Ardgillan Community College, Co. Dublin.

Art by Pat Byrne https://jamartprints.com/artist/pat-byrne/

Safe and Sound

I reminisce on what I’ve said,
Before dropping my head and heading to bed.

I lay and dream safe and sound,
Knowing tomorrow is to bed bound.

Cherry blossoms falling on a Sunday morning,
Lighting crashing and thunder pouring.

Feeling good about feeling good,
When I’m with you, life isn’t boring.

To Sea

Lost to the sea,
The tide pushing
Against the rocks,
Nothing to see,
The remembrance of lands
Is long forgotten.
No where to be,
The places seem to drift away,
No one to be,
Bitten by a lack of self,
Stolen by the lack of health.
Fresh

The fruit kisses you on the cheek,
Fresh as a daisy,
You’ve found land; land you seek.
You’ve found it,
Live free,
For you don’t know where it’s gone,
Or who’ll you’ll be.
You don’t know,
How far you are from sea.

My Reality

I cry but I don’t.
Instead, I sleep and wake up,
laugh and make up.
Make up who I’m meant to be and
What others are meant to see
And in my reality I’m sad.

But I’m also me. I’m me and I’m you.
I’m you being me and me being you.
But who are you? I don’t know. I don’t want to know.
Knowledge, what a beautiful, burdensome thing.
A consumer of the product It sells.
A teller of the lies it eats

Bigger Picture

It doesn’t matter if you fail
It doesn’t matter if your ship comes to a stop
You just need to open your eyes

To the bigger picture and open the sails
Be the cream of the crop
What goes around comes comes around

The love you gave away and got lost
Like always will be eventually found
I if you hate instead of love think about the cost.

Never stop doing what you love
And never ever stop loving
We’re all thought to hate but we’re born to love

Islam is Peace

I am a Muslim whose voice remains unheard.
Peace was the first thing I eagerly learned.
Peace, the world’s main hope and ambition,
Is the ultimate goal and name of my religion.

‘Peace be upon you’ is my all time greeting
To the very when I run into you or see you at the meeting
Love the worlds greatest aim and ambition
Is the be all and end all of my religion
Our profit once said, ‘shall I tell you what to do

To find love let there be peace among you?’
Let there be peace and love will grow
Faster and stronger than all we know
Islam is the piece that leads to love.
If peace is there, so will be love

Is It

Is it selfish
when I see your smile,
Soon to be senile
An aisle, an empty tire,
And feed the liars choir
The significant-insignificance of the moment
Makes my life, please try

Relight my old eyes,
punish me for my crime
Discontent, intend, trend,
I see it all Clearly
Because it’s all me

I leak Bleak things
I know it’s all me
But it feeds me
My self esteem
Is it dependant
On your thoughts of me

Stars

Walk, walk, walk
Walk till you finish school
Walk till you feel happy
Walk till you reach for the stars
Walk till you can’t and then crawl

Crawl till you can’t and then rest
Rest and feel the smoothness
Of the sand beneath your feet
Lie down and look at all
Shining stars you once reached for

Sleep till the sun shines the night sky away
Run till you can’t see the sun no more.
Then rest, rest, rest, till new stars shine
Then walk till you can’t walk no more

Outside

The outside always looks better than inside,
The outside is fun and exciting and new,
But inside feels boring and dreary and dark,

The outside is open and free,
But inside you feel closed trapped between four walls,
Outside is new unexplored,
Inside u know every crack and crevice every flaw

In Awe

I look at her but
She doesn’t look back.
I constantly feel like
Maybe she does maybe she doesn’t.
Feelings always under attack.
I try my best to impress but nevertheless I can’t tell.

If I let go and speak my feels I feel a well I could fill.
Her eyes glow a ocean blue and I just want to dive in.
But the boundaries of my confused emotions
surrounded like thorns on a rose.
And so I sit in awe of the one thing I want but can’t have

You Are

You are a knight your armour your family
Your shield your friends your sword is your own
Sometimes your amour weighs you down and
Reminds you your mortal but it ultimately
Protects you from what you don’t know
It allows you to fail until you get it right
And can do it without the armor

Though alway remember that it was there
When you need it and you can always fall back to it
Unlike your armor Your shield helps you if you need it
Though they protect you you have to guide them to
The problem swinging at you for them to block it
And your sword your sword is the only thing that can truly save
You from your pain and get you through it

The Rain

The heavy shower
Continues another day
I can’t see me
In all this mist
I only see when it finally resists

Can others see me?
I hope so
But the problem I face
The rain never stops

A World That Needs Change

Our whole lives we have been told who we are
But there is change
We are the people we were told we were at birth
But there is change
A world that makes it hard for us

But there must be change
As keeping it inside proves the world right
There will be change
We will make the world how it should be
When there is no need for change

ADHD

When sitting in class my mind tends to roam
Everything disappears from around me
And I start to feel alone
So I make up stories inside of my head

I should be focusing on my work but I daydream instead
I imagine I’m Luke blowing up the Death Star
Or Din Darin getting his armor made from Baskar

I imagine I’m Tony Stark making his suit
Or that I’m Rocket Racoon meeting Groot
I dream I’m part of the assassins creed
But that’s my life with adhd

By Day

Day by day, i walk to school,
Thinking do people think i am cool,

But i say to myself, people dont care,
Get on with the day dont let people get in your hair,

Sit down in your class, take out your pen,
Wait for break at half past ten,

Meet up with your friends, have a chat,
Repeat again until its time to grab your hat,

Day by day, i walk home from school,
Thinking do people think i am cool,

Nothing

I’ll do it, I don’t mind
Picking up the load is nothing to me
Spending hours out of my day
I just don’t have the guts to say
Do it yourself
It is something to me

It’s exhausting
I’m tired
Picking up the remains alone
Struck with fear to ask for help
Or is it pride

Sometimes

I have dark blonde hair
And greeny eyes you never
Know what happens behind those eyes
I stay up and night wondering will I ever be enough
Sometimes I feel like I’ve had enough

Everybody wants better and that’s to say
I never know what to do when I’m away
I have people look at me up and down
Calling me names I’m just a clown
Sometime I feel like I’m drowning away
But I always have my friends and family to stay

Years

I try to enjoy my life and make the most out of my teenage years
I don’t know if I want to or if it’s the people telling me to is burning my ears

They say life is short and you’ll regret it when it’s gone
But I’d rather lay in bed please don’t turn the lights on

Is it just me or am I weird for enjoying my own company
The silence I hear is like a symphony

Alone, feeling safe and content
I think it was all time well spent

Blur

Faces blur as I walk by,
And I just wonder, why?

Why are people put to shame,
When other people are to blame.

How come I can’t let emotions fly,
Without my dignity being compromised.

When is it my turn to live,
In a world that I can’t forgive

A Ravaged World

At the very edge of the world
The final soul resides
A half arsed smile, paired
With a brittle sigh
For what it’s worth
There was no better end
The sorrow filled spirit
Meets its bitter end

Live your Way

Whether that be on the coasts of Spain
Or just getting by through the pain

You should always try to live your way
As long as you can look back and say to yourself

That was fine and aged like a great wine
As long as you try to limit your harm and

Provide for others like a farmer on a farm always
Live your way

Honest

Be Honest
With your work With your future With your rights
Be Honest
With your sport With your loneliness With your fight
Be Honest
With your family With your darkness With your stress
Be Honest
With your peers With your illness With your beliefs
Be Honest
With your language With your past With your name
Be Honest

Fostered

F -ound my forever family
O-n my way to finding peace with myself and the
S-ituation
T-rying to build relationships the never got to begin
E-xited got the future
R-eady for whatever is next
E-ventually able to move on
D-aily reminder that you can get trough anything

No Love

Show no love , love gets you killed
Trust no one , my own friends switched up on me
I’ve got thick skin , and an elastic heart
But YOUR blade it might be TOO sharp
I’m like a rubber band until you pulled to hard
Yeah , let’s be Lear I trust no one

Once You See

Sometimes the world is crazy
Sometimes it makes you feel good
Just depends on the day

Ups and downs like a rollercoaster
Twisting left to right
It’s that sick feeling in your stomach

One day you are full of rage
One day you just want to cry
One day you are on top of the world

You feel all this hate inside
At your breaking point
But once you see those special people
Nothing else matters

Chore

Walks out the door ,
Life’s starting to feel a chore,

As she walks she feels everyone’s eyes on her,
overthinking, judging & talking about her,

Thoughts she cannot unthink;
A life she cannot unlive

The Way

I come from a world where we believe what we hear
The rumoured whispers from ear to ear
How we judge a character before we even get to speak
By the clothes they wear to the way they speak
I sit in a room full of faces wit people
That i have know long before braces

Wise Men

A wise man once said
Yesterday is history
Tomorrow is a mystery
But today is a gift
That is why it is called the present

Turbulence

There’ll be turbulence,
You’ll drop your book
To hold your water bottle steady,
The planes supposed to shudder,
Shoulder on like this ,
It’s built to do that,
Your designed to tremble too,
Else break higher you climb,
Oxygen hangs ready over head,
In the event put on the child’s mask first,
Breathe normally.

The Day

As I wake up in the morning
Hearing my Dad snoring ,
I hop out of bed dreading the Day ,
I get to school just wanting to get away,
As I sit in class just thinking of home ,
While I’m bored my mind likes to Roam,

As the bell finally rings for the day,
I finally get to go home to be alone,
No more stress and no more groans ,
Just another day closer to the weekend
Where I can go out with mates ,
Roaming through the country estates

The Goat vs The Lion

A battle of the ages, where pain and gain
Sword through the veins of the drivers.
From respect to hatred, from hatred to respect,
From collisions at Monza to key decisions
in France where championship leads where enhanced.

From lap 1 in Bahrain, to lap 58 in Abu Dhabi
It was intense and Max was champion.
The lion roared with millions of cubs roaring with.
He rose to the top with the world at his feet.
The pain from Silverstone ,Monza and Hungary quickly became unknown.
Pain is temporary

Lie

I was told I was not me me when at thirteen
That I was too young to know you I was
That I was told that you are doing this for attention and your just being bold
Going against what the family wants

Well four years later I think I finally understand that
Her own insecurities were projected on me and
She was too afraid of what they would think of her
Instead what people who actually think of me
And I’m afraid too that’s the truth and I’m not afraid to say it

But that’s a lie I am afraid to say it out loud
I keep lying to her and trying to be perfect and I’m try be proud
And now I have this thought in my head that fills me with doubt
That you are not who you say you are and you doing it for attention
You don’t really want this and your family will be disappointed in you
But all that matters is that what I think, not the thoughts of her, of them or of you.

Seen

The Luas is free they say to me
I want to be an apprentice you see

Everyone talks to me
Yet I don’t want to be seen

I come from the kid without a finger top
To the guy who talks a lot

I’ve been called a solider
But as I get older I just move like a boulder

From Breaking an arm to shaking people hands
Escaping school for the display of cool oh what a fool I was

The Kick

Go to work on a for a full day
While I cannot wait for the pay
Going out with lads seeing a group of lassies
Knowing one of them are my prey
Get chatting she hits me a slap and everything is going grey
She hits me and kicks me I think I broke my vertebrae.

Pizza Mystery

Another wise man once said (me)
Once you find out why
Pizza is eaten as a triangle
Made round
And put in a square box
Then and only then
You will understand women

Friend

For my dear friend
Identity is a prison,
You can never escape,
But the way to redeem your past is not to run from it,
But to try understand it,
And use it as a foundation to grow.

School

School is confusing,
We’re told to be ourselves,
Then shoved in a uniform,

We’re told there is no such thing as can’t do,
But there is a journal the size of a brick full of rules,
We’re told to have fun and enjoy,

Then shouted at or moved for laughing,
We’re told to have our own opinion,
As long as it’s pc and what they want

you to think and say,
Buts it’s preparing us
for the real world.

Red Cards

From the bobbely, boggy pitches ,to the grass carpet
From 2 year old boots to first team debuts
From smelly shin pads to red cards
From injuries to injury time winners
From old stands to new Fans
Your passport has been stamped now don’t look back
And bring that cup back for the boys in white

Free

I put on my headphones
And I am free
The sound frequencies make my hairs rise

And it’s as though I’m on the stage too.
And though I may never share the stage with him
I feel like Paul McCartney from within.

Apologies

I apologise too much
I don’t stick up for myself
I’m anxious and nothing can help
I want to be a teacher
I hate the patriarchy
And guys who are misogynistic

Mud

The mud is seeping through my boots,
I had to duck as they began to shoot,
Hearing the shots go on and on,
I think to myself, am I ever going home?

The war is like an ongoing loop,
Until there is only one last troop.
We fight our battle, until we can’t,
To be remembered through a poppy plant

Effects

I am electronic Music
Caring friends
And video games
I am Basketballs
Bouncing off
The edge of hoops
Footballs screaming
F1 engines roaring
Anxiety
Whispering
Chattering
Autistic
Out there
In there
Beautiful
Me

Energy

I have to get up,
But I don’t have the energy.
I say I’m tired but ‘I have nothing to be tired about’.
I have to get my work done,
But my mind can’t concentrate.
I say I’m tired but ‘I have nothing to be tired about’.
I go on with my day,
Coming in and out of awareness.
I say I’m tired but ‘I have nothing to be tired about’.

Love Always

When she got home that night her eyes burned
She knew that she was gonna be sick to her stomach.
She knew that no matter what she thought of,
How deep she overthought about that time,
That she would always love him.

My Boy

I like the little things my boyfriend does
That makes me feel seen
Comfortable and happy
He made me dinner
He checked on me
Every day i was sick
When i tell him something is wrong
He helps and google’s it
He watches buffy with me
We are on season FIVE

Mams Lesson

I look in the mirror everyday,
And see the stuff the young lads say.
“Your stomach is big “Your thighs are huge”
I see it myself, I know it’s true.

My mam thought me to not care,
But everything is so not fare.
I learnt to block the negativity,
But how do I block the mens toxicity

Maybe

I thought you were friend,
And maybe at some point you where,
Or maybe you where good at pretend,

You had no business doing that,
But that may just be the person you are,
And to me that’s just bizarre

Dog in a Bog

Imagine a dog
In a big muddy bog
Out comes a frog
With a big fat log
Off he goes into the fog

Firmino

There’s something that the Kop want you to know,
The best in the world his name is Bobby Firmino,
Our number nine,

Give him the ball and he’ll score every time,
Si senor,
Give the ball to Bobby and he will score

Best Life

You got to breath to live
You got to eat to survive
You got drink so you die
So live your best life

The Box

There once was a box,
That lived on the rocks,
Inside was a fox that had gorgeous locks,
She got stuck in the box,
Which got washed off the rocks,
Off to sea,
Dead as could be.

Round Two

I loved watching football
We’d win every day
But ever since we lost that game
It’s never been the same
When Bale scored that overhead
And Karius made that mistake

And now that we play them again
My sanity is at stake
We’re on track for the quadruple
We better win them all
Cos if we don’t I swear to god
I’m gonna switch to golf

Gunners

I use to to enjoy watching Arsenal
Until one night in may till it all went a stray
We said this will be are year now I sit at home in fear
Not knowing what’s in store and what players will walk out the door
We’ve a great attack and crap at the back
We will come back next season ready to fight
Until the night we get it all right

Slippy G.

Slippy G once had it all
Until he took a great fall
He lost ball and lost it all
Now Ba is through to finish it off
Along with his career
When the Premier League was near

Pep The Fraud

Pep is a fraud,
We’re gonna win the quad,
Salah, mane, guaranteed to score,
If you’re not careful diaz will put you on the floor,
We’re gonna win the champions league,
Our performance will intrigue,
If you think we’ll lose you’re a fool,
Because it is Liverpool