made to be wielded by those who control the strength of mind For this sacred blade has cut down even the strongest knights with fame Anxiety is a double-sided sword sharp enough to cut through any mental fortitude we place Your mind is a forest, a kingdom, a place of harmony away from these environmental problems To maintain your paradise and share you must venture beyond your gates and share your perfect world with the people in need and for future generations The blade of anxiety resets on every one of our shoulders and unsheathes when you are less prepared and most vulnerable. As a knight and fighter for a better world I to must face the terrifying sword and await its judging However, in your kingdom hope is never loss, for the inner strength and power to command this weapon comes with training and sharpening tool you already have Every great sword has a great knight behind it, King Arthur had not let Excalibur reach his wrong thoughts In every soul, will and fire, lies a courageous knight waiting to behold our sword Train your mind, your feelings and tame the beast anxiety and use it against the greater evil of our environmental issues. |
Poems by Juliet Kale
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It builds my body like it knows me.
It’s a second personality. I want it out. It stops me from seeing the future It’s the reason why I always worried, hold back, and have no confidence Why won’t it go? Is it following me? Did I do something? No It just lives with me. I deal with it but is that good? How does it feel to be free? To talk to people and not be afraid of what they think? To do the things I want to do in life not because I’m forced to. I can’t control myself Is it okay to feel this way? It feels like a punishment caused by me and I’m the only one who has to pay the price. Acrostic by Ruby Mendez
Anxious hearts
Numerous frustrations Xerothermic airs Internal troubles Endless worries Terminological confusions Youthful apprehensions |
HELP ONE HELP ALL
Don’t you see the world around you? It’s tearin up and you’re at home while some of us are fighting this battle alone More is better than one they say. Many can help many in different ways Until this becomes the earth we used to claim Air pollution which makes it harder to breathe And all the junk food, it damages our teeth And our health and our wealth it starts to decrease because we ain’t important to society But what about climate change? It’s a survival show for those who want their normal lives to maintain It causes storms, droughts, and dramatic heat waves Let’s fight together until there’s something to gain At least until those kids are saved Doesn’t this hurt you? Do you only have to help unless there’s pain in your heart? Come on get up, we can make it far. Some of us passed the beginning line When will you start? |
Poem &gPhotograph by Kwizi Ndogole
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Beautiful Creatures
Life is like a strong wind, that comes and destroys everything Leaving our life in worry and fear Leaving our life without hope Wondering and searching for hope How do I find hope? Hearing the sound of birds chirping Hearing the calm sound of rain Hearing the calm wind in the light fog forest Hearing the weave in the ocean makes my heart bloom All the worries and burdens fade away I finally have hope I see hope in my life I can breath Looking at these wonderful creatures makes my heart rejoice Life is a beautiful creation. |
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Art & Poem by Vanessa Sarabio
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I don’t understand why people like to ignore we’re in an
environmental crisis
They see the dryness of rivers, lakes, creeks
But they choose to ignore it
They hear the cries, screams, and weeps of those suffering
from this the most
But they choose to ignore
They feel the spring, summer, fall, and winter getting hotter
But they choose to ignore it
They taste the guilt, shame, and embarrassment for contributing
to this problem
But they choose to ignore it
It would be best if these feelings were acknowledged by the people who are feeling them
Specifically the reptiles that are in power so they stop making things worse for not just us but themselves as well
By choosing to never address the problems that we face environmentally, it impacts us physically, emotionally and mentally
But they choose to ignore it
The people have spoken
They want change
Enough of your discounts, your broken promises, your thoughts and prayers
They contribute nothing to the solutions that people have come up with to slow down our damaging lifestyle
But they choose to ignore it
The people started shouting
Shouting for change to occur as fast as possible so that future generations can live on and suffer less by the problems
caused by those who have lived long before us
Shouting for safer practices of activities that continuously keep damaging the Earth acting like we have a spare
But they choose to ignore it
The extent that the reptiles go to to silence those that are speaking their minds makes me feel like what I say that doesn’t mean anything
I could have evidence and reasoning to back up my point but so long as I’m a kid and a girl
I’ll still be ignored
Because I’m too young to know what I’m talking about and too delicate to fight for my rights to say what I want
I’ll be ignored
How much more fighting do they want out of us?
How many more petty arguments do they want us to start with people who will cover their ears when we speak our minds?
How bad does the Earth have to get for them to start taking things seriously and enact change?
Just how long am I supposed to wait to live in a place that’s clean enough for me to feel safe?
Art & Poem by Xander Stewart
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Anxiety is like a brother you never wanted
Always reminding you about things you said Those things that you said weren’t quite that bad But anxiety will say they are bad until you’re dead When you’re having a normal day in your life You try not to let anxiety get control of you But then it starts yelling questions in your head That make you question if you’re good or poo Anxiety has a few friends as well That can make your life feel very hard They’re depression, procrastination, and phobias But those are just the tip of the ice burg, just one shard Why can’t the anxiety just go away Well guess what it was evolution of the brain To make sure you didn’t die in the stone age But in these modern times, it just makes you go insane It won’t leave you alone at all ever You can’t hide the fact that you’ve felt it too Anxiety haunts us all at least one time in our life It breaks us, destroys us, and takes place in you It’s hard to comprehend how much anxiety can change us When you think about it to long it’ll take control of your life Trying to get rid of it unhealthily might just add to the problem So try not to think about it, oh wait, it feels impossible, like trying to leave a wife When life gives you lemons, they say make lemonade But it’s hard since anxiety makes you choke Anxiety keeps you from asking for help Even though the help might make you go woke. |
Poems by Vyvvian Barraza
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The world is not what it once was
Beautiful, green, untouched What is it like now? Dying, dark, polluted Do it for you Do it for the ones before us Do it for everyone already helping It’s time to stop taking advantage It provided for us in many ways How do we repay it? Pollution of trash, air, people Do it for the animals Do it for the generations to come Do it for the future of this Earth |
I’m completely sane and okay
But there’s times where my thoughts say Are they judging me? No I’m the only one judging me I plea for them to stop but they don’t seem to go away It weighs on my shoulders all day My thoughts portray that I’m not good enough I would get rid of them if I could, I don’t ask for them, No one does They’re intruders |
