Screaming Whispers
The whisper that shadows you
Speaks louder than words,
They linger behind us,
To me; screaming to others; unheard
What’s concealed in the shade,
Are our darkest thoughts,
An unforgettable memory,
All tied up in a knot
By the secrets, harassed,
It’s a hateful reminder,
We may not be finished with our past,
But our past isn’t either.
Eve Harlin
People
In sadness we look for hope,
Something to make the clouds disperse into the great sky,
A touch of a loved one’s hands,
A hand that exhumes warmth and reliability,
A smile and a wave from a stranger,
That shows us that we are never alone,
For in times of need all we have is people,
People who care,
People who try,
Try to help you to recover from the turmoil of life,
Who rebuild all that is broken,
And who create new inspirations
So that every day is
New,
Exciting,
And mostly, better.
Zoe Ryan
Friends
Fear is a demon that lies inside us all
Rejection is a feeling we all know too well
Isolation is a cage that gets tighter every day
Emptiness is a chasm that gets deeper all the time
Nothingness feels like floating in the abyss
Darkness is a curse that consumes who we are
Solitude is a knife and time leaves a scar.
Aoibhe and Naoise
Untitled
Every person who walked through those doors
Every single solitary word that spilled from your mouth
The judgemental comments said under your breath
The hurtful comments that come spilling down
The gossip you spread far and wide
The people you hurt in the process
A casualty in your battle
Why forget all the happy memories that played out right in front of you?
The laughs, the smiles, the tears of joy.
Why let the darkness take out the sun so it can’t shine.
Aoibhe McDermott
Every
Every face that ever glanced your way
Every hand and finger that have touched and ran across those walls
Every word spoken bounced off those walls
Every laughter of joy and happiness right down to your cries of sorrow
Every step you marked on that floor that joins those four walls
Every stain imprinted by the kids
Every back that sleepily rested on those walls
So why do you try cover the pain
A new look doesn’t change you
Because deep down, you still remember the pain
Anon
Fear
Fear
Fear of rejection
That the crowds will look and leave
Fear of judgement
That people will stare and laugh
Until you’d rather die right there than face them for another minute
Fear of failure
That the wheel of life will keep turning but you have fallen off
That everything you’ve hoped and aspired for
Has suddenly fallen out of reach and now you’re left with nothing
You’re only left with yourself
And suddenly that’s not enough anymore
You need acceptance from others
Even if you don’t like them
Because if you’re accepted
You’re loved
And isn’t that all that anybody wants
Love?
Zoe Ryan
The Darkness
The voices want the innocence of all the children,
Who sit down in a corner and play,
They scream with joy as they play with their toys,
Each and every day.
They want the sun to go away,
More and more every day.
They want no light to make its way,
Into their shadows, which are cast every day.
They want to always not been,
On your walls each night as you dream.
Arianna Brunton
Where
You danced,
Where you sang
And where you laughed.
This is where you went out
And had a blast.
This is where you met the love of your life,
Where the two of you talked
For the whole night.
Now you are back
In this place,
And you realise that the smile
Has faded from your face.
Naia Kelly
Untitled
These walls recall all the good and bad times,
When you laughed so hard you cried,
And when you cried so hard you could fill a lake.
All the late nights you spent,
Either studying, working or just talking with friends.
All the plans you made,
Of better grades, better looks and better friends,
Of big dreams coming true and the best life you could possibly live.
Every day you worked for your dreams,
And every day you fought for what’s right.
The life you lived with no regrets.
Abi Sheehy Finnegan
Untitled
These walls remember the nuns roaming the halls,
While the girls slept peacefully throughout the night.
They remember the endless tests and all the stress,
When the teachers would sit back and rest.
These walls remember all the gossip and the rumours that were spread,
Every single detail down to a thread.
But now as time moves forward, without a fret
These walls will soon forget.
Jen
Woken
Woken up at 8:15 I only know what this could mean.
He had suffered for long enough and that time was extremely rough.
It didn’t last long, until he was gone.
My heart was broken when my father had spoken,
The dreaded words when I was awoken.
My best-friend had died that day, all I did was cry and pray.
I never got to say goodbye, now all I cough out is angry tear less cries.
Oh my granddad dad that died half past 7,
I can’t wait to meet you again in heaven.
Julieanne Murtagh
The Ocean
The ocean is wide,
As far as the eye can see,
It’s blue like his eyes,
The man of my dreams,
The sand is a gold,
A mild light yellow,
It litters the ground,
The sand when it’s hit makes a soft thudded sound.
It spreads for miles,
With a lighthouse each side,
Along with the ocean,
My imagination runs wild.
Anon
The Week
Monday swallows you in and puts you through a week of work
Tuesday due dates pile up
Wednesday is the turning point
Thursday you’re fed up with study
Friday gives you hope for rest
Saturday recharges you
And Sunday spits you out and puts you through it again
Then they ask us why we are tired
Anon
I am Me
I have ten fingers, ten toes, two hands and two feet,
Some would say I’m blessed.
I have hair, a face, nails and teeth,
Just the same as the rest.
Although there is some things that makes me stand out,
Things unique and different.
My smile, my laugh my cry,
My thoughts, my memories and my feelings,
They are all my very own.
I am me.
Michaela Gavagan
The Sun and the Stars
They shine in the sky,
And they shine so bright,
If we don’t see them,
Then my God we get a fright,
We see them in the star and in our lover’s eyes,
The person we trust, our comfort, no lies
We see them in the sky,
On a bright sunny day or in the sky,
On a family holiday.
Katie Duffy
Generation Z
I wash my hair,
Put on my make up,
Dress in nice clothes,
Each time I wake up.
The water is clean,
Unlike others, I’m lucky.
Yet still,
I do not hold the key.
My make up stings
My skins weird allergies.
Each meal I eat,
I count the calories.
In my generation,
It’s hard not to compare,
Knowing my imperfections
Will always be there.
I’m rubbish at sport,
But still I’ve joined the gym.
Anything I can do
To try and stay thin.
In school,
I try my best to succeed.
But will I earn
The points I need?
Playing my guitar, badly,
I drown it out;
The thought that my life
Can only go south.
I read and write,
I study and draw.
Still, all I focus on
Is every flaw.
It’s not okay;
Me being me.
At least that’s what I’m taught
In Generation Z.
Sarah Curtis
She Looked
She looked at her reflection in the water,
Remembering that day up at the altar.
Watching the seconds
Pass by on her watch,
Rethinking the mistake
The one clumsy botch.
The kids in the background
Running and playing,
That regret in her mind
Still ricocheting.
Katie Gaff
The not so Teenage Dream
Work all day
Get no pay
Its not fair
Nobody cares
Home alone
With just my phone
Berated with comments
Should I tell my parents?
Slut, Hoe, Weirdo, Freak
I can do nothing for I am weak
All anonymous profiles on a screen
Why must they be so mean?
Alone in my bed
Is this all in my head?
Reach out they say
But I only run away
At school, things get worse
All they do is tease and curse
How can I escape this
I want to crawl into the abyss
I have no one and nothing
So please,
Stop the bullying
Joy and Emily
The Sun Goes Down
When the sun goes down and the darkness creeps in,
When the moon’s light fades and the trees become still,
When everyone is asleep and our thoughts run free,
Who knows what will appear in our dreams?
Katie Knowles
Quirky
He is clumsy and silly
He snorts when he laughs
He’s different and intriguing
His interests are distinct,
He knows they talk, but he doesn’t change,
What a legend.
She’s talented and beautiful
She’s funny and sweet
She stands out when trying to fit in
She makes those silly voices
She knows they talk, but she doesn’t change
What a legend.
He laughs at silly things
He likes the old music
He stares at the sea
He doesn’t follow the herd
He knows they talk but he doesn’t change
What a legend
They see what they started
The pressure they cause
The hearts they break
They wish it all away but words can’t be unsaid.
But one of them is strong
They don’t like what they’ve done
They step away from the crowd that think they are big,
That think they are strong.
They like the silly
Embrace the strange
And see a new definition of beauty
They have changed.
What a legend!
Molly Coulter
She Never Sees Them
She never sees them
She never hears about them
She never watches them
Or wants to be them,
Because she doesn’t know.
She doesn’t know that girls, just like her,
Can kick, bounce, throw, catch, hit, solo a ball
Can run, swim, dive, jump, flip, cycle, ski
Because she only see’s, hears, watches them,
How great they are and how great they can be
But there not like her, she can’t be them
Them who are more important, more interesting, better than her
Because only he can be like them, because he can see them
Because if she can’t see it she can’t be it
Anon
Untitled
The smell of cigarette smoke, so thick you could cut it with a knife
The yellow stains around the picture frames
A room so cold because it’s been empty for week.
The smell of flowers, bouquets surrounding the room
And cups of coffee for those who came to visit you
The sound of laughter and music
You gave me a hug, but I didn’t know it would be the last
The rattling sound of your breath as you sleep
The stillness of the room
Not even the beat of your heart
Only the sound of your watch
Counting down the last few seconds of your life
You were not scared of dying but said you would miss us all terribly.
Anon
In the Pitch Black
In the pitch black when the lights are out,
When you are wide-awake yet in a deep sleep and your eyes are closed shut.
When you’re all alone while the heating and floorboards creak,
When your only company is the whispering shadows.
What the shadows whisper is in fact your inner thoughts
Telling you how you are worthless,
When your inner thoughts keep screaming at how
You will always be alone and never be good enough
While you’re in the pitch black the lights are out,
What the shadows whisper is you will never get out
Until you reach brightness and your eyes are opened.
Emma Looby
Ladders
No one belongs here.
Gossip spreads like a virus
Through the corridors
As quick as lies
Can be spat through gritted teeth.
People excluded for their gender, weight
For lack of likes on social media.
Climbing the knives in other’s backs
To get up on the social ladder.
Holding grudges to make you feel unwanted
Every single day.
Everybody wants to belong
But really no one ever truly belongs.
Sarah Muldoon
What the Darkness Desires
It wants to see you fall, it wants to see you tremble beneath your skin
The darkness in which you cannot see, see’s you
It feeds off your insecurities; it smells your emotion,
The fear and anxiety rolling off you in tidal waves
It wants you to let go, to become someone you fear
And let your inner demons control you.
The darkness wants to consume you.
Its all around you, you cannot escape it,
You can’t run from it,
You can’t look back or it will swallow you.
For you are the darkness.
Ruby Carroll
First Silence
The fists that left holes in them.
The screams that could be heard through them.
The trembling child left cradled in their corners,
Feeling trapped within them.
The sound of sirens tearing through them,
The boy being dragged from them to meet new walls,
Meeting the first Silence.
Anon
Marine Dream
Plastic free crystal blue waves
Angel fish swimming in heavenly dreams
Tropical currents in aquamarine
Living coral reefs, alive with colour,
Not a graveyard un-dead ocean bone
Children jumping over the white wash,
Splashing in the invincible waves
Bronze bodies surfing it’s surf
Baby mammals at play in it’s waters
Why don’t people care about where life on Earth came from?
Eimear Davis
Scarred for Life
They remember the pain
Of every person who lived,
The cries for help every night,
The fear, the anxiety,
Of what lay on the other side.
Feeling like a burden, trapping all of those inside.
Anon
Remember
Summer days
Autumn and Spring and Christmas plays
Lazy afternoons and doing art
Music, playing sport, playing our part.
Us out on the yard
Cuts, bruises, all the laughs.
Stupid fights and having fun,
Spending all day out in the sun.
Our last day,
And all the children who went on to play games.
Emer O’Malley
Where
The memories were made,
From birth to present it’s been my home.
Here I found my true love from rome
We laughed we cried you’ve been my rock.
Here we go to discos
Covered in tan and plastered in make-up.
Our memories lie here as well as a break up.
This is our home, this is where we belong.
Niamh McGuinness
The Shadows
Whisper when you’re shy and alone, it hurts you down to the bone
When you’re outgoing and friendly, when they only know you barely.
When you fail, hiding behind there evil veil.
When you achieve amazing things, only for your mind to cling.
When you are just being yourself, making you there little elf.
Is what they see and not what they know, only to put your life in an all-time low.
Sadhbh McLarney
Football
These blades of grass remember you just wanting to play.
These horrific thoughts remember you being excluded because of your gender,
You trying to fit in,
Your tears through the night,
Your parents pain and feelings of being unhelpful,
These walls remember you deciding to change,
You meeting teammates who have been in similar situations,
You happy and doing better,
Smiling.
Anon
Social Media
We get judged for how we look
We get laughed at for reading a book
We get hated for what we wear
We talk through screens but keep quite in person
Our self esteem has been torn because we’re all trying to get to the throne
We were shown images that were edited and told it was reality
This is where we live,
Our society.
Anon
Where
I had my first laugh
And where I took my first steps.
I played all day
And cried all my sorrows away.
I made many memories
In which made me in who I am today.
I went outdoors
And picked berries from far away trees.
I lived all my life
And I don’t want to leave.
Sarah Kealy
What Exists Below
That watery inertia,
The unknown beneath our feet,
The life that exits below,
But no one seems to know.
The clock that keeps on ticking,
Where nobody seems to go.
What can survive deep down,
What creatures have not been found,
Is the journey never ending…
Or will we reach the ground?
Lauren Keys
Wouldn’t it be Class
What if pigs could fly,
Would baked beans and farts power the voyage?
What if donkeys could sing,
Would Elvis be jealous of their deadly voice?
What if cows could drive,
Would the motorways turn into the wacky races?
What if dogs could talk,
Would they make you laugh yourself silly?
What if horses could swim,
Would it bring a bit of interest to races?
What if mice could play music,
As good as the rat pack or be better than that?
What if monkeys could tell jokes,
Would they make better comedians?
What if animals could do all these things,
Wouldn’t it be class?
Molly Coulter
Untitled
My first day in this school,
With a bag bigger than me and my collar tucked in.
How nervous I was,
Too shy to talk to anyone.
Me making new friends,
I thought they would be there till the end.
Oh how the times have changed since then.
Through stressful exams, friendship breakups,
Boy gossip and just having fun,
How it all begun.
Anon
Crying
All the crying of the people,
On the street,
Where the children,
Used to sit and weep.
The children calling
For their mothers,
Trying not to scare,
The others,
That are fighting for their life,
And don’t want to be in sight.
Lisa O’Neill
What the Trees Want
To come into the woods
To die
To jump head first
To fall in a never ending hole
To live on the moon
To never be happy
To be alone
To fade away
To disappear
It wants YOU
Rosie Mulvany
School
Teachers stand and the students sit,
The girls all gossip and boys draw their bits.
People talk behind backs and judge on looks,
They have no compassion or no self-worth.
Underage drinking and small petty fights,
Teenage pregnancy and long summer nights.
The old love has gone and a new one has arrived,
No more romantic dates just people in disguise.
With broken dreams and broken hearts
They navigate the teenage dark.
Roisin O’Dowd
Wondered
She always wondered
What the voices said,
If the visitors heard her,
If her parents missed her.
She always wondered
If someone would save her,
As she sits on the floor,
Starving, in danger.
She always wondered
If her friends shed a tear,
Since she’s been locked in his basement
For over a year.
Aoife Mcfadden
Untitled
These walls recollect every tear I shed
Every laugh I shared,
Every word I spoke
Every time I cared,
Every night I spent awake dreaming of lots of cuddles
Every fight with my parents
And the tiny little struggles,
Every time I screamed
Every door I slammed,
Every time I said I hate you
While they were holding my hands,
The first time I realized to never hold a grudge
As a grudge could last a lifetime,
But this doesn’t apply to us.
Anon
The Happy, the Sad
The joy of meeting new people for the first time
And then when they stabbed you in the back.
They remember the carrying of books stack upon stack.
The rumours, lies, and secrets that passed through each conversation.
They remember the torture, guilt, and temptation.
How people changed, evolved and became different people altogether overtime.
Stories once thought to be a crime. Those ‘strangers’.
Those hidden dangers. The lost trust and the long-time lust for validation.
Friends fighting angry souls biting.
The happy, the sad the good, the bad ,the hope and upset.
They won’t ever forget.
Jane Burke
The First Day
The first day I saw him,
Walking through my front door,
With a blue blanket wrapped around him,
Cuddle up and sound asleep in his chair,
It was love at first sight,
I had never seen this human before
I would be living with him until he grows older,
Little did I know he would be the troublemaker,
That makes everyone in the house go crazy,
This boy in fact, you cannot forget him ever
Katie McDonnell
These Walls
These walls recall
My whole entire childhood,
The good and the bad,
The happy and the sad
The memories i’ve made of true happiness,
The tears of joy i’ve shed,
Although they also remember,
My first heartbreak,
The many fights,
The lonely nights.
Grace Mckeever
Promise
Promise me you’ll always be here
Never left alone
To shed any tears
Yes, I’m selfish it’s true
But I only want to be with you.
Melissa Hortan
Remember
The tension when the friend group divided,
How everything felt different for weeks,
The looks that were given in the hallway,
Because of the rumours that were spread.
And then everyone was happy;
We had our smaller group of 8
And everyone was comfortable around each other.
Private things were talked about again
And everyone got along with everyone.
These walls are now remembering those years together,
While the group re-forms again.
Alanna Nic Garaidh
Night Whispers
When the lights are turned off
When you shut your eyes
When you hear the floorboards creak
When you’re all alone
When your only company is the shadows
It is in fact your sub conscience criticising you
Telling you all the time what you have done wrong
How you’ll never be any good
That you’ll always be alone
Night by night it tears you down bit by bit
Ciara White
Who you Used to Be
Who you used to be,
Endless smiles and screams of laughter.
Little did you know,it would all change after.
Dancing and singing, with not a care in the world.
Parties and sleepovers galore.
You believed you would always feel this way.
Unfortunately for you, it would soon go away.
Oh how you’ve changed.
Smiles became forced and laughter was not heard.
Your happiness flying away, just like a bird.
Friends slowly disappeared while your thoughts became louder
Your popularity was gone, just like powder.
You never went out and sleep, never happened.
Crying was a daily thing.
You believe you will always feel this way.
Oh how we miss who you used to be.
Ciara Blake
Untitled
My first day in the convent,
Being pushed against the walls by the large
Crowd of people trying to get to class,
All those days I spent roaming the corridors
Lost and a little afraid,
Years have passed but the cracked paint
Will always remember… the days where,
I would be rushing from a far away class
To try and beat the que for lunch,
The days that I would walk as slowly as possible
Because, I didn’t like my next subject
Emily O’Brien
These Walls
Your first nervous day
When you knew no one,
Little girls and boys
Outside having fun,
Swing sets and slides,
Children running around,
Until everyone goes home
And there isn’t a sound,
Everything up to the very last second,
When you graduated and secondary school beckoned.
Katie Knowles
Where
It all began
The bridge across the Boyne
This is where
The fates decided
That our paths would join
This is where
I first heard
The melodies as he spoke
This is where
I first knew
That I adore this bloke
Aoibhe Whelan
The Darkness
What the darkness wants
Is to see me ball and cry
To see me wallow in self-pity
During all my sleepless nights
What the darkness wants
Is to see me all alone
To see me fighting all my demons
Where no one will ever know
What the darkness wants
They will not get today
For I will never stop and cry
For I am never alone
Naoise Canavan
‘A Part of Me’
My very first cry and the laughs that are shared,
Memories that I will always cherish,
The secrets that I share and hold within me.
With a full face done ready to go,
The smell of fake tan luring in my room before a wild night out,
And the smell of Victoria Secret Spray to freshen things up,
The stress of studying the night before an exam,
The bitten nails;
The hidden scars.
Somethings I will never show,
To keep for me;
And only me.
Anon
Untitled
These walls recall the night you came home,
Your third day alive on this Earth.
These walls remember your first cry, first bath, first sounds, first steps.
They remember the first time you stood on your own two feet,
Your first bed, your first day at ‘big school’.
Your holy communion and confirmation.
The delightful laughs and sad cries are embedded into these walls.
These four walls represent all of the memories, the good and bad, in your lifetime.
Anon
In the Shadows
Deep down in the shadows
The Darkness hides
Beckoning you closer
To be by It’s side
It calls out seductively
Calling you near
You’re not so sure
Should you be here?
It holds you tight
No room for air
It’ll never let go
This just isn’t fair
In the shadows The Darkness calls to all
The last thing you’ll hear
Is you’re screams as you fall.
Joy Smith
Untitled
The tears of happy and sad since they were built.
The smell of Christmas cake and spices and peppermint,
The smell of Christmas.
The kind words of wisdom and advice,
The shouts of disapproval and hearts of ice.
The gentle touch of fingertips as they glide along,
The slamming of doors leaving silence until the next ding dong.
The walls see it all,
The walls hear it call.
Anon
A Place I Have Been Shown
There is a place I have been shown
A place of white foam and choppy waves, where chaos is beauty.
A place of loss and sorrow, hope and dreams.
A place you can disappear to watch the surf caress the sand and tickle your feet.
A tradition of sailing and fishing, of delicacies like fish and chips
A place of songs and stories, of heroes and legends,
A place for the sun to set and amaze you,
A place of beauty and tranquillity,
The ocean dreamt and gave this to me.
Molly Coulter
Free the Oceans
What the ocean dreams
Is to be freed from the obscene,
Plastic bottles and plastic straws
Suffocating the innocent.
Innocent creatures big and small
Slaughtered for their profits,
Pushed to the brink of extinction,
Their vulnerability at hand.
While we all just sit and watch their world collapse,
And sink into the sand.
Ciara Rennie
Where
I found it out, in this room at this time.
My heart was broken.
I acted like I was okay and watched that
Spinster walk away.
Things were lost.
Trust, love, friends and feeling.
I was sick with disbelief that the one
I trusted could be so cruel.
It all ended here, where it began.
Julieanne Murtagh
New Year New Me
New Year, new me
I’m going to try
And eat healthy
No apache no Chinese
It’s going to be a shocking
Hard year for me
I’ll run I’ll jog
My glasses will fog
And I’ll run to the GAA with me ma
Scratch that!
New year, same me
That’s just the way it’s going to be.
Lisa O’Neill
Christmas
The most wonderful time of the year
A time for friends and family.
The sound of the Christmas bells sends a shiver down my spine
As Santa Claus comes to town and everyone wines and dines.
Children excitedly wake to a sea of presents
That Santa has sent.
As mummy and daddy kiss under the mistletoe.
Christmas: The most wonderful time of the year
Niamh McGuinness
Where
Where we began
The start of our social days
How excited we were to walk through them doors
Music blaring
The smell of fake tan and aftershave in the air
Everyone on the dance floor with the bouncer at the door
When the night is over feet are so sore as we munch on our spicebag
Anon