Coláiste Bhaile Chláir, Claregalway, Co. Galway

Time

 

My soul ablaze, yet cold

Crying for the warm embrace of love

Kept too far from my reach

In this bitter war against time.

 

Time; running short

For the young and the old,

On experiences yet to come.

The news can only be so entertaining.

 

We hope this sickness will fade,

For loneliness is a sickness in itself.

A shred of this hope lies in our minds

That we desperately reach for in our sleep.

 

Alas, we will face this head on,

For the future is bright and full of

Moments to savour and cherish,

For now and forever.

 

Blend into the Crowd

 

All time does is take from us,

But it never seems to give,

I’m always waiting for the day to come,

When I finally start to live,

I’m scared that one day soon,

I’ll become like the rest,

Blending in with the crowd,

For my dreams have been oppressed,

One day I’ll look back on life,

The opportunities that i’ve missed,

Realising I never truly lived,

All I did was just exist.

 

Dull Skies

 

Dull skies, uncertain rain,

Once a comfort, a blank canvas, only now reflects my disdain

For my mind, once brimming with events yet to come

But I fear I’ve forgotten, what is yet to come?

When will there be parties, pretty strangers, and glamorous stupidity

Have I failed as a teenager, have I achieved nothing but daydreams?

Is it shameful that this excitement I’ve desperately craved

Is now slipping from imagination, it’s hopeful existence now paper shred

What will be left when the doors open again, when I am free as a bird for the wondrous life?

But I won’t, I’m frightened, how can I have something that was never even mine?

 

Who am I?

 

I am a girl

Living in the country

With a loving family who cares for me

I have talents, music and sport

And my whole life ahead of me

But,

I didn’t choose this

I play music to satisfy my mother

I play sport to satisfy my father

I go out at the weekend to satisfy my friends

What do I do to satisfy me?

I don’t know

I don’t know

I don’t know what brings me joy

I’ve spent my so much of my life trying to please others

That I’ve forgotten what pleases me

These years, I am told, are supposed to be the best of my life

If that is true

Well, I’d hate to see what my future brings

You ask me who I am?

The answer, as unsatisfactory as it is

I don’t know

 

Lost in a World

 

In a world full of problems,

I’d rather run away,

To a fictional world

Where no one cares.

 

In the world of a book,

I can be who I am

And care about the problems

Of a person who doesn’t exist.

 

I can get lost in a fantasy world

Of mystical creatures,

Winged faeries

And an author’s imagination

 

I can get lost in the problems of a girl like me

Who loves books but doesn’t exist

I forget about a world falling apart

And dream of one that doesn’t exist

 

A Different World

 

Growing up in our world today,

Where your right is my wrong,

Where his left is her right

We support each other

Yet hide behind a screen

Lol and omg

If we really stand together why,

Why do we hurt others with our own insecurities?

Using our own daggers as our protection

 

To Talk

 

To talk about their glasses are nice

And talk about our relationships

This my poem

 

Six Months

 

Six months without school

And everything changed

The time we had off

Was spent going insane

More cakes were baked

And games were played

But the whole time

Our body images changed

We saw perfect examples of our age everyday

And wondered what we could do to look that way

When school came around nobody looked our way

But all the time we wondered what would make the pain go away

Everyone’s scared about being that way

But nobody ever dare say a thing

And now we use this time away again

And try and improve how we look everyday

 

Moments Shared

 

I wake up every day and miss seeing your face

All the moments we shared could never be erased

When I heard you died I cried and cried

The moments we shared

You and I

 

Society

 

Standards and expectations

There is no such thing as perfection

Too fat too tall too thin

You really just can’t win

Who created these standards?

Why are we all such demanders?

In this modern world we live in

You simply just can’t win

 

We Sleep

 

Children stare

Opened eyed

Closed mind

We sleep

 

We look back inwards

Back Back

Nothing left but slack

Slack in our movements

As we shamble forward

We sleep

 

As Chrono’s devours

His children

We sleep

 

Our eyes are closing now

We don our gowns

The clock strikes twelve

We sleep

 

We sleep

As the world’s lights

Go out

One by One

We sleep once more

 

Endless Cycle

 

Go for a walk

Go for a run

Go outside and have some fun

 

Do the work as it’s assigned

But don’t go over 4 hours screen time

 

Two weeks online turns into five

Yet they keep telling us we’ll all been fine

 

Go outside and get some fresh air

Do something for your self-care

 

It’s an endless cycle of staring at a screen

Waiting for class to end

 

Reach Out

 

It’s hard to think of what the future holds for us

We all go through different things and emotions in life

It’s hard sometimes to get a grasp of those little things

We think to ourselves all the emotions we feel

Maybe it’s time to make a change and talk to people don’t be afraid to express ourselves

 

We know all the things happening this year

But we don’t know how hard this year could have hit someone your close to

If they don’t speak to you about how they are and you know there’s something wrong

Reach out everything will be ok in the end

 

It what having friends is all about is to talk about things together and overcome them

 

Untitled

 

Although the days are now getting longer,

They seem to be leading me onto a different path,

As I wake to the sun and beautiful birds tweeting each day,

I wish the day to soon be over.

With the fighting and arguing,

The tears and the worry,

I don’t know if there’s a point to me having a story,

But life must go on, from day to day,

As I wish for all the pain to simply go away.

 

You Can’t Stop Me

 

You can’t stop me

No matter what my beliefs or disbeliefs

You can’t stop me

From doing the things I love

You can’t stop me.

 

Singing my lungs out when i’m alone,

You can’t stop me

Making jokes that are terrible,

No one can stop me.

 

Bright and Blue

 

The sky is shining bright and blue

But in my mind I have no clue

 

I fall again but the pain is numb

As I cry my pain out at the sun

 

My head inside spinning

But I pretend to be grinning

 

I wonder am I ever enough

But when I find my truest colour

I will no longer suffer

 

Teen Life

 

If only we would experience teen life,

Not the ‘teen life ‘ of sitting infant of the TV, wishing cases would go down

Not having to make contact with friends through screens

Not the life that going to the shop is a big deal as you get to see a different set of scenery

The days are slipping through our fingers quicker then we want

 

Why can’t we live “teen life”

 

Hustle and the Bustle

 

From the hustle and the bustle

To the shoes that we shuffle

There’s always something dragging

 

When the school bell rings

And the fiddle strings sing

My mind is slowly lagging

 

I never get the feeling of content

Despite all of time i’ve spent

Living the way everyone else wants me to live

 

As of Right Now

 

As of right now

Life is pretty down

Its slow, its different, its nothing like ever before

It makes you appreciate the simple things that once happened

And makes you hope everything will return to the way it was again.

 

But it’s not all bad

For one you don’t have to worry about getting up every day and trying to look perfect all the time

To avoid judgement from others who probably feel the same way.

So I guess right now its an escape from life, a break but I hope it ends soon.

 

Life is Tough

 

Life is tough for everyone but for everyone in different ways,

The people who are unhappy in life,

The people who want more in life,

The people who are in relationships,

The people who want to BE in those relationships,

The friend drama,

The having no friends drama,

The strict parents,

The parents who aren’t there for you,

Everyone has their problems,

Some peoples are life changing,

Some not so much,

But the common factor here is that everyone believes their problems are enough to be called a Problem which makes everyone’s problems the same – something to face and overcome,

We need to understand that someone’s problem can make their life tough,

Maybe not as tough as what your life and problems are,

But to them it is.

Treat everyone like their problem is as big as yours,

Don’t add another problem,

Be nice,

Understand that in the end,

Everyone’s life is tough.

 

Lockdown 3

 

The four walls of my bedroom is all I see

Oh and maybe walking back the road if I’m lucky

Nearly a year later not much has changed

Certainly, no plans arranged

 

I miss my friends like us all

Only thing we have is a FaceTime call

We’ll get there again, someday

Summer time coming waiting for rays

 

The parties we have after it all

Will make us appreciate it more

And we’ll have a ball.

 

So for now we will hang on in there

Knowing someday we won’t have a care

 

The Pressure

 

I feel a great pressure to amount to something

Yet I don’t know what I’m striving for

I feel like I’m in the front seat of a car

And don’t know what I’m driving for

I need a goal to run towards

Finding this goal is the problem

I want to show my full potential, I want to blossom

I want to grow but I have a question

I want to grow but I do not know in which direction

I am truly blinded by all the bad influences and misdirection

 

Untitled

 

Putting paint on a page

Like the purple under my eyes,

The glare of the screen reflecting on my face,

The late nights repeating over and over again,

1 am

Trying to express myself in any way possible but to no avail,

The makeup the clothes the messy canvases in my room.

Being called ‘weird’ still rings in my ears

2 am

Picking up new hobbies just to keep myself busy

Trying anything I can to make the days stick out amongst the endless repetition

My eyes are sore. But I am not tired just yet

3am

Thinking to myself about the friends I miss,

It feels like years since I’d seen them last.

Seeing them would probably be a cure to all my problems.

Our late night talks, doing stuff our parents would kill us for if they knew, making videos and singing along to stupid songs.

It feels like so long ago

4am

The birds start to sing outside.

The feeling of anxiety rushes through my body

Another repeated day is on the horizon

I can already see how it will go

School at 9am

Lunch

Chores

Talk to my friends through a screen

Try to be creative

Workout

Repeated over and over again

You could tell me I’ve been at home for years and I would believe you

The time to try to sleep is soon upon me

Goodnight I guess

 

Online School

 

Online school is back again but this time it feels so much worse,

Things are just stressing me out it’s almost like a curse.

 

The feeling of not wanting to do work but not wanting to fall behind,

It’s the fear of failure but being a procrastinator at mind.

 

I’m trying to hold it together but the days are all the same,

Trying to send in the next assignment within the short timeframe.

 

I hope it won’t last much longer but I don’t know how much I can take,

I can only do my best to get through this constant headache.

 

The Other Side

 

Imagine the life of a kid with a dead dad

Leaving amid a child’s strife with his own self

Seeing chad throw ball with only born son

While I see mine one Sunday at the grave, where the devil won

Seeing school grades diminish

While the years only rise

And my peers only see me

Through the side that hasn’t died

Envision that pre-teen

Who hadn’t any pride

Just the hope that when I grow up

You’ll see the other side

 

I Can’t Wait

 

In my boring bedroom

Eight hours each and every day

Instead of being at school

In my bed I lay

Scrolling through my phone

Working on my laptop

Not focusing enough at online school

My grades they start to flop

Waiting for coronavirus to go away

And lockdown to finally end

Nothing to look forward to during this time

Not even the weekend

Hopefully there isn’t very long left

The sunny days with my friends I miss

No masks, no rules, no restrictions

I can’t wait for the feelings of bliss

 

Our Teenage Years

 

From the green green fields

To our secrets that we keep concealed

Our teenage years are now upon us

Where we struggle from dawn to dusk

These are supposed to be the best years of our life

But actually the smallest issues can cause us great strife

Everyone telling us what’s wrong and what’s right

When we really wanna say shut up and be quiet

This is our life after all

Even if we take our eye off the ball

 

Untitled

 

I go to an average school.

People in this school get average grades,

And every young lad gets skin fades.

And when we leave this school we’ll get average cars, smoke cigars and stumble into Irish bars.

 

These grades feel like they decide our life,

When we get a job and eventually a wife,

But if we fail this test, it’s worse than a knife, bills, taxes and all things crap.

 

Hopefully this average school will lead to a higher quality life.

 

No Matter What

 

I come from a place full of food and water

I come from a place full of love and laughter

I come from a place full of joy and happiness

I come from a place full of peace and safety

People come from different places all over the world

No matter where they come from, they are all equal

No matter what

 

Wake Up

 

I wake up

I get dressed

Another day

Not the best

Just one in a million

Exactly the same

I always know

What to expect

 

Untitled

 

I am hungry

So I go to eat

But the calories haunt me

The gilt after eating

I regret it

Telling myself not to eat again

But I do

 

Flat Out

 

The farmers flat out in the fields

Hard at work no stopping them

Feeding sheep and cattle

Cutting silage and hay

By god, you know you will have a good day

 

That smell of freshly cut hay ready to be baled

Bales and Bales of hay scatter across the fields

Farmers on the long draw seven hours a day

Young lads watching the machinery from the walls

 

Hopping on bales and jumping off

Farmers come and go to the mart

In search of some new livestock

Big Pete flat out working on the farm

 

They always come in for the tae

No later than six in the evening

Out again to do some more

Until they wake at six again in the morn

 

Constant Ring of Boredom

 

I drag myself out of bed like every other morning; life is a constant ring of boredom,

One thing that always changes is what I see in the mirror.

 

It’s like the weather one day it’s amazing another it’s so bad I can’t bare face it.

 

But like the seasons it can change and it will get better.

If you want to see the sunshine, you will have to weather the storm!

 

Another Day

 

Another day woken up by my aggressive alarm,

Resisting the urge to allow my body any more than the 4 hours of sleep it received,

Logging on to half a class of students listening to my teachers

Attempts to engage the class.

I wonder if he knows we’re all in bed

The fact I even managed to wake up is an achievement

Never mind get out of bed at a reasonable hour.

I can’t be the only one lacking in motivation,

How can one stay motivated one the days are all the same?

This daily routine is starting to feel like an endless cycle.

Despite my attempts to break from routine, maybe I’ll do a job I needed to get done?

Maybe I’ll focus on myself today? Maybe i’ll do something nice for my sister?

How come I never get around to it?

With all this free time why do I find the day goes by so fast,

Yet these weeks are going by painfully slow.

It’s getting harder to stay on task, especially with “new assignments sure today at 23:59”

 

I Miss

 

I miss the long days where everyone would be jumping into lakes.

I miss when you would come home and there was a fresh burger for you to take.

I miss the long cycles with your friends

And that we didn’t know where we were going till the end.

Right now summer seems miles away but the fact is it’s always going to come some day.

 

On the Pitch

 

I step on the pitch

The thoughts go away

I feel the tension building

But I throw it all away

I get on the ball

And do what I do

Score a goal

And celebrate too

 

In the Sticks

 

When living in the sticks

In the midst of corona lockdown

It’s almost like

You have no walls to knock down

 

You get up early

To go feed the animals

While the world is so weary

And its as if the you own the day

 

Free as a bird they say

While the city sliks cannot stray,

The world is your oyster when living in the sticks

Its almost like corona doesn’t exist.

 

2020

 

2020 is a screwed up year

We’ve been covered in fear

To be fair, we’ve stopped caring

It’s more about time sharing

 

People have lost their careers

Even lost our peers

It’s more about the memorise we make

And forget about heartbreak

 

To be fair, we’ve stopped caring

It’s more about time sharing

 

Making a Cake

 

It starts off small,

but when you finish it’s big,

Takes so long you forget about it

You take it out,

but the mixture is still thick,

You put it in the oven until it’s smooth and slick,

Eventually it’s finished,

You take a bite of it,

It’s amazing and all the time is worth it.

 

Green Fields

 

I come from a place where the fields are green,

Where the fields are green, the happiest grows,

Where the memories are made in the summer sun,

No matter where you come from u can make memories anywhere

 

Online School

 

Online school is so boring

We all want our social lives back

Vaccinate us so we can leave the house

I’m going crazy

I haven’t seen my friends in ages

 

Untitled

 

I have no passion

As well as inspiration

So here’s a Haiku

 

FUT Champs

 

Three two up surely

I can’t slip up

Switch to ultra-defensive

He should be winning his team is way more expensive

The jam is real and I’m lovin it

One more minute and I’ll get away scoot free

Oh no I’ve just given away a penalty

Sure it’s going down the middle

No I can feel a piddle

Im sending it and staying put

No way I’ve saved it with Nick Nope’s foot

 

Bundle of Talent

 

Ya willilam touch, cmon we haven’t scored much,

Oh William another nutmeg and Joey has gone and broke his leg

What a ball by the left winger, he’s going around like an absolute dinger,

Williams one and one with the keeper, jeez says bob I thought he was sweeper.

I can tell you something he’ll make it one day, and he will have a pocket full of money pay,

That little lad is a bundle of talent, going around with great skill, flair and balance.

He goes around tearing teams apart, you’d swear he’s so fast that he’s on some little cart,

One goal, two goal another man of the match,

He’s tore that team so much apart that the gonna need some sort of patch

So that’s the story of the litlle wiz kid, who is just bossing up that centre mid,

Some people just get so annoyed at his skill, and just kick out and are left with a retirement bill

So if you can ever get near the lad, I wouldn’t be surprised if you get mad,

He is just so good with his feet, you can be sure to find his name on the score sheet

 

Lights Out

 

We are driving at 300 kilometres an hour into the first corner hoping we come out and onto the next

We are looking in mirrors fending off others and coming between a centimetre of death

We live on the edge of live itself driving up and down motorways racing as if it’s Silverstone

From the N17 to the streets of Monaco

From our dads ford focus to a FerrarI SF90

From seeing our mates at the side of the road about hit the pedal,

To seeing Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettal ready behind you.

This is racing

This is serious business

This is our whole life’s work gone into this

Lights out, and here we go.

We become one with the car, and strangely its like life

We take it one corner at a time trying to stay ahead of the pack,

Hoping we make it too the next

Its insane

Its draining

Its hoping you don’t crash and you can keep racing

Its the hope that eventually you will get to the top,

And that it was all worth it.

 

“The Coronavirus”

 

I know everyone likes to sit here and dread

But everything that is said goes to my head.

I want to move on

But people can’t stay strong.

I say to myself ‘it’ll all be over soon’

Until someone says I have to isolate and go to my room.

I lost my sense of taste and smell,

It seems like forever since I got this cell.