Colaiste Mhuire, Church St, Askeaton, Co. Limerick

These Four Walls

In these four walls, they teach us the way,
I don’t know the why nor the how of this day.
This future we prepare for,
This real world so near,
You must study hard for your future career.
Ever since birth, I was told I’m a man’s man,
Since entering this fiasco,
However, I always have been,
Treated like a naughty little girl with an attitude problem.

There is no poet, no author, no sage,
That can ever teach us to be a Man in this crazy age.
Day by day the pendulum does swing,
What a world we do live in when a good man is worth less,
Than somebodies favourite possession or thing.

Chris Burke

Love Hate

I have a deep hatred for self-hate
Regardless of personal circumstance
Important people feel that they are dead-weight
People I love believe they are not worth romance
Please do not mask your pain with a brave face
Please show me who you really are
Underneath your skin lays a place
Where you put to rest your avatar
And you can be honest with me
And put to rest your misconceptions
Be who you are meant to be
And acknowledge the affection
I have for you
I want you to love you too

Oran

Untitled

Just like our future, untitled,
We are told that we are not good enough,
This is by people, who think they are entitled,
This is by people, who think that they are gods,
These are the people that refer to women as broads,
These are the peoples that opinions don’t matter,
But don’t take it from me because I’m no martyr.

Dylan O’Brien

Miss that Smile

It’s how you miss that smile
You still remember his smell
How you long for that strong embrace
The memories, good and bad
How it all floods back
It’s the way he laughed made it impossible to not laugh with him
You still remember the way he used to look at you
How he kissed you
The tingle
How it all floods back
It’s how he ripped the heart out your chest
You still remember that painful text
How he broke you
The heartache he caused you

Eimear O’Donnell

Untitled

To the confused boy who hides away every time
A whirlwind of an uneducated opinion is fire at his shattered heart,
To the girl who finds a friend in the streetlights
That keep her safe on the late night walks home,
To the lonely souls who were found in their darkest hour, broken,
From a contagious feeling of worthlessness,
Memories stay wish us,
A heart doesn’t heal in a rush,
A mind doesn’t fix right when crushed,
Why do we play with the most fragile things?
When we know that so many are only hanging on by strings.

Robyn Gardiner

Warzone

The day of a final is like a warzone,
Between nerves and hopes,
You hope the cup comes home,
So you can visit the local pubs,
The blood, sweat and tears,
And all of the jeers,
The joy when you win,
Sorrow when you lose,
The emotions just spill,
Like blood upon a battlefield.

David Walsh

To My Ex Best Friend

You hate me
I know
Part of me hates you too
I’m sorry
I’m sorry for not being what you wanted me to be
I’m sorry for shouting at you
But mostly I’m sorry for letting you get under my skin
I was so scared of losing you
I tried so hard
But I don’t think you felt the same
I know you still talk about me
I know you hate me
But
I know I don’t care anymore
I don’t care

Kerriann Flynn

One Tackle

One tackle in a match,
One single scratch,
Led to one big surgery,
All because of what felt like thuggery.

2 years of sitting on a couch,
Now having a slouch,
1 week or 2 till I’m back,
And I cant wait to have a bit of crack!

Emma Ranahan

Sport

Sport is a battle that you like to win
Participation is pointless and kinda a sin.
It’s about the result at the end of the day,
A team is a group of men, straight and gay,
We work for each other as part of a team,
Winning is the goal and even the dream.
A trophy is a goal at the end of the year,
After all we go out to get wasted on beer.

David O’ Shaughnessy

My Goldfish

I loved my goldfish
My goldfish loved me
Three different fish
All cool colours
All are dead
And two were red

Brian Kelly

Toys

Boys treat girls like toys
Use them and abuse them
They build them up to knock them down
They love them at first until boredom kicks in
They break them and find a new toy to play with.

Anon

Sport

I like sport
Sport likes me
I kicked a ball into the back a tree
Then I kicked the ball into the back of a tree

Joey Rushe

The Future Scares Me

Claws protect me
Yellow, watching processing eyes distract you
You imitate my cry and laugh
Strangers scare me
My soft coat that invites you, keeps me warm
My dreams fascinate me in my long sleep
I own my weirdness I show it you laugh
I can be vicious and caring
Sometimes I don’t give a crap

Anon

Stumped

I’m too scared to write about anything real,
Everybody is submitting poems,
And I feel creatively stumped.
The end.

Taylor Madigan

A Façade

I put on a façade that hides the real me
But deep down I wanted it to be
Sitting here writing my heads in a knot
About how I tried to be something I’m not
I always thought I needed the big personality and all the nice stuff
But now I know that who I am is enough
I’ll walk around with my head held high
I’ll weigh out my goals and shoot for the sky
I live my life as happy as I can be
Because I know that I am the best me

Anon

Happiness

Happiness is an emotion, not a smile.
Its about how feel inside and not something you do to hide.
A smile is like a wave that slowly drifts away
Until you are alone with nobody there to console.
Fake smiles mistaken for happiness
But nobody knows that happiness comes from within
A person and not how they look on the outside.
Looks don’t matter so don’t shatter peoples smiles.

Anon

Untitled

From smoking fags since age 13
People think that’s disgusting
But they don’t realise all they do is criticise
I just do it cause I’m stressed
But I’m also blessed to have a family
To take care of me in school
I want to have the craic
Not all the teachers on my back

Kieran Neville

Rickety Bridge

Its not like a tightrope,
More like a rickety bridge,
There is no safety net,
Or clear line to where you’re going
It’s all a gamble
A game of life
In which we struggle
To find our own way.

Anon

Why

Why did he have to go?
I will never know,
I miss him so much,
Why can’t he come back?
I will never know,
I miss him so much,
When will he be home.

Caitlin Fitzgerald

Let

Let oneself be oneself,
Let himself be himself,
Let herself be herself,
Let yourself be yourself,
Let everyone be thyself,
Let everyone be who they want to be,
Let everyone do want they want to do,
Let people be themselves.

Declan Kelly

The Day

The day started like normal, I got up and went to school.
But I didn’t realize that I would come home feeling like a fool.
It was the day after the house party, and I was all upbeat,
Until I switched on my phone and all I wanted to do was cry in my bed sheets.
From all the texts I got, I couldn’t believe what I had heard,
I thought that all my friends were absurd.
He couldn’t have treated me this way,
And all I remember was the shame.
I walked into school keeping my head down,
Until I saw the girl he cheated on with me.
And all I could do was try and hind my frown.

Anon

Perfect

Long tanned legs
Perfect hair
“Be like this”
Or else we’ll stare

One face in the crowd
One drop in the water
She cant fit in
She needs to be hotter

Smile for the boys
Can’t put up a fight
Don’t do that
It’s not ladylike

To the girls
To the boys
To the inbetweeners
To that face in the crowd
It will get easier

Noelle O’Shaughnessy

Untitled

This is about Adam,
He doesn’t give a dam
He has a friend named Sam
He gets to school in a tram
He likes to visit his gran
She doesn’t give a damn

Ciaran O’ Connor