The Silence
Ever since, I was young
The whispers have banged
Against my ears like screams.
Each murmur, mumble, or tremble
Was an earthquake to my eardrums.
Words that I didn’t understand were used as insults all around me. Why
Was it wrong? Why is it bad? Why don’t I understand?
Confusion would cloud my mind, and hatred held the cotton over my eyes.
And even now, when I finally understand,
confusion is only replaced with fear.
When I pass strangers on the street I quietly cower. They might know,
Know what I know. In some countries I could be legally killed.
Not even for my actions or being.
What the shadows whisper, murmur, say, shout, scream and roar is,
“Who. Are. You?”
There is silence.
But even silence buzzes in the air to remind you of its existence.
Leah Phelan
The Shadow
The shadows in the corner want chaos.
It wants spillers in friendships
And war between allies.
It wants homework unfinished
And natural disasters.
It wants recurring humiliation
And a defeated revolution.
The darkness around us closes in.
Mia Byrne
My Mind
My mind remembers,
The way you spoke,
When you gave me false promises.
And filled me with hope.
My mind remembers,
The way you talked,
About our future.
But then you walked.
Is it true?
It is the true darkness that hides behind us?
The silent cries of our hidden emotions,
As we struggle to understand when to stop.
They try to hold us back,
But we seem to ignore and drag them,
Scratching them on the floor.
It tells us to stop and think,
Do what we want, not what is needed by others.
They whisper the truth, so all we can do is accept it.
So we can stop, so we can think for ourselves,
So we can share our emotions.
Until we are our shadow.
Niamh Togher
Our Little Secrets
Our little secrets
All this is hidden in the shadows
Of your mind
Waiting until it knows it’s time
To crawl from the darkness into the light
The shadows whisper in your ear
Today I’m there
Tomorrow I will be here
Run girl run
Cause I will hunt
You until your time has come
Every time you turn around
I will stand there laughing aloud
Anon
Society
This is where society is
A nation of injustice and unfairness.
People of the same world
Separated and excluded,
By the one thing that all controls us.
These few metal coins and coloured paper strips,
Can change the world
As a quick as blink
While the poor have no home
And the rich go to Rome
We reflect on the world
Laid before us.
Anon
The Memories
The countless exams
The many breakdowns, the fights
The bullying, the abuse
But they cherish
The friendships, the comradery, the joy
The memories, the lives.
Amy Sherlock
Untitled
What the darkness wants
When the darkness lays
It moves slowly
Across the river
And disappears…
When the daytime comes
It slowly disappears
It comes out at night
And disappears in the day
And slowly lights up the sky
Aisling
The Ocean
What the ocean dreams for,
To be on the land,
With views of the people,
Walking hand in hand.
To live with the nature,
Around mountains so high,
Especially all the mountains,
That reach up to the sky.
The ocean gets lonely,
Watching the land full of life,
The ocean waves out,
But no-one replies.
They’re scared of the ocean,
Its mysteries deep down,
Its vast horizons,
Its glistening crown.
Only few visit the ocean,
For short amounts of time,
They never stay to talk,
The ocean wonders why.
What the ocean dreams for,
To hold life in its hands,
To see all the people,
To live on the land.
Emma Cox
Where
You first entered
Your took your first step
Your first word
Your first solid food
Your first hurt from pain and love
You grew and learned from your influences
Learning the rights and wrongs
Until then falls your 18th birthday
Exams have passed, time to move on
Leaving is hard but not when you have loved ones
With whom you grew and have been nourished by
You will succeed with support for
This is what you called your home
Tara Feeney
True Darkness
It is the true darkness that hides behind us.
The silent cries of our hidden emotions,
As we struggle to understand when to stop.
They try to hold us back,
But we seem to ignore and drag them,
Scratching them on the floor.
It tells us to stop and think,
Do what we want, not what is needed by others.
They whisper the truth, so all we can do is accept it.
So we can stop, so we can think for ourselves, so we can share our emotions.
Until we are our shadow.
Freya Brennan
Untitled
They whisper
About what is really deep inside.
The hurt, the pain, the lies,
But most importantly the secrets kept behind.
What the shadows whisper,
From people that are shy,
Afraid to open up,
About the demons left to find.
Anon
The Shadow
They whisper your deepest insecurities
Pick out everything you hate about yourself
The list is never ending
It tears you apart
Until you are left with nothing
These words stuck in the back of your head
Wishing you were someone else
Leading you into constant self-hate
Anon
The Darkness
It wants to turn your worst nightmares to reality
It thrives off your imperfections and fears
It wants a wasted life for you full of regrets and hiding from your truth
It wants you drowned in anxiety and nerves till you can no longer bottle it up and breakdown
It wants to take over you until you’re no longer yourself and you are it
Niamh Somers
Broken Record
This is where,
Each day passes by,
Same as ever.
Like a broken record,
Over and over and over.
This is where you are fine.
Fine. Fine. Fine.
I sit down and listen to the authorities,
Tell me they know what’s best for me.
You’ve ripped my wings off,
Then told me I can’t fly.
Humans can’t fly.
Your clocks and your bells,
Tell me what to think.
Your cafeteria food,
Tastes like prison.
Long hours of labour,
Working for who?
I used to laugh,
I used to be a kid.
Long ago.
Or maybe I never did.
Teresa Devaney
The Ocean
The ocean desire of being free,
Not weighed down by the plastic neglected by humans,
Clean of all debris.
Relieved of the pounds of waste that suffocate it’s natural beauty,
Unaffected by the plague known as human carelessness.
Animals living free.
Hannah Moran
Untitled
I’m walking down a dark alley
Just with my thoughts as company.
I’m walking inside my mind
Searching for a question which answer I don’t like.
I’m walking down the dark alley
Completely without company.
Afraid of looking at the shadows
Because then my thoughts could scream at me.
Muriel
Untitled
The ocean hopes of days long gone,
Of plesiosaurs and pterosaurs,
Of long forgotten beasts that ruled the seas.
Of voyages worthy of myths and legends,
Of journeys that have changed our world.
Of colourful corals and unusual creatures,
Of crystal water and islands of dirt.
Alison Doyle
Untitled
All the laughs, the smiles, the cries,
Have turned to wonders, thoughts and whys.
I want to go back to us before,
But I need to accept that it’s gone
As I watch the sun rise at dawn
I need to say goodbye and move on
Now I’m here with different friends
I guess our story ends
KQA
Swag
Swag
Swag on you
Chilling by the fire
While we eating fondue (yeah)
Don’t know about me but I know about you
So say hello to so say hello to falsetto in three two
Alannah Connolly