When it Suits You
I’m a child…..
When it suits you
I’m almost an adult…..
When it suits you
I get paid….
When it suits you
I get respect….
When it suits you
I’m your equal….
When it suits you
What I am
Who I am
Where I go
I’ll bend over backwards…..
When it suits you
Am I supposed to be confident?
Certain?
Ready?
Organised?
The criteria for what suit you change in the blink of an eye.
One of you tell me to live
Another “just hurry up and die”
How can I answer the questions you ask?
How can I satisfy you all?
Am I meant to be a good girl?
Should I cook, clean, read and get straight As?
Am I meant to be a rebel?
Should I be drinking, fighting and give no damn?
What am I to you?
What am I to myself?
You’ve built an army of commands and monsters
Rights and wrongs
Does and don’ts
You’ve swarmed me
I’m drowning
Pick one
Drop one
Switch one
Rinse one
Repeat again
Anon
The World We Live In
Yeah, look at the music we listen to
Bottles and bottles, yeah, give me another one
Killing ourselves and we’re killing each other
The phrase that I’m hearing is “having fun”
Numbing our feelings so we can feel something
How does that make any sense?
They tell me relax, have a great time
They see kids who don’t know they’re depressed.
They bottled it up, now they’re shooting it out
Hitting students all over their chest
And they wonder like, “What was the reason?”
He was just fine, saw him last night and he had a good time
Wasn’t depressed, he was out of his mind
Who would’ve known he was out of it
Guess it was only a matter of time
There’s more to perceive what you see in your eyes
Look at the time that we live in our lives
No emotions, I see ’em concealin’ it
Instead of dealing with problems
They hand you a drink like “forget it, you don’t gotta deal with it”
That’s the world that we live in, I’m sick of it
Want no part of the world that I’m living in
If you cared just a little bit, felt just a little bit
Things would’ve been a bit different
Jamie Preston
Every Other Teen
I’m like every other teen it’s something you’ve all seen
I’ve been in fights with my dad that has made us both very sad
I’ve been too shy to say stuff I could’ve
But it’s not like I didn’t want to it’s just that I felt like I shouldn’t
I’ve lost people I never thought I would’ve
And became close to people I’d never think twice of
I’ve been self conscious of my body and the way that I look
And I’ve dealt with the fact I’m not smart off the books
I’ve broken down and cried with tears rolling out of my eyes
And have had to say the hardest of goodbyes
But I’m thankful for it all as it made me who I am
And I just want to remind everyone to just stay calm
Whether it be stress of school or pressure of your friends
Just remind yourself it all comes to an end
Anon
Too Many People
Too many people live engrossed in loss,
While millions are still obsessed with the floss,
Or don’t care to do more than doss,
The rich never think of the cost,
So long as their position is kept aloft,
While the poor struggle to escape their crisscrossed holocaust
Thomas l
Pain
Pain I’ve seen,
To the pain I’ve been,
Country side up,
A lively bunch,
I hate this place,
I’m such a disgrace
But I am me,
And I shall shield,
I shall not yield.
Let no one see what I’ve been,
Say your words,
They have no mean,
For I am stronger than you,
Not by muscle,
But by thought.
Anon
School
This school is too small,
You don’t get food in the cafeteria unless you’re tall,
Going in every morning is a brawl,
Even PE is boring never get to touch a ball,
In the strictest school of them all.
Jack Brogan
Bullied
Kids get bullied in school and online
They go home and cry but you don’t even know
They go back into with scars with wounds
But cover it up so nobody sees
You might think you have never bullied anyone
But it’s the little things that can break someone
So next time you speak make sure it is kind
And if not just keep your mouth shut
Shane Foley
Hurting
Again with the harsh words
Like I’m a piece of paper that easily gets ripped
I don’t show that I’m hurting
But I keep on weeping
Again with the pushing
I can’t help but to be hurting
When I keep hurting
I can’t help but to be keep cutting
Ema Siauruseviciute
Knock you Down
People knock you down but you still stand up people tell you no but you carry on,
They can’t stop telling you what to do,
How to do it they just don’t shut up,
You feel like you don’t fit in but of course you fit in, why wouldn’t you,
Nothing’s ever right there’s always something wrong,
I hate school but sure why would you hate school,
I need a break, why would you need a break sure it’s a piece of cake,
We fight about it we scream about it but nothing ever changes,
They say it’s just life and you just carry on.
Anon
School
Walking to school,
Dreading to go in,
Forgot to do my homework,
I’ll just say it’s in the bin.
We get so much homework,
It’s actually really bad,
This is because,
We make the teachers mad.
If we behave,
We may not get as much,
More time to chill out,
More time to go out.
Arsen Kraja
The Cold Nights
The cold nights on the streets and the dirty looks you get
Sitting on the ground with every part of you wet,
Your body is frozen, you can’t even feel
Probably been years since the last hot meal.
You are where you are because of regrets, you say
That doesn’t mean you should spend your whole life this way,
Of course there are people always trying to chip in
The conditions you’re living in, similar to a bin.
It’s been a problem for a number of years
But the government will never open their ears,
The biggest problem in Ireland for families all around
Shocking to think so many will spend Christmas on the ground.
This isn’t a poem for a sob story, I don’t want your pity
All I’m trying to do is help Dublin city.
Alex Walker
School Shooting
Another school shooting.
What a surprise.
We hear those words on the news
And our first thought is,
“Oh those poor children,
I’ll say a prayer for them.”
WE DON’T NEED YOUR PRAYERS.
We need gun control
Because unless there’s less guns
There will be less children.
And that will be because
Of an oompa loompa called President.
Rachel O’Friel
Walking to School
Walking to school by myself
Seeing all the students stressin it out
The worries of what will happen today
I’m not looking forward to it, no way ho zay
Arriving at school with my homework just done
Hoping the teacher won’t look at it when she’s done
Just waiting for lunch cause I haven’t had breakfast
I’m going to get a plain chicken fillet role, cause that’s how I like it
Waiting for the school bell to ring
At 3:35 I feel like a king
Cause that’s when schools over and everyone goes home
But I forget that I have to do all again tomorrow
Ciarán O’Toole
Untitled
I’m made of getting great results and keeping my head down,
I’m made of local football teams and constantly running around,
But I’m also made of stress and pressure to keep the good grades comimg
And I’m made of rejection, heartbreak and disappointment I can’t keep my football skills going,
So please don’t slag my good grades, I don’t need to be reminded I’m a nerd
And don’t ask about those trials at the weekend, I already had my feelings hurt
I struggle with the rejection and most times it keeps me down
But I’ll never stop trying to better myself, no matter how tears I drown in
Anon
Being Number One
If you want to be number one, you have to be odd,
So get weirder if that is even possible, I think it is. Social media got you down,
Reading the comments of a story convinced you that the world is full of horrible people.
Turn up your music and be yourself,
It’s hard to stay moody when you have pop music throbbing through your veins.
Smile, be happy, dance, laugh, please. Do whatever feels good!!
Anon
Insides
Spend some time with others,
And you will discover,
That on the inside,
We have our insides,
What a person hides,
But on the inside,
We have two sides,
One side kind,
Another blind,
To the insides of others,
Their emotion and cries
Thomas lara
The Hardest Hearts
From the people with the hardest of hearts
To the ones whose heart isn’t whole
And no matter how far they have strayed from the road
If we look hard enough, with enough time
We can always find someone worth saving from the life of crime.
Anon
Courage
Courage is to be me,
Courage is confidence,
This courage I wish I had.
Courage is bravery
Courage is speaking aloud,
To which I knew how.
Courage is our own opinion,
And to have this courage we could be plus.
Fear is fear,
It controls us,
Fear is all we think of
Fear is everywhere, it follows us
Fear can be stopped
It can go away
And it will be stopped.
Anon
This is Where
This is where the light doesn’t shine and the flowers don’t grow,
This is where the rain doesn’t fall and the stars don’t glow,
This is where the truth is hard and the lies are broken,
This is where everyone is quiet and afraid to say there broken,
This is where the cracks become bigger and we begin to show no light,
This is where we get told what to wear and write,
This is where we have to do as we are told,
This is where everyone loses there imagination flow,
This is where nothing we do is right,
So if nothing is ever right we don’t even bother putting up a fight.
Ciana Down
School
School is a waste of nearly everybody’s time
The teachers just make us write line after line.
Doesn’t teach us how to get a house, pay bills or get a mortgage,
Just teaching us Pythagoras theorem like its important.
I’m never gonna need the name of a Spanish guy
Who found a country in 1745
Or even how earth will change after a long time.
School doesn’t teach us anything important,
All they need to teach us is how to live a happy life,
Now that’s important
Leon Garbutt
Posters on the Wall
I have posters on the wall,
People that make me feel ten feet tall.
Cristiano, Rocky, Arnold and Lebron,
Are the ones who help me with the journey I am on.
What do these people mean to me?
With hard work, there are no limits to what you can be.
So when I go to sleep and when I wake up,
I say to myself, “never give up”
Joseph McGoldrick
A Laugh?
A laugh, a game, it’s only a name.
Why do I hold so much shame?
“She’s a slut, the one with a low cuffed shirt and a short skirt.”
Why does everyone have an opinion? It’s like a tradition.
Aoife Fay
Untitled
I am a young white African male that had only one chance to leave a country
That was at the brink of war with in itself
I had only one choice but to escape from that place
That will always remained of my family
That have been to war and have died from depression.
But the first thing that I was told when I got to Ireland is to go back to my own country
When I have found a country that I may call home and want to call home
I want to become a citizen but I can’t until I turn 18.
The only person that gets it are my two friends that support everything I do in life.
Here is a quote that shows who I am here it is.
Live life with no regents and live life free from hate and anger
And he only way to be strong is to show your feelings.
Matthew Smyth
All it Took
All it took was a call
For her to fall to the floor
Angry tears no more time
Always reading through the lines
I never saw him
Only heard his cries
Never told
Never ready to be told
Was he going to grow old
Two years of uncertainty
Two years of insanity
New houses new hospital
Never stable
Never sitting together to watch a movie
Always listening from behind the door silently
Public breakdowns and the private
It never felt private
Always like someone was trying to pry in
Not to help not to listen just to watch
It was two years
But it wasn’t
It never left
But he did
And he came home
Anon
Different
Not everyone’s situation is the same as anyone else’s.
People have different homes, different parents,
Different looks and different personality.
No one person is the same.
Some like sports some like video games
Everyone likes something
But there is no such thing as someone who likes nothing.
Common interests doesn’t compare you to anyone and doesn’t mean you’re alike.
The more you live the more you find interest in things.
Music is an amazing way to show peoples situations and there problems.
No single person has the same problem
But they can tell everyone about the problem through music.
One man once said I’m not even upset or angry anymore
I’m just tired of putting in more effort than I receive.
This man has more or less given up on things because it hasn’t gone his way.
But trough music he is able to display his emotions
And it shows us how he is able to make words into a picture.
This man has lost his life and still shows many young people that life may not be easy
But there is no point giving up.
He has inspired a lot of people and shows us life in a picture rather then what you think.
Greg Caffrey
The War
The war was over,
A lot of men dead,
A lot of men with broken bones and severe concussions in their head,
A lot of men with everlasting nightmares and flashbacks of the war in their head,
Of all the men who had survived and witnessed the war,
Most of them had wished they were dead
Seán McBride
Sticks and Stones
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me’
But how can that be true, if names hurt me worse?
‘You’re so awkward’,
I’m not.
‘God, you’re awkward’
No.
‘That was so awkward’
But..
‘Awkwardawkwardawkwardawkward’
Oh.
I wish it could be stick and stones, names hurt me more.
Sticks and stones may break my bones,
Names break me, but,
A fake smile and a joke is just as good as sticky tape for a broken soul,
And no one will know the difference.
Anon
Results
The day of the results
The day I got my results I was so happy
The day before I got my results I couldn’t sleep because I thought I failed
The night I got my results I was so confident and happy
Later I went to a party and drank my happiness away
Awhile later it got very emotional because we all drank the happiness away
Katie
Creativity
Roses are red
Violets are blue
What am I suppose to do
When by creativity is dead
The school was the murderer
I am the victim
They gave me a certificate
But i don’t know what to with them
It can get me what I want
So they said
But all it got me
Was a line in a machine
I don’t blame them
Not the school
Not the teacher
But the system
The system makes robots
Robots work in factories
But when factories uses robots
Where can the robots go
Creativity is the new world
It can’t be without it
But if the system kills it
Where would the world be
It’s time to change
Change it all
Make it more about us
And less about robots
A.K.
What to Say
I don’t know what to say
I don’t know what to write
I have all these ideas
But none of them sound right
I’m scared of what they’ll think
I’m scared of what they’ll say
I wish all my all my insecurities
Would just go away
Anon
I Want Freedom
I want freedom, don’t tie me down,
Let me live my life and experience what I want to do,
Walking in school on my own because no one likes the shy girl always in her house,
I feel pain, loneliness, want,
Don’t make me sit in my bedroom and study for exams that I don’t care about,
I don’t wanna be inside living a life of regret, having an empty soul,
I want adventure, LOVE, and pain, to feel everything and to go through it all,
Don’t you trust me?
You say you love me but drag me down?
No one ever inspired me to do anything, I want to be able to do that for others,
Fight for what they want, for what I want.
Tell me you’ll slowly let go,
I haven’t done anything bad to be in this prison,
I’m not a criminal, I’m human,
Not a dog that you boss around.
Please ?
Anon
I Used to Trust
Those I used to trust completely changed
Feeling like I constantly stuck out
All the comments that were slyly made
Sitting with them but feeling so far away
Getting home and trying to hold the tears back
Giving up and letting them go
Taking a step away and making new friends
Couldn’t have been a better decision
Anon
Untitled
I let you in
Wasn’t your business
Stay out of my way
Every second day you on that Guinness
One day would have called you bae
Now you messed up
Bye bye have a nice day
Aidan Gaffney