We had a contest/ who could write the best haikus?/ Jasmine Ayla won.

Here’s her winning entry:

And the nights are dark,

drowning in my tears and fears.

I’m afraid to run.

Runner-Up goes to James Ziegenblag for this wonderful poem:

Running from my past, memories of Mexico haunt me in my dreams.

And Honorable Mention to Meyla Atkinson :

Tiny room alone my brain forgets who I am I love my captors.

Here are the rest of haikus, and they are all good:

Jasmine Ayla

(the syllables are off but I liked this one so I put it in anyway):

they took away our freedoms

at the expense of their own soul

and we’re the winners in the end



A haiku for WWASP-

you took advantage of me

I was just a child.



You wore women’s pants,

couldn’t look me in the eye,

still dreamed about you.



The beans made us fart,

some choked on the pigeon soup,

but we loved Sundays.



Seagulls overhead,

concrete’s always beneath me.

I wish I could fly



A lost family,

the seconds drip like honey,

a forgotten life.



Our lonely souls trapped,

adults’ vested interests,

dollar signs floating



Luke said, ‘you are bad’,

and Dace said ‘you deserve it’,

Their goal was money.



Who am I after,

endless manipulation,

forever less whole.



Meyla Atkinson

Trapped, must escape wwasp

locked doors, tall fence, free sky above

can I levitate?



Concerning my sleep deprivation “process”:

day one: bright hallway

day two: pester when I sleep

day three: only blackness



Can’t eat for the loud

torture noises through the wall.

Will I be hurt next?



Music as torture

Loud and unstoppable noise.

The songs still haunt me.



Angelique Rochelle

WWASP, say what the fuck!

you dirty stinking bastards.

inbred, overfed.



Bill Boyles

Beaten down like dogs,

fighting and clawing for rank.

Crabs in a bucket.



Pain was just the start.

They tried to steal my mind but

could not steal my soul.



Alone in a group

I cannot even trust my “friends”.

They are in it too.



Crack a Mormon joke!

Utter silence in the car…

oops Jason is one.



Hear Tony Robbins?

I cannot bear it again

yet I know I must.



Droning while I eat,

they are laughing while i sleep-

but silence is worse.



Some dumb video

I have seen one hundred times.

Must pretend to watch.



Peeking at the girls.

Try not to get caught by staff.

Deep shit if I do.



My youth was misspent

languishing in a teen jail

I did not deserve.



James Ziegenbalg

And the nights are dark,

drowning in my tears and fears

I’m afraid to run.



Strangers at my door

in the middle of the night,

paid to kidnap me.



Robert B. Lichfield,

the man who made his millions

by torturing kids.



What is the true cost

of an ill begotten wealth?

The price of our youth?



Numb to the abuse-

palms up, palms down, palms apart-

keep it together..



Back straight, looking straight,

keep those sandals together.

Do not break structure.



No teen boy should know

his size in women’s clothing

It’s just that simple.



I suffered for it-

The greed of Robert Lichfield!

How many more must?



Some of us forgive,

but the pain that we all shared

we will NOT forget!



Thirty thousand bucks…

I would have liked to believe

My youth was worth more.



Chelsea Filer

Ugh! What is that smell?

Back at Casa instantly.

It’s Fabuloso.



Chelsea Maldonado

Across the ocean,

a paradise filled with pain.

Longing to go home.



“Rescue me!” I pray,

whispered to a deity,

one I don’t believe.



My youth is long gone,

stolen on a distant beach.

Cannot get it back



Jessie Krohn

Storming screaming skies

rage pain steals time fight lost years

forever haunted.



Ryan Jeambey

Pooping on poop pile.

Le Tiara sucks my ass.

Glad I am home now!



Alexei Lindes

Alexei is a Heritage School survivor and wrote some haikus about his similar experience. Alexei is a dedicated survivor advocate!



Some are kinda hot.

Most are virgins.

I hate Utah.



I know I’m not supposed to…

I can be quiet.

Fuck. Masturbation resource team.



Amanda Dunn Keyes

Amanda is a survivor’s spouse and passionate advocate.



Survivor spouse, gasp!

….unprepared for damaged life…

eyes wide open now!



Memories come CRASH!

…spilled upon my lap again…

secrets cut like knives.