by Michaela J. Cook
Second Place Student
Aching for freedom
With my mind and body
Held captive by another
My hopes will no longer be
Acknowledged
My identity grows to be
A weary fractured soul
Searching no longer as a
Girl with hopes and dreams
I have become a
Faceless entity
That
Will be remembered only by
Those who exploited me
(Now read from bottom to top.)
The theme of this poem is a girl who has been victimized by sex traffickers and the struggle of her identity that transforms into an identity that is healing with newfound hopes.
Michaela J. Cook is an MSW student at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee who has an interest in working with at-risk youth and victims of human trafficking by fusing creative expression with evidence-based therapeutic intervention.