Timothy Juhl gives poetry workshops in juvenile detention centers. Once in trouble with the law as a teen, Juhl tries to show young inmates a different way to cope with tough life situations.

By BETTY McCOMAS

[Times photo: Jill Sagers]

Timothy Juhl of Dunedin, a published writer with a degree in criminal justice, teachers poetry to inmates at the Pinellas Juvenile Detention Center. These workshops are part of the Artists in Residence program offered by the Youth Arts Corps, a group that provides arts programs to at-risk youths.

A Dunedin man has found a way to get inside the heads of tough young criminals. His secret weapon: poetry.

Timothy Juhl, 40, is a writer who conducts poetry workshops at juvenile detention centers in Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Pasco counties. His students are inmates, criminals between the ages of 13 and 17. The workshops are part of the Artists in Residence program offered by the Youth Arts Corps, a non-profit organization under the Pinellas County Arts Council that provides arts programs to at-risk youths.

Juhl, who holds a degree in criminal justice, says he sees similarities in the energy it takes to commit crime and the energy it takes to create art.

"They are both manifestations of boredom and both ways to stand out," he said.

Just as an artist escapes into his art, Juhl said, so a youth can escape a poor home environment by joining a gang or committing a crime.

"The two are different in consequence, but I don't see the minds working that differently," he said. "Artists are rule breakers."

Juhl knows this from firsthand experience. Once, he said, he sat where the young inmates are. He tells of leaving his home in Iowa as a youth and heading to Miami on a bus, $90 in his pocket. In a strange environment, knowing no one, he quickly became involved with the wrong group of people. After making a series of bad choices, he wound up in a Miami jail, charged with grand theft and larceny. He had just turned 19.

"Iowa farm boys from upper-middle-class families usually don't have these kind of experiences," said Juhl. "But I wouldn't be the same person today if I hadn't. It gives me a strong identity with the kids."

When Juhl teaches the young inmates, he appears relaxed and at ease. Many inmates seem indifferent. Juhl explained that most have no interest in poetry or writing. They only come to his class to get out of their cells for a time.

In his one-hour sessions, he introduces them to poetry, reads some examples of what other inmates have written and asks them to write.

He explains to them his rules of writing poetry: It doesn't have to rhyme or make sense; spelling doesn't count; and, last, there are no rules.

This usually gets their attention, he said, because they are in a place where everything is a rule.

"Hey, I like this guy," a 15-year-old male inmate said, on hearing this during a recent poetry session at the Pinellas Juvenile Detention Center.

Juhl asked his students to close their eyes and listen for one minute to their thoughts. Then he asked them to finish this sentence: "Inside my head I hear ... ."

They became quiet. Some started writing intently. A few stared out the window.

Juhl says the topics are often about home and family. Love also is a big one, he said, as well as violence, either real or imagined. They also write about drugs, something they are not allowed to talk about in the JDC. One youth asked whether he could use curse words.

"There are no rules," Juhl reminded the inmates. "But if you are going to write it, be prepared to read it."

All students are asked to read their poems when they are finished. Juhl said they rarely employ curse words.

A 16-year-old female inmate read the poem she had just written. It was about her 2-year-old child. When she finished the other inmates applauded, as they are required to do. Beaming, she began to jump up and down with exuberance, clutching the poem in her hand.

"I wrote this!" she squealed, her eyes dancing. "It's about my baby."

She turned to the security guards in the hall and read her poem to them. They, too, clapped as she flashed a wide smile.

"They are never applauded for their criminal behavior," Juhl said.

At the end of class, a 16-year-old male inmate showed Juhl a piece of paper that contained a poem written by poet Emily Dickinson.

"I like how she writes," said the youth. "Man, I can really get into Emily Dickinson."

Juhl said he is amazed when an inmate acquires something as seemingly out of character as love of a famous poet. It makes him wonder whether other troubled youths might be receptive to a different way of dealing with difficult life situations.

"Imagine if they could just write about what they would like to do to that bully in school," he said.

Carol Davis, assistant director of Youth Arts Corp and manager of the Artist in Residence program, said one of Juhl's strengths in working with the inmates is the way he encourages them to draw from their personal experiences when writing.

"He works with what they have right now, and it validates them," she said.

Juhl also teaches a six-week poetry workshop at the Youth Arts Corps Wildwood Center in St. Petersburg. This is a free after-school program for young teens from low-income families. The JDC youths are eligible for this program once they are released to parents or guardians.

He uses the same techniques he employs at the JDC, and the students respond just as well as the juvenile criminals.

"Tim makes poetry cool," said Mary Ann Assiff, director of the Youth Arts Corps. "He has a very laid-back approach, and the kids respond to that freedom of 'there are no rules.' "

She also said they had compiled some of the poems the inmates had written into a book, Voices Unlocked, available through the Youth Arts Corp. They are working on a second book, Assiff said.

Marcus Calvin, 15, one of the students at Wildwood Center, said he likes writing. "I can write down all my ideas and relieve stress," he said.

He also added that he feels comfortable in Juhl's class because "Tim shows respect for everybody and makes sure everybody gets an equal amount of respect."

Juhl acknowledges that his real love is teaching. In addition to the work he does with the Youth Arts Corps programs, he also teaches writing skills to adults, including veterans and people who are developmentally challenged. "We should never lose sight of the existence of art," Juhl said. "In the least likely of places, even a detention center, there is poetry to be found."