National Adult Literacy Database

February 8, 2010

This week, we have a poem written by Kayla Saunders, from Bradford, Ontario. Kayla is enrolled in Literacy and Essential Skills classes at the Bradford Learning Centre. She wrote this poem after enduring abuse at the hands of a man that she considered as a father. After she reported this, he committed suicide, blaming her in his note. Kayla wrote the poem to explain why many young people choose to use drugs, to escape the heavy burdens of reality.

My escape

by Kayla Saunders

I take my second big hit
The dark room becomes lit
It's starting to make me feel good
Just like it should
I'm confused, and I don't care to worry
My memories are becoming blurry
By the time the joint comes back around
I can't get off the ground
Starting to loosen up, I'm starting to forget
My heart is beating so fast, I'm starting to sweat
Can't remember what pill I took
Didn't bother to look
As long as it takes everything away
And eases the pain for today
It's my turn again, I cough and choke
But I still take another toke
I'm so happy, it's unreal
I can't explain how great I feel
So many ridiculous words are spoken
My heart no longer feels broken
Laughing so hard I begin to cry
I can hardly hold my head up high
He is no longer swaying from a tree
Now nothing can bother me
My pulse is really starting to race
But at least I can't see his face
I can try to quit
Or cut down a little bit
But this is all I can do to make him go away
Because he haunts my mind every second of the day