It started as a creative writing assignment.
It turned into a national award and workshop in Vancouver.
Lauren Klassen, a teacher at Oskāyak High School, liked what she read, and encouraged students to submit their poems to Poetry in Voice’s FutureVerse competition.
“At first, I was kind of hesitant because I thought I didn’t stand a chance,” Jonah Harris said about his submission. “I just decided to go for it and see, you know. I didn’t think much of it, I just signed up.”
In March, 2025, Jonah learned that he and two of his classmates (Kaysie Morin Prosper and Madison Turner) were among the 30 participants shortlisted from the 1,200 submissions from across Canada.
A few weeks later, he found out he was one of 16 winners (referred to as FutureVersers by the organization) and was invited to a four-day, all-expenses-paid, poetry intensive and workshop in Vancouver.
Writing was not new for Jonah. He has been writing since he was seven or eight years old as a way to express himself. “I’m not a talkative person. Writing is how I express myself, it’s how I speak with myself, like my emotions. Writing and poems is the way I vent.”
Jonah also does powwow dancing as a creative outlet and way to express himself. He has done grass, fancy and traditional, and now dances chicken.
His winning poem, The Weight of Addiction, is about family members who have experienced addiction and the affect it has had on him.
He describes his writing as being about mental health. “It’s basically about not bottling everything up. If you’re angry you can get mad. If you want to cry, you can cry. That’s the stuff I write about.”
One of the first things Jonah did after finding out that he won was call his mom to share the good news. It turns out his mom also writes.
“When I first started sharing my poems, (my mom) showed me a whole book of poems in different languages, and songs too. She writes the same way I do; she talks about her feelings and her trauma, because she went to day school and has been through a lot.”
Jonah describes his trip to Vancouver as “amazing!” There were writing workshops and he learned more about submitting work for publishing. “I met people from all over Canada. I liked walking around, and I got to see the ocean for the first time.”
Jonah’s journey from a classroom assignment to national recognition has taught him something valuable: that his voice matters.
Through poetry, powwow, and the support of those around him, Jonah is finding healing in sharing his story—one verse at a time.
Jonah Harris overlooking the ocean in Vancouver
Jonah Harris and the other FuterVersers in Vancouver
Jonah Hill at a workshop in Vancouver
Jonah Hill and teacher Lauren Klassen (left)
Display of Jonah Hill and his award-winning poem
Jonah Hill walking along the Vancouver coast
Poems and information from all submissions, including Jonah, Kaysie and Madison can be found at https://poetryinvoice.ca/write/futureverse/shortlist/2025
Here’s Jonah’s winning poem.
Jonah Harris is a Grade 12 student at Oskayak High School, originally from Pelican Lake First Nation.
“This poem is about my family members who experienced addiction and the impact it has had on me from a young age. Since I was seven years old I have been a witness to people I care about using substances around me. When I was fourteen my uncle passed away from overdosing. This poem was written out of the pain I feel not just for me but for everyone who is impacted by addiction.”
The Weight of Addiction
In the quiet of the night
I hear the echoes
Whispers of a battle unseen
Fought in the shadows
Where light can’t reach
Another hit
Another breath
The needle speaks louder than life itself
Chasing a high that never lasts
Each moment borrowed
Each breath stolen
There’s a silence in their eyes
a story untold
a war waged on the inside
Where the hunger never fades
Where the demons always itch
They say it’s just one more time
But one more time is a lie
A lie that holds hands with despair
And dances with death in a twisted waltz
But can you hear the cry?
The shout lost in the smoke
The scream caught in the veins
Fading into the numbness
We talk about recovery
Like its a place we all can reach
But what happens when the door is locked?
When the key is lost in the bottom of a bottle
Or buried beneath the weight of a pill?
I see the stories in their faces
The hollow eyes that once sparkled
The hands that once built
Now shaking
Trembling
Chasing nothing but a fleeting escape
But who’s really free?
The ones who walk away?
Or the ones who never make it out alive?
We say addiction is a choice
But tell me
When did the choice begin?
When did the first step into that dark place happen?
Was it the first time they felt unloved?
The first time they felt unseen?
Or was it just the first time they took a step into a world where no one tells you how to breathe?
So let’s not speak of them in whispers
Like they’re ghosts that haunt our streets
Let’s speak of the pain
The hurt that’s not always visible
The battle of bodies, hearts, and minds
That never stops
Never rests
And maybe
Just maybe
If we start to listen
Start to see
We can find a way to end the silence
To bring the ones we’ve lost
Back to a world where they can breathe
But until then
We carry their stories in our hearts
And their echoes in the spaces between words
Forever waiting
Forever hoping
