Freedom and liberty,
Twisted and turned.

Pulled apart literally,
Getting burned.
Lost in the mind palace,
No doubt about it.
Running for a chance,
Trapped inside it.
Remaining in pain,
Feeling stressed.
Standing in rain,
Being messed.
Finding a sanctuary,
To keep you safe.
Ready to escape,
The unsafe place.
Driving there with hope,
Determined to find his way.
In the hard and bumpy road

To freedom is where he’ll stay.

Touching the Clouds As I Go is a critical collection of reflections, poems, and stories from students in the Tuesday and Thursday Night Tutoring Program at 826LA in Echo Park. Throughout the fall, students incisively explored the question “What is Freedom?” Their responses strike both the mind and heart. In this book, you will find prose and poetry that is poignant, brave, and transformative. This collection also explores critical social justice issues and the challenges of unrestricted freedom. Finally, our students transport us into their personal lives and discuss how freedom–or it’s absence–conditions how they perceive, define, and navigate their worlds and dreams. We hope our young authors inspire, motivate, and fill you with hope.

Purchase the book here.

Interested in helping students write stories like these? Become a volunteer.