Yusuf, 16
The Adventure We Never Asked For
They say life is an adventure,
But they never mentioned this one.
Not the kind where you pack your bags and run—
But the kind where they take you from home,
From everything you’ve ever known.
The kind where the world is heavy,
But you carry it alone.
They took me from my mum,
She cried, and I didn’t understand.
What’s the point of adventure if it’s not by hand?
I wanted her arms, not strangers’ hands.
I wanted her voice, not bureaucracy’s commands.
A child in care,
They slap a label on your name,
But never ask you,
Never listen to the pain.
An adventure where the path’s unclear,
Where home feels distant, year after year.
The paperwork piles high,
Like walls around my heart,
They tell me, “You’re safe now,”
But they don’t see the scars that never part.
Every move, every change,
It doesn’t feel like living,
It feels like rearranging
Trying to fit in spaces that were never made for me.
I’m a number, a case,
In a system that’s broken,
More concerned with ticking boxes
Than hearing words unspoken.
Where’s the funding for the help I need?
Where’s the care when I’m out here,
Lost and alone,
Trying to figure out who I’m supposed to be?
No adventure here, no golden quest,
Just a fight to survive,
Trying to find a way to feel alive.
I wonder, if they look deep enough,
Will they see the story in my eyes?
Will they hear the dreams I still carry inside?
I want to be seen.
I want to be heard.
But all I hear is silence,
My thoughts, they blur.
A life of adventure?
Maybe, but in my own way—
Not by their rules,
But by the strength I find each day.
I’m more than the paperwork,
More than the labels they give,
I’m a story in the making,
And I’ll find my way to live.
