Growing Up
Growing up
A feeling of despair,
Falls on my mind
A feeling of loss,
At how time passes time.
I remember the days,
Of jumping couches of fire.
Being a ten foot monster,
Who takes all I desire.
The cracks on the pavement,
Are jumped over and dodged.
The mischief and mayhem
I know that I caused
Now I’ve turned that year older,
The memories they fade,
And suddenly unacceptable
To not act my age.
I know in myself,
These memories won’t last
Because that time of my life,
Is now known as the past
Seana
A Dyslexic Life
Dyslexia is not a curse and neither a cure
It is not a problem and it is neither a solution
It is neither wrong and it is neither right
It is just a way of life that neither helps or ruins
It is neither an excuse or a reason
It is a way of believing not thinking
It is just a way of life where I believe that b’s are d’s and p’s are q’s
It might not be a pleasing life but it is my life
And I enjoy it
Sean Keoghan
Bullies
You see them across the schoolyard on the prowl,
With the strength of a rhinoceros, the ferocity of a lion and the beady eyes of an owl.
They pick on the weak, the unconfident, the easiest prey,
Until the clock strikes four at the end of the day.
Bullies. A deadly species.
They swoop in, claws ready, under the radar,
Their eyes scan the yard for where potential targets are.
They hunt in packs their tactics infallible, and no escape can be found,
Because every day, you must return to their hunting ground.
Bullies. A pack of merciless fiends.
We talk to our parents, who go tell the schools.
The ones with the power who make all the rules.
Now the schoolyard patrollers have a new inclination,
To end the reign of terror, start a bully incarceration.
Bullies. Reduced to caged animals.
So the Principals sit back, they think their jobs are done.
They look out their windows at the children having fun.
But bullies are very adaptable to change,
And they still of lots of victims who are well within their range.
Suddenly, a shy, lonely kid has friends who he sits with every day,
When they ask to borrow money, he’s happy to give it away.
True, they never pay him back, and they sometimes call him gay,
But friends don’t tell on each other…
Do they?
Bullies. No longer just vicious thugs.
Simon Heneghan
It’s Hard
It’s hard when you think you’re too much of anything
Too smart, too dumb, too anything
Apparently, you can be too much of anything
You can even have too much of something
Too many guys asking you out or too many opinions
It’s hard being the smart kid in the class
You have teachers telling you what you have to get saying that you have to do this well
It’s hard to not be happy with what everyone else would call a good grade
It’s hard because you get sectioned off as the smart kid who knows everything
It’s hard being quiet but also being out going
It’s hard because you have to try so hard and sometimes you don’t want to
But you don’t want to sit alone
It’s hard to not be consumed by your thoughts
By your negative thoughts of yourself and your positive thoughts of everyone else
It’s hard to escape your constant judgement of yourself
It’s hard but it’s worth it
Everything is worth it
Sophie Brosnan
To You
To you, I am quiet and shy,
Scared and unpopular. Lonely and weird,
Anyone that knows me knows that once you open the door to my friendship,
You also enter my mind
Behind this quiet, person, is somebody you wouldn’t expect to be there,
Someone kind and caring,
Loving and gentle,
Outspoken, tough, funny and courageous,
Someone brave and honest
Before you judge someone, or have an assumption about someone,
Take time to sit and talk with them, and acknowledge their differences,
Remember,
Love, don’t judge
Aóibhe O’Reilly
My Journey
This world remembers my joy, my laughter,
My journey.
My first smile, my first step, my first fall.
My pain, my anger, my hopelessness.
My first tears, my first scream, my first and last fight.
This world holds on to when I broke apart, collapsed, crumbled, gave up.
It focuses on every single time that I lashed out.
Every time I stopped caring, stopped trying, stopped living, stopped being
But I choose to focus on my redemption, my recovery, my return, my truth.
My supports, my friends, my family.
I remember the love that saved me, destroyed me, built me up and tore me down.
All for the sake of this journey, this lesson.
This world will always remember
My journey.
My highs and my lows, my strengths and my weaknesses.
This world will always remember me; it will never forget.
I will never forget, because I am better for it all.
Miriam Collins
Poem
Poetry is a quiet scribble,
A message in some ink.
Poetry is all the colours,
It’s red, it’s blue, it’s pink.
Poetry is a quiet cry,
The kind no one can hear.
Poetry is in everything,
You just gotta know it’s there.
Poetry is a quiet light,
At the corner of your mind
Poetry is on bathroom walls,
It’s not difficult to find.
Poetry is a quiet tune,
In the lyrics of the song.
Poetry is infinite,
There is no right or wrong.
Poetry is a quiet thought,
When you peacefully lie in bed.
Poetry is a simple thing,
A way to clear your head.
Charlotte Dillon
Free
Do you ever wonder what it is like to do what you want?
Eat what you want, say what you want, and go out when you want,
Live the way you want
Not having to be any rules
No teachers, no parents, no boss
I wonder what the world be like without any rules?
The world not controlled by ‘The big man in the office’
I wonder how different life would be?
Would it be easier or literally be the end of the world?
Or
What is the meaning of life?
Is it all one big lie?
Katelyn Sutherland
My Mind
My mind preparing,
The thought of what’s coming
I inhale the calmness,
The freeness of thought
I know when I look next, I’ll see the world different
A good different, a lifted different
A different I love
One that’s hated and frowned upon
And seen as indecency
But it’s those thoughts I think of
When I exhale
Of the people who hate and frown
Who will never feel this lifted happiness?
I think to myself, I’ll stay this indecent
Sinead Maher
Untiled
What the ocean desires
The sky creates
The waves echo the stars
It motivates the swish and swirl within the water
The oceans energy rises like steam
For the waves are just a dream
Daniel Gleeson
Life
Life unfurled where childhood started
The home that lived in so warm hearted
A home full of loving memories
That told many stories
Where my family grew
Time like a bird from a treehouse flew
I did my first eveything
Talk, walk, run and even sing
I was introduced to my newborn brother
Grew older and stronger, into my mother
Life in this house was really the best
A life so loved and so blessed.
Leah Collins
Happy
Are you happy yet?
Your world ends here
Where all you know dies
And you are left alone forever
Are you happy yet?
They left here long ago
Driven away by your coldness
The house is empty now
Are you happy yet?
All is empty, quiet and dead
Everyone’s been sent away
You wanted this, remember?
Are you happy yet?
Adam D. Finn
The Shadows
Whisper many things,
Be better,
You’re not good enough,
No one cares,
Your existence is meaningless,
However,
One step into the light
And the whisper becomes silent.
Eoghan Mooney
These Walls
Remember
The screams and shouts
What they don’t remember
Is what it’s all about
Remember the fear and the pain
They know you will never be the same
They want to give you help
They see, they cry, they whelp
They will never be the same
They have gone up in flames
But these walls have recovered and they’ve healed
All because a woman showed them how to feel
These walls they’re happy, they’re ecstatic
Little did they know, the girl was plastic
These walls remember the warmth you gave
But now these walls feel like a slave
Slaving, watching the fighting go by
Watching, and all you can do is cry
Elliot O’Connor
All Began
It all began
I became a man
Guns dominoes designer clothes
Made lots of friends
And a lot of foes
My heart broke, a memory I cannot recall
I’m in it for slog, for the long hard haul
Felt like we could have lived forever
So, we could’ve spent more time together
Knew that it was love from the beginning
So, tell me can a thug like me show his true feelings?
Oran O’Mahony and Sean Mckenna
Confidence
Am I confident ?
My friends say I am,
My family say I’m quiet,
I say I’m not.
How can I BE confident?
Confidence is something you find,
Not something you are.
It’s something that needs practices.
So practice.
And show confidence.
Anon
She
She lights up the room
With all her perfume,
That iPhone glistens
Under certain conditions,
She’s wise and funny
And all she wants is money,
Her statements are hilarious
But she isn’t a fan of the simultaneous.
Aaron Payne
I Glare
I glare out the frosted planes
Realizing on how it explains,
The way you were always so different with me
Was there even ever a we?
You messed with my head
Every night before bed,
The breezy cold night
Would make me feel right,
I miss how you held me
But you left to gain a degree,
She must be your twelfth
But she aint like myself.
Grace Clarke
Golf
Birds talking, tree’s blowing
The back swing is the final breath
The sound of the strike the birds follow
Birds pray around the circular ball
The stroll up is the longest one
Birds scatter when the earths starts to rumble
We repeat the processes
And more birds start to follow
Evan Collins
The Choice
When I was seven my parents got separated
My parents were always fighting
This left me having to choose between them a lot
This is why I don’t like holidays such as Christmas
Because I always have to choose one
And leave the other feeling bad knowing
I didn’t want to spend time with them
I never know what to do on holidays now
My parents still don’t get along
And I find myself in the middle of these conflicts
But I know that later things will get better.
Adam Dowling
The Mind is Like a Library
“The mind is like a library” my grandfather once said,
As you get older the lists of knowledge begins to overflow and spread,
The books pile up everywhere taking up the space,
It starts to become difficult and you start to misplace,
What people say to you becomes forgotten and muddled,
When you try to remember past events the process leaves you puzzled,
Because the mind is like a library constantly growing and overflowing,
You have through search through lots of books just to remember where you were going.
Luke Crawley
In Silence
I sit there in silence
Awaiting some sort of guidance,
My mind in a place like no other
I should be enjoying my summer,
Instead I lay here boggled
Wondering if I should be remodelled,
I miss your caring tone
But instead I remain alone,
Your jokes and your laughs, oh how I miss them
And now im left watching a stem,
The number three doesn’t remain my lucky number no more
Because now you’re not with me anymore.
Aaron Payne
Untitled
He wondered why he was picked last
Maybe because he wasn’t fast
Maybe because he was too small
Or because he couldn’t kick the ball
All he wanted was to join in
Why was that such a sin?
He knew they didn’t want him to play
But this was his life, day after day
Conor Mc Loughlin
The Tide of War
The tide of war changes the defeated
People rise from the ash of war
The bombing stop the people
Set free from there prisons
The power of the new world
Had finally come to rescue
And liberation of the old
Keith Mccormack
Death
Death is Inevitable as you can see,
Death is Inevitable, so live your life and be free,
We all try to forget the hard facts,
But in the end, this life we live,
Will only impact, those who choose to act,
Death is Inevitable as you can see,
Death is Inevitable, so live your life and be free,
If I were to die, at least I’d be free
Colm Nolan
Anger
The feeling of rejection is like a slap in the face,
It hurts for a bit then it stays for a while.
Not good enough for you.
The memories from years ago,
They begin to fade,
Just like my love towards you,
But its time to move on,
For worse and for better.
Anon
The Name of the Game
The name of the game
What is the name of the game
Is it lifting the cup
Or fighting until you give up
To me the game is playing with passion
Meanwhile all other girls are worried about fashion
So what is this game
Isn’t it all the same
Ciara Cowley
To be Honest
To be honest
Not gonna lie
I don’t really care
I’m not bothered
To be honest
The reason?
If I was honest I would tell you
But I’m not bothered
To be honest
Ajay Cusack
Las Flores
Las flores son bonitas
Pero no tanto como tu sonrrisa
Cuando te miro todo se paraliza
Sin poder evitarlo tu eres mI vida
Todos juntos somos una familia
Flowers can be pretty
But nothing compares to your smile
That paralyzes time and spaces
Inescapable, you are my life
Together, we are a family
Isaac Cuesta
Football
Football used to be fun
Our team was number one
Til we heard the rev of his bike
And our new coach made us run
Football now was hell
The astro pitch was a jail cell
None of us wanted to play and
On the good days we dwell
Zara Cleary and Katie Cullen
Best Version of Me
When I grow up I don’t know what I will be
But I can only hope that I’m the best version of me
When I leave school, I might to go to university
Even if points and courses may limit me
I’ve heard good things about apprenticeship
Whatever root I go down I hope it leads to success
Even if I am, on my own in what I do
I know I’ll always have the support of my family and friends too
Oisín McDonagh
A Christmas Poem
As the dust settles on a special day
The Christmas tree is up and there to stay
The snow begins to fall
Visitors come and call
With presents big and small
The mood is jolly
The house decorated in holly
And that’s Christmas.
Rachael Duke
Through the Gate
Through the gate of the horses field,
The coarse grass did grow,
The wind blew the glowing trees,
As the autumn leaves did fall,
Then in came the horse to the rustic stall,
As it let out a loud call.
Liam Brennan
Family
By the age of four he was out the door
Before the thought would ever occur
Where did he leave to, down to the buy beer?
That can’t be right, he’s been gone for a year.
Mam’s been worried, how will I grow?
Will I make enough friends, or will it be used as ammo?
Three years now, I don’t think he’ll come back
But for what I have for family, that’s what he lacks
Anon
Ambitions
I’ve got ambitions for the future,
From agriculture to entrepreneurship,
From Moneymore to Kentuckys shores,
Hoping to make it big from this emerald isle,
And making myself an unreal lifestyle.
From minding ewes to masterminding my own crews,
Living life the way I wish to,
And never worrying about the dreaded pantry queue,
But having my own major breakthroughs.
Ciaran Mc Loughlin
Grow Up
When I grow up I’m gonna drive tractors,
All the contractors will be all hiring me,
March behind the John Deere agrI brand,
Climb three steps to a machine worth a few grand,
Big and small tractors and machinery,
When I drive for a contractor.
Sean McCarthy
My Mother
I love my mother
She is strong
Even though we sometimes don’t get along
But that’s just because I don’t know right from wrong
She’s a inspiration to me
And what I love most is she makes a whopper cup of tea
Katie Reed
Moonchild
I wish I was the moon,
It shines bright at night;
And gives me guidance,
When I’m in the darkness.
Alone in the dark sky,
Surrounded by an ocean of stars,
The sun is envious of her beautiful night,
I wish I was the moon.
Ema
Up in the Air
I don’t really like poems
But I like the way it’s flowing
Hopefully it gets going
I don’t think it’s going anywhere
It’s all up in the air
If I find the chair
I might be able to bear the pain
A prayer might help to get through it
Anon
To You
To you, I am quiet and shy,
Scared and unpopular. Lonely and weird,
Anyone that knows me knows that once you open the door to my friendship,
You also enter my mind
Behind this quiet, person, is somebody you wouldn’t expect to be there,
Someone kind and caring,
Loving and gentle,
Outspoken, tough, funny and courageous,
Someone brave and honest
Before you judge someone, or have an assumption about someone,
Take time to sit and talk with them, and acknowledge their differences,
Remember,
Love, don’t judge
Aóibhe O’Reilly
Life
I think of life as nothing more than an experience
That everyone goes through whether it be a cruel or fantastic one.
For many they have fantastic lives where others have bad ones. Me?
Well I find my experience of life mixed at the current time
And not because I’ve no friends,
As much as every human who follows in their nature to be cruel
To others thinks or that I’ve problems at home but because I have a mixed view on the world,
On people, politics and well pretty much everything.
I think instead of having to talk about myself
And sum up everything that makes me who
Or what makes me who I am can only describe myself as nothing more than an observer.
What do I mean by that? I mean that I view everything and everyone around me,
If I was to try explain this in a simpler way I see every event, person,
Unexplained action or actions performed by humans
And or disaster through a glass window like a zoo cage
And the animal is such said thing above
And I am the viewer behind the glass watching its nature in either amazement
Or disappointment or by most of the time confusion.
In my opinion, the current experience I’m experiencing right now
Is observing the current world around me
Almost like an alien watching down on humans up in the stars.
For many who’d hear this they will see me in two ways now,
As either a weird chap who has no friends or completely mad
Because in my opinion human nature is to act cruel,
Be cruel and assume that just because someone else has a different view on something
They are automatically different but if that were to be true
Then I have to ask why does that quote ‘Everyone’s the same…’ really exist?
Anon
Untitled
I believe the world is going to end
I believe our mass extinction will be at the fault of ourselves
I believe we are already killing the world
I believe the world is almost at its end
I believe in climate change
Climate change is going to be the end of us
Us as a population, a species
Every race, every ethnicity
Will be the end of us
Humanity will cause the end of humanity
We are the end.
Charlotte McClure
My Journey
This world remembers my joy, my laughter,
My journey.
My first smile, my first step, my first fall.
My pain, my anger, my hopelessness.
My first tears, my first scream, my first and last fight.
This world holds on to when I broke apart, collapsed, crumbled, gave up.
It focuses on every single time that I lashed out.
Every time I stopped caring, stopped trying, stopped living, stopped being
But I choose to focus on my redemption, my recovery, my return, my truth.
My supports, my friends, my family.
I remember the love that saved me, destroyed me, built me up and tore me down.
All for the sake of this journey, this lesson.
This world will always remember
My journey.
My highs and my lows, my strengths and my weaknesses.
This world will always remember me; it will never forget.
I will never forget, because I am better for it all.
Miriam Collins
Completely Alone
It’s the deafening silence in the night, the swords in a war that’s going on in your brain,
It’s the battlefield where armies win and you’re surrounded,
It’s the thing you can’t quite escape no matter how far you run,
No matter how hard you try your feet just can’t carry your weight
And whisk you away It’s the fire that slowly etches away at your brain
And melts your comfy safe space away It’s the feeling of eating mints and drinking water x10,
It’s the pit in your stomach when they say bye running out the door
It’s the words pounding against your skull with no way of leaving so you stay silent
Its the fake smiling and nodding along when tortured with speaking to unfamiliar faces
It’s the storm in your mind that only you can weather yet never have the tools to ease it.
And it’s the being in the largest crowd and screaming to yourself why can’t they hear me
Why they can’t see me and never receiving an answer.
It’s the black dark abyss in that wonderful and crazy brain of yours
Where your worst nightmare comes out to play, your thoughts.
To you it could be staying at home feeling down
And binge watching another TV series with popcorn
When your siblings go on a night out but you are left behind,
To others its running from class crying with the feeling of a hammer pounding their stomach
And the breaking of vocal chords from silently shouting.
Anon
Have you ever Wondered
Have you ever wondered what happens while you sleep?
You are transported to a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions
I once had dream where I fell into the ocean.
A dream? What is a dream you say?
A dream is defined as your mind’s thoughts while you sleep.
That moment when your eyes fall shut
Is not when your brain winds down,
It in fact, is your dreams just starting.
Anon
Flash the Lights
Flash the lights at me, flash the lights at me
Use the code on the border roads and flash the lights at me
I paid the auld insurance, and it cost me a couple a grand
I’m stony broke and that’s no joke, I’m sure you’ll understand
I have no money left at all to pay for an Nct.
If they’re stopping ’round the border, won’t you flash the lights at me.
Liam Brennan
Bang
This is my poem
It goes like this
Ramalama bang bang
Flash bang Big Bang
Bing bang bong
Erika
Feel your Pain
This poem goes out to all the Fut Champions Players,
I feel your pain,
The stress cause on your brain,
Having your game under review,
Trying to find a game but stuck in a queue.
The button delay,
Whilst the game is midway,
And then the opponent not skipping replays.
I feel your pain.
Chris Pullen
Began
I began.
God began.
Satan began.
This is everyone’s home.
Earth is our planet
There’s a start and end to everything.
Stories are told, and stories are finished.
Daniel O’Toole
Where
The history began
We captured each other
Our lives began
We found love
We made memories
We fought
We said goodbye
Nisha King
Untitled
This is where I spend the day
Wishing it would go away
Anon
The Walls
Remember what happened,
Forever trapped within,
The rooms have become blackened
With the memory of what has been.
Remember the madness,
The darkness that had broken free,
Remember the sadness,
Due to what the eye could see.
Remember death,
Remember life,
Remember vividly that night…
Aaron Kenny
Untitled
Join them
They want you to be alone
You must feel never ending pain
Feel the pain of the Alejandro Gomez and play nba 2k20
Trade in good for evil
Surrender your soul
Forget about your dreams, join them
The darkness wants you
The darkness wants control
Niall McCaffrey
Listen
Listen to the whispers in your mind
Follow them, like a sheep, to the kingdom of the blind
Descend into a dreadscape of your own mental hell
Emotions to drain from you like blood from wishing well
Feel the pain and sorrow that you’ve brought upon yourself
Feel the pain and sorrow without anyone to intervene or help
Break under the burden you carry
The darkness wants you
Luke Pettigrew
First Steps
I took my first steps
Spoke my first words
Learned my first lesson
Slammed my first door
Cried my first cry
Laughed my first laugh
Where I grew into the person I am today
This is home
Ciara Maher
The Walls
Forever trapped within them,
The rooms have become blackened
With the memory of what has been.
The madness,
When the darkness broke free,
The sadness,
For what the eye could, but the heart could not see.
Life
Death
That night.
Aaron Kenny
Flames
The screams and shouts
What they choose not to remember
Is what it is all about
The fear and the pain
They know you will never be the same
They want to give you help
They see, they cry, they hear, they whelp
It will never be the same
This house has gone up in flames
But they have recovered
They have healed
All because a woman showed them how to feel
They are happy
They are ecstatic
Little did they know
The girl was plastic
The warmth you gave
Your heart, her slave
Watching the fighting go by
Watching, and all you can do is cry
Elliot O’Connor
Untitled
These walls remember, what happened that day
The men going out to die
To for a dream
The dream of a republic.
Joshua
The Sky was Pink
The sky was pink, the clouds were yellow
On an evening calm and mellow
The road was covered in crunchy leaves
And in the air was a hint of unease.
And suddenly
Around she turned
To face the head
Of her landlord, who was long dead.
Konstantina Theochari
The Shadows
What the shadows murmur,
But no one hears,
What has been going on for years,
Just more and more tears,
Behind those tears is more fears,
The only people that see these fears are the people no longer here.
Nathan Chawke
A Plan
Not long ago Ms Walsh had a plan
And that’s when the green schools idea
Began
After lots of work and putting litter in bags
We finally have Ireland’s Green school
Flags
We reduced our waste as much as we
Could
And reused anything we thought was
Good
We recycled bottles and lots more
Now our school is greener than ever before
Shayla Rattigan Power
Lads
Lads will mess you about use you do anything to try hurt you
But if they only realized that the girl he’s hurting would do anything for him
Boys are dumb they will always try act hard in front of the lads
But all they need to do is listen to that girl that will protect them
Anon
Unemployed
All the lads think I’m full of craic
But in reality I just want my job back
Its very hard to be funny
When I’m broke and have no money
Robbie Carolan
The Park
The park is full of litter,
Everyone help to make it glitter,
Please don’t ruin the lovely scene,
People like it so don’t be mean,
Don’t throw you litter away
Put it in the bin for another day,
Please help there is lots to do,
Everyone can help even you,
And then you can play,
Help clean the earth I ask today
Don’t throw your litter away
Put it in the bin and then you can play
Lauren King
The Man in the Moon
You are the moon to my star
I, the star to your moon
Enlightening each other,
I know I will see you soon
You’re up, I’m down
You smile, I frown
I miss you, you miss me
Oh please, won’t you set me free?
Too sad to cry
The eain cried for me
Too sad to smile
You smiled for me
You stopped, looked
And cared to listen
That was the day
You let me glisten
I stared at you
Feeling dead inside
You held me tight, not letting me hide
And that was the day I knew I wouldn’t die
Emily Hickey
Family
People come and go
Its sad I know
Sometimes we remember
Sometimes you don’t
They say it’s hard to let go
Hard to forget
But sure goldfish do it
Every day you know
People get old
Grey hairs, wrinkles everywhere
Then who gives a damn
When we are young
That’s all that mattered
How you looked
How you dressed
But as you get old
You start to forget
Sometimes you purposefully
Start to forget
But that’s because
You have no space left
But that’s because
Our brains are all clogged up
And lost
Molly Tunstead
Life
Life is short
Tell that boy you like him
Go to that party
Do something you’ll regret in the morning
Loving is hard it don’t always work
Just try your best not to get hurt
Live with no regrets
Amie lynagh
Untitled
Life isn’t as simple as it seems,
Life isn’t like we dream,
We teenagers go through thick and thin,
Every family isn’t as smooth as a violin,
Why treat us like young adults,
When all we do is act like kids,
Live our lives while we can,
With no regrets.
Kamile
Spinning
Spinning, Spinning
I am here
No one can stop me
Not even Fear
Fear makes, breaks me
But will never take me
I open my eyes, my life begins
Its constantly changing,
How do I fit in?
I don’t.
So I close my eyes,
And that’s when I end…
This life.
I am happy to change,
For the new life I embark,
Embracing the good,
Leaving the bad in the dark
Emily Hickey
The Battlefield
To the Lads who hog the ball,
To the Lads that don’t get the ball at all,
To the Lads that are good enough to play county,
To the Lads that do their part and do it proudly.
To the Lads who just stand and watch,
To the Lads that work until their bones break and crunch,
To the Lads that are praised for goals,
To the Lads who are scorned until they are broken heart and soul.
This is the road of which we take,
In order to win the game that week,
An endless cycle of points and bruises,
A relentless love of which we never lose.
The pitch is our Battlefield, a place of war and victory,
A place of loses and contradictory,
A place to settle scores,
A place to have fun with mates outdoors.
This is GAA.
Cian Edwards
School
School is full of good and bad memories
School you meet your 1st love he breaks your heart
You get over it
You meet amazing friends that always have your back
You make the best memories that you’ll never get back
You have fights with the teachers
You meet stuck up people that you want to hit so bad
But the best thing is you grow up
You see the people you were with since 1st year grow into young adults
You eventually leave school go to college
You get a job and you work, work, work
You meet the love of your life
Yous get married have kids
And get a house together
And that’s how life goes everybody has to grow up some time
It’s just life…
Mia Smith
One Day
One day at a clothes shop
I met a man selling shoes
I wanted to give money to swap
The footwear I must choose
“Have you any of these shoes?
For these shoes are the shoes I choose”
“We are currently out of the footwear my friend,
I hope you are not of the offend”
But I was very much of the offend
As on the website it said in stock.
I had all this money to spend,
This man was talking poppycock
“You are a liar and a fiend.
All I asked for was these shoes,
And all I got was demeaned,
And all you’ll get is a bruise.”
I beat him senseless
But he fought back
And I became defensive
But then I heard his neck crack
I went in the back and found the shoes
I heard the garda out the front
And now my story was on the news
Now I had to give the story I spunt
“Yeah, he attacked me first
Self defense and all
Next thing I know and his necks burst
And then the garda had to call”
They looked at me confused
They noticed I had a bruise
And assumed I’d been abused
Little did they know
I still got the shoes
Harry Flynn
Silage
I love the smell of silage
I cut it every year
I jump up in me tractor and
I stick her into gear
Tearing down the road with me trailer full of grass
And all the cars caught behind driving up back.
Aaron Hayes
Too Late
The earth is crying
The ocean is drowning in plastic bottles
An object we made
An object we thought was the next best thing since the airplane
Sea levels are rising
We are getting flooded
Islands are disappearing
But we are doing nothing
The government is making false promises
Promising the sun, moon and stars
Introducing carbon taxes and declaring climate emergencies
But these actions are not saving our planet
We need to treasure the planet we have now
Force the authorities to try harder
Because if we don’t
It will be too late
Daniel Connaughton
Wrestling
Wrestling is awesome,
It makes me feel stable.
If you call it fake
I’ll put you through a table.
I love seeing body’s hit the ground
When watching Smackdown.
You’ll see me in awe when watching Raw.
The best to see is Nxt.
Wrestling brings me life
To see average men do
Doing death defying acts
Power bombs, body slams
Makes the crowd go ham.
A fight, fought back and forth
Table, ladders and chairs are broken
And 1,2,3 the ref has spoken.
And when the championship is won
Your legend has begun.
George Varkey
My Teenage Years
“My teenage years those are year’s id take back”
But aren’t they the years where we’re all cut no slack?
Drink, drugs and smoking at 16 I’m not joking
It’s the harsh reality, in the life of a teen.
The constant pressure from parents, friends and school
This expectation of perfection, the dream of a fool.
Get good grades, have friends, play sport, don’t drink,
Don’t smoke and be nice- teens have it harder than you think.
Are we adults are we kids? Kind of stuck in between.
But I guess were the lucky ones, isn’t it the teenage dream?
Lauren Brophy
Foster Sister
Met her when she was 17. She was young and held a good front.
She needed our help, so we brought her home and gave her a place to live
The first few months where easy she was just like a friend who was over all the time.
She acted as if nothing was wrong. Soon enough one wall came down
Her mental health didn’t have to hide anymore,
It got increasingly bad and she was hospitalized once, then twice…
Then things got better for a little while.
Behind this wall was bad but it was just the beginning.
Her bad mental health affected the house,
But everyone knew that it was best for her to be with us.
Soon the second wall fell. This was an ugly one. Did not suit her.
She began to become jealous of the relationship me and my sister had with our parents.
She became hateful towards us and hated to see us get attention. She wouldn’t talk to us.
She would ignore us and act as if we didn’t exist. This made our relationship worse.
It made our house tense. She would ignore us and ignore us day after day.
She became rude and mean towards the people who once helped her,
To the people who welcomed her into their own home during the years
Where they would need their own parents.
She denied it when confronted she would act like everything was ok,
But everyone knew what was going on.
She would never realise what was going on, how much we gave up, she would never know,
There would never be a thank you card, no basket of fruit.
We would just have to know that it would all pay off one day.
Things continue, no way to stop it.
I hope that one-day shell wake from this coma of depression
And become the person we know she can be
Anon
The Bible Tells Us
The Bible tells us that heaven
Is the place where believers will go
When their life’s work has ended
And they leave this world below.
Heaven has walls made of jasper,
Gates of pearl and streets of gold.
We can read of the wonders of heaven,
But the half has never been told.
There’ll be no darkness in heaven,
For in Heaven there’ll be no night.
Lamps or candles will not be needed,
For Christ Jesus is the shining Light.
There’ll be no sickness or pain there,
And all our tears will be wiped away.
Our ears and eyes will be perfect,
And there will be no tooth decay,
Of all the many wonders of Heaven,
The greatest wonder I long to see
Is the face of Jesus, my dear Saviour
Who shed his precious blood for me.
Kyle Smith
No Sleep
Not sleeping every second night
You’ve lost the plot they told me
You wont survive the week you cant go cold turkey
Sitting in class not a thought in my head
Thinking of the bed I so dearly want
Struggling to break free of the daydream I’m in
I don’t notice Ms boughs got her head in a spin
She shouts at me TABHAIR AIRE as my head snaps round
Where is the homework that you still haven’t found?
I look at her dazed not sure what to do
The room starts to spin as my vision goes black
And I land on the floor flat on my back
Finian Duffy
School
I don’t agree with the school system
I don’t agree with the stress and environment schools force on students
I don’t agree with them ruining possible things I could be interested in
By having unnecessary Information like I could be incredibly interested in a field of chemistry but
Because I am also forced to learn other aspects I dislike and it ruins the subject for me.
I don’t agree with how it is a dictatorship with teachers
Always prioritizing their own thoughts and opinions
And they are always right and the student is always wrong.
I hate how much power people who don’t even know what I’m really like
Can judge my performance in certain subjects that I have no interest or talent in.
I hate how the teachers will talk about get respect give respect but they will be sarcastic
And condescending and if you make the slightest rebuttal
You will be screamed at and penalized
I hate how it takes so much time in my week when I could be learning other things
I hate how my worth is decided by my grades
I hate how the teachers can largely affect my future even though
I don’t even know who they are
I hate homework, I don’t like having to do 6 hours work just to go home
And be expected to do more
I have a large disinterest and dislike for school
Oisin Perry
I Collect
I collect old dolls and clown shoes,
I catch rainwater in teaspoons,
Record my favourite sounds in voice boxes.
My curtains stay closed so the paint doesn’t peel,
From the pictures that remind me what to feel.
An old rug in my attic I found,
It makes this special sound,
And It’s under my bed to this day.
I lay in bed, full of boxes and bags,
Laying flat on my back
And I’ll fall asleep over and over right here.
Faye O’Brien
Untitled
When you look at someone, anyone,
Someone you feel, you know as if they were in your skin,
Do you really know them?
Do you really understand what is happening in the deepest parts of their mind?
How can you really understands someone’s frame of mind,
If they don’t understand themselves?
What gives you the ability to dismiss someone as an attention seeker,
A crazy person,
Stupid,
But the question, over which I ponder most,
When do you know when someone is simply,
“Fine”
David King
The Best Years
The best years of our lives,
Realising that your childhood is over once you begin to care about what others think.
In this school life you must obtain the equipment that makes you a part of the game
That in reality, no one wants to play.
In this game life seems perfect, happy families and perfect skin.
The perfection swindles its way into our lives providing the feeling of emptiness
And destroying friendships.
Will it stop? Probably never but can we object? We could always try.
Katelyn Kelly
We Are
We are too young
Notice how as teenagers,
We are told we are too young to have an opinion on politics, climate change etc,
Yet we are old enough to decide what we have to do for the rest of our lives.
We are too young.
We’re too young to live in world where you can’t go outside alone,
We’re too young to hear that the people in power are not on our side,
We’re too young to care more about school and opinions than our own sanity,
We are too young.
Beth Harris
Running Late
Running late as per usual
At this rate, it should be my everyday ritual
I can hear the first class draw to a close
But do I care, guess what? No
I try to walk in quietly
But my vice principal looks at me despairingly
I already know where this is going
My emotions are overflowing
Marie Fitzpatrick
Untitled
Mam came in one day
Was talking about dad
Too young to know what was happening
Didn’t really understand
She seemed really upset
And my sister started crying
My older brother explained to me
That our dad had been lying
He said he was investing
And needed my mams money
But took all of it
And dipped out of the country
Adam Kelly
Taught
We are taught in a system.
We go into a bland building,
Full of creativity and individualism
Then, exit the same
As the mother of our dullness
Around and around
Chloe
School Life
This is where I come each day,
Learning new things,
In hopes of a better grade.
Taking so many exams,
My energy sourced from a sandwich with ham.
Alison Gussago
I Love
I love this today
Really in enjoy today
I did not no to stay
I am fun like you
We can have fun
I do not no to say
I am doing poem
Next week and I will
Learn more you have
I have to learn to do more
I have fun to day I hope will be better
Then you I love games
I love GTA but went I got hacked
I was upset but I got up got no a new game
Aaron Murray
Breakfast
It’s like climbing Everest getting out of the super sized bed
Your mom yelling up through walls saying lets go
Getting all fresh for the day
You race down stairs smelling the fresh bacon
It’s like a ritual for me every Sunday morning
Family is all ready for the day
Picnic packed and the sunset is ticking
Anna Caldwell
Untitled
Sticks and stones
Kiss them gals
Flicks and cones
Lick them scones
Mix them phones
Kick them stones
Fly them drones
Rock them clothes
Game of thrones
Thank you and goodnight
Calum Deehan
109B
When the bus doesn’t come,
Do not be glum,
Just stick out your thumb,
And get a lift off someone.
If they don’t pick you up,
You should call for backup,
But don’t call your ex,
Cause he stood you up.
Sarahjane Nixon
When I Grow Up
When I grow up I’m going to play county
All the girls will be all about me
March behind The Artane Boys band
Climb the steps of the hogan stand
Sam Maguire, Liam McCarthy
When I play for the county.
We’ll be training hard
No more chocolate bars
Gym in the morning getting up early
Busting a gut with pride in the jersey
Thank you and goodnight
James Somers
Baby Bergkamp
In my Icon Pack
With 97 Composure
Custom tactics
Press on heavy touch
Wouldn’t provide any closure
Like back in 02
With that wonder goal
Dabizas sent to the shops
Straight in my team
Elite three
I will not be stopped
Jared Rushe
Broccoli
I hate to eat broccoli
Eating it is a song and dance a big game of monopoly
My mam is always so difficult about it
But it tastes so gross like she needs to stop being a git
Like leave me alone woman
I’ll eat if you just leave like gowan
AbI Dalchan
All I Want
My parents don’t trust me
All they think I’m gonna do is go out and get high
They just think I’m gonna come home drunk again
They don’t let me go out unless they know every person there
But really all I wanna do when I go out
Is chill
Chill by the river
Chill by the box with a speaker on a summer’s day
All I want is trust
Luke O Reilly
Untitled
Chicken tikka Mo Salah
With rice and great Kompany
Might get a bit Messi
I buy food with Sterling
Dylan McKenna
Nippy No Whole
She sat in a chair and stared in the mirror
As she watched the barber cutting the weight away forever
She sliced, chopped & split dead ends of her hair.
She opened her eyes and 11 inches went to 5 inches.
They cut such a swathe of charm and elegance.
Now Nippy is ugly and has to live with the name nippy for the rest of her life
Hollie Shannon
Icons
Gordon Ramsey, Brendan Rodgers
Icons of the world
In all there wonder
When Gordon cooks, Rodgers flies
The two beasts
Jack O’Riordan
Untitled
The owner was mad
The sad dog
The dog was bad
It was also sad
The owner was glad
T listened to trad
Was now not sad
The owner was glad
Liam Boyle