A Rose
Blood red and covered in thorns
So beautifully
Forbidden
It grew to protect itself
Learned to trust in only
Itself
Fighting
Struggling to survive
Wanting to be seen
Waiting to be loved but
Not believe it deserves it
It’s been picked and displayed
Its beauty shown off to the world
But
As soon as the first trace of imperfection
The first wilting leaf
The first fallen petal
Falls
It’s discarded
Thrown away
Overcome by darkness
Melting away
Unwanted
A fleck of green through the mud
The starting of a stem
A leaf
A bud
A new start
Another chance
Growing with thorns thicker than ever
A hand
Soft
Gentle
Holding the stem
Not caring if it hurts
Prepared to care
Open to love
This time the rose was not displayed
But held close
Pressed
To live forever
In the heart of someone
Who cared
Caoimhe Halligan
Untitled
We push it down.
We’ve all done it,
Like coffee tampers
Because we don’t really want to do this
Or hydraulic presses
Because we’re afraid
It’s cracked.
We fiddle with our fingers
Because we’re uncomfortable
Sometimes it feels like
We might break our own fingers
Because we’re afraid-
Just pretending
We need to pop the air bubbles
Between our knuckles,
When actually, we’re shaking.
It’s cracked.
We feel like our skin is falling
Away from our faces,
Our eyes,
Doused in what looks like
Some opium
As they recede
Back
Back
Into our skulls
But we’re just afraid
It’s cracked.
We say
We’re not
Worth
Anything
Because that’s what we’re told
But it’s cracked.
Emer Minish
I Miss You
When I sat in your arms
I felt safe
I felt that nothing could hurt me
I wished that this feeling could last forever
I thought you felt the same
But boy was I wrong
You left me and
Ripped my heart up
I thought I could trust you
But obviously not
You left me here
Saddened and broken
While I played back the good memories
I wonder if you still think of me
Or was it part of you game
Do you know how much you hurt me
You left me in tears
I am so broken
With only some ice cream to comfort me
I wish I could have you back
I wish you felt the same
I miss you
Shauna Quigley
Good Guy
I have stared into demons eyes but to my surprise
They were in my father
I wanted to be close but he just kept pushing me farther
A “normal” life is what I’d rather but we were team
The broken bones, blood and coffins destroyed our dreams
Yet we would never scream
No sign of life and no hope it would seem
But all he wanted was to be seen and he tried
Loved ones died and through his pain he was still the bad guy
Everyone saw our illness and wanted us gone
So they ignored us for so long
Meanwhile I was a broken puzzle and the pieces didn’t fit
Everyone has lost so much and I could see all of it
I needed to help and I wouldn’t quit
People thought that it was for them but really it was selfish
I needed the to cry for someone else
I promised myself that I would never lie
Always try to be nice but never fail to be kind
I thrive to be the good guy
Ryan Mulligan
It’s the Idea that Always Trips
It’s the idea that always trips
And out of the way it flips
To leave you left behind
As it continues barrelling down the road.
And while you chase you wonder if you should be continuing after it,
But doubts are the biggest killers of dreams
And you have so many doubts poking at the surface
That are going to tell you should stop chasing.
Speeding often comes with accidents.
And coming straight for the ideas you left suspended on that road
Are racing ideas that are going to crash
But when given the right care merged ideas are more powerful than fears
And doing is the biggest killer of doubts.
Kollete and Emer Minish
Why?
Why?
Sometimes I wonder
The plague of doubt seeps into my mind
Questioning, screaming inside my head
A cacophony of sound, echoing
Haunting me
About how I look, or feel
Or what I wear, or enjoy
The stigma, the shame
But then I see it
Clearly, right in front of me
All I love, and care for
My family, my friends,
Sport, books and writing.
My interests
What I wake up every day for
Why not?
Anon
Untitled
The people we’ve met,
Are the losses we set,
They say ‘go for it all,
But then it all falls,
So much time spent…
On what?
We spend our whole life
Striving for perfection.
To realise all is wasted.
We waste all our times trying to improve.
Until we turn around and realise
We have no time left to enjoy it.
What’s the point in trying to be perfect
When the only thing perfect
Is our flaws.
Cian Kilkenny
Sparkle
The glimmering sparkle catches my eye
By the window these tiny specs fly
“Pixie dust” I say in awe
My sister laughs and shakes her head
She finds it funny what I just said
“It’s just dust” She shrugs
I wake up with a terrible fright
All is dark I guess it’s night
“Help” I call out
My Mother enters in her gown
She hugs me and says lay back down
“It was just a dream” she assures
Now I’m told to plan ahead
Wishes I’m told must stay dead
Magic’s fake and dreams aren’t real
But that doesn’t change the way I feel
Our dreams and wishes get us by
They help us through the tougher times
I believe just like a child
Some might laugh and say I’m dumb
I don’t care I’m having fun
Miracles can happen if you try
Just open your heart and close your eyes.
Adam Khier
School
They say school is the best days of your life
Is it really though?
Is the best days of your life stressful?
Covered in study and educational tests
And regurgitating information you crammed from the night before
Nope. It’s not
School kills imagination
School kills dreams
You get told to work harder when you fail
You get told to work harder when you pass
You get in trouble when you draw and not pay attention
But honestly when will we need algebra… ever?!?
You get in trouble for talking and communicating
But the system promotes communication.
Grades will not define me
My actions and my work will define me.
Shauna Quigley
Women in Sports
We fight and we train,
But we never reign
We give sweat and tears,
But never get past our fears
We are just as tough,
But we still have it rough
Strength we don’t lack,
Yet they don’t have our back,
They say that we can’t,
But with help we can,
All we need is your support.
Sinéad Gielty
I Hate
Teachers who don’t understand you have other subjects
Counsellors who reckon your problem is tiny
Learning useless information and regurgitating it
Getting up at the ass-crack of dawn
Being told what to wear and how to act
Not learning important life skills
The school system and the teenagers it loses along the way
Clodagh Gilligan
I Hate
You know what I hate.
I hate the way people put me down
For being different or for being short
And even being me but here’s what
I like about others like me
We are compassionate
We are thoughtful
We are the ones that will strive for
Greatness and hope that others will accept
Us and make what we are a part of them
Jayi
Our World
What kind of a world do we live in
Its hard to give a grin.
Crazy leader in the west
Madman in the east.
Sad to see these trends
This world needs a cleanse
Political warfare in Europe
Physical warfare in the Arabs
Climate change has the world at stake
It will give you such an ache
Sometimes I just sit and wonder
Of these many blunder
It is very strange
Thus Id like to make a change
Mícheál Mchale
Discrimination
Gay or straight
Black or white,
Whatever you are you’re great
You don’t deserve this crap
From some sad sap
You should be treated nice
Even if you’re different
When picking friends this info should be insignificant
You’re brilliant
Thomas Dunne
Words
Words are like a wrecking ball,
It tears you apart until you crumble and fall,
One day you will come away from the sadness,
And bring me away from all this madness,
I will stand tall and reflect on this day,
And hopefully these emotions will go away.
*Not a true story
Damien Lydon
A Sad Song
Out here in the country side
I sat in the orchard teary eyed
I thought about my life
What went wrong
I sat there and sang a sad song
Rachel Flynn
Direction
Had my wheel held from the start,
Now I don’t known where to park,
Expected to live like Clark
But there is no superman to help in my story’s ark.
I have the control but no satisfaction,
Nothing to give me direction.
Darragh Kilbride
Boys
Play with girls like they are toys,
They get in fights,
Trying to be knights,
They say they play county,
When all they do is eat bounties,
They run around,
While girls fade in the background.
Anon
School
Is only for fools
Who think there cool and can play 8 ball pool
Who can’t even use power tools and
The think they own the school
There cruel and are fools as they didn’t go to playschool!
Anon
The King
The king was in the counting room
Counting all his money.
The queen was in the dining room
Eating bread and honey.
The Guards were all in London
Getting drunk in a pub
The Dragon was in the dungeon
Eating all of his grub.
Naoise Hopkins
Football Field
When I go into a football field
I see a different side to me
I feel like an animal releasing all my anger
This make me happy as I can be
When I get crazy at the nightclub
I get even crazier at the country club
Daniel Walsh
Salah
My favourite player is Mohammed Salah
He is Muslim so he follows a god named Allah
His nickname is the Egyptian king
A well deserved name for a man that plays good football
And earns a lot of bling
He is my favourite player
As I said he always plays with a smile on his face
He leaves the opposition manager feeling like
He is managing a team that is unfortunately blessed with disgrace
He is 26 years old with a bright future ahead of him
He has daughter that he loves and cherishes
She enjoys the beautiful game
Makka Mohammed Salah is her name
He doesn’t get caught up with all the fame
He has little to lose and a lot to gain
Blessing Phakathi
Standing Here
When you’re standing here and you have to fight
Now you’re standing here and you see him bet
Cant jump or you cant say stop
Then you home straight to bed and it ringing in your head
When you text the crew and you feel like crap
What can you do when your friends a fool
Brian Jennings
A Crime
I don’t know how to make words rhyme
So I’m just gonna write about crime.
First, we could start with a heist
But we’d upset our lord Jesus Christ.
Secondly, we could talk about stealing
But make sure you don’t get caught because the alarm will be squealing.
You can rob all the shops,
Just make sure you don’t get caught by the cops.
That’s pretty much it
I quit.
Sorin Simionescu
Untitled
There is a lot of rats in the school,
Some are black rot, some are gruel,
Termination could be used,
None of them can be excused,
They are worse than fossil fuels,
Helped me overcome the cruel.
Aoife and Natalie
A Reason
I drown away my sorrow and fears,
To face reality and all its years
To come to a realization
Of what our sole purpose of us being here.
Of what is needed in this nation
To form a reason to drink beer
Cathal
I Can’t
I can’t
I can’t rhyme
I don’t have a dime
And I’m really not fine
I love being ironic
Keelan McDonagh
Untitled
I had a sleep
But I heard a beep
It woke me up
And I seen my pup
On my bed
Looking dead
I let out a shout
It looked in doubt
But it was alive
To my surprise
I said a prayer
That it wasn’t a nightmare
Stephen Moore
Mocks
Mocks night was a good night,
There were lots of fights,
I rather of seen the northern lights.
When the guards came, they all claimed they had rights,
But when you get in fights you lose your rights.
Anon
Untitled
I was on the way
To get the hay
Dawn of the day
I heard a loud neigh
It was a bit of horseplay
Leon
Untitled
I hate birds
And then people are whole other level
Cant write poems for the love of me
I can’t even look at my face
My hair would scare a medusa
When I get accused of stuff that’s the end
Emily O’Donnell