Presentation College, Tuam, Co. Galway

Noise Surrounding Me

 

With noise surrounding me, my world still feels silent

As it sit here struggling with thoughts so violent

I hear the screams and squeals of oblivious joy

The simple mind that saves that a young boy

 

They pity him, worry about him, wonder how he is

But the truth of it is, the mind to worry about is not his

His mind is a blessing, he doesn’t understand how own struggle

While I sit here trapped in my own bubble

 

How is he be right there yet I feel so alone?

How can I have these problems that are regarded as mild?

The mind that is absent is much greater than mine

The mind that crushes me, ties around my brain like twine

 

No one understands this feeling I feel

The loneliness inside me playing on an endless reel

The times I wished upon a star for someone to be here

Someone to share this with, someone to smile and hug near

 

It’s not anyone’s fault, I remind myself raw

It’s a Russian roulette, its the luck of the draw

While I make everyone laugh and plaster on a smile

I remind myself that there’s light at the end of this golden mile

 

Over and Over Again

 

Day One seemed fine,

I woke up got dressed, relaxed;

Seemed easy enough right?

 

Week One then came along,

Small struggle of keeping up to date with everything;

All going one ear out the other

And working through endless nights.

 

One Month had arrived so quickly,

Barely passed my mind,

For my mind was clouded with insecurities and judgement,

Where positivity was dying in me.

 

One Year,

One Year of the struggle of trying to maintain a stable human mind,

One Year of being a robot doing the same things over and over again,

One Year of hoping for only to be free.

 

The Red Chair

 

As she sat contemplating her words,

Trying to untangle the string of thoughts in her head that lay like twisted fairy lights,

Her eyes staring blankly at a wall,

Unable to bring them to meet her opposing eyes.

So instead, she looked at that chair,

The red chair,

It was a particularly bright shade of red,

But she couldn’t help but hate it’s shape.

And as she sat hating it’s shape,

Her mind drifted to the what ifs and the should haves.

Worrying,

Fearing what’s to come.

But I guess she knew it would be this way.

Because no one tells you what it’s like,

To watch the whole world fade away,

To wish you were being swallowed by the ground below you,

Instead of open and vulnerable as she was.

So she kept hating that red chair,

And for weeks to come that conversation will replay inside of her head.

But only the image of that chair will remain imprinted in her head.

So she continued,

Hating that red chair.

 

Covid-19

 

This is for the messed up household

Which you have to stay in, eat in, sleep in

While a thing floats around the air called a virus

What even is it? A deadly conundrum

This is for the nights in, no nights out

Missing friends day in, day out

Because your family doesn’t understand you

Despite them having known you

All you want is your schooldays back

Messing, talking, just having the craic

But instead people die, what can we do? Nothing

Grandparents, parents, sisters, brothers,

All at risk because of a big something

So missing fun is all we can do

‘Stay in contact’ they say, we’re trying to

But school nonetheless would be a treat

Compared to the hell that is Covid-19

 

Never Ending

 

Constant pressure

Always judged

Competitive environment

Have to be ‘perfect’

Loads of stress

Must look ‘perfect’

Pressure to be the best

Never ending

 

Oh How the Cliffs They Sing

 

I long for a place that isn’t so far

A place to travel, usually by car

When alone, I go to the place that I call home

Where the cliffs are vast for my troubles to roam

But not mere enough that I don’t matter at all

The wind in my hair as I stand tall

I am as strong as the breeze

As I watch time freeze

In my dreams, I sail the sea

That connects us, you and me

I’ve come home

To the storm in my soul

Where the fire doesn’t burn and the wind howls

Where the seagulls cry and the waves growl

The waves tackle the coast

As if to boast

About their dear child returning home

 

No Mask

 

Getting up in the morning to as such,

Apply my foundation, mascara, lip gloss

But apparently that’s too much

You’re trying too hard

I take off the mask off makeup to show my bare face

The eye bags, acne, no mask.

But now everyone’s staring and judging

That’s not enough

I’m not trying hard enough

How am I supposed to win?

 

The Say

 

They say when writing that you should write what you know,

But with my lonely thoughts I feel that that’s a sad route to go.

The thoughts that run through my mind at night,

Aren’t always the prettiest sight.

I think of my looks and what they mean,

Is it only my outer beauty that can be seen?

And what if that’s not beauty at all,

The ugly category is where I could fall.

“It’s what’s in the inside that counts” that’s always said,

But that saying doesn’t cross my mind once alone in bed.

The thoughts no one knows I have thought for a while,

As I’m the confident young girl who can always fake a smile!

 

“Carbohydrates”

 

Coronavirus, Donald Trump, Riots, Black Lives Matter protests, Homophobic acts,

All these words appear everyday on the screen of my Television,

Yet I don’t know who I am,

All these words appear on my screen,

Yet I sit at home with my own life,

My own problems,

I’m expected to know everything all the time,

I’m supposed to keep up with the newest trends,

I’m supposed to know the newest ‘tiktok’ gossip and it doesn’t help that,

People around me seem to have their life together,

They seem to know what they want to be when the leaving cert is over,

But I don’t know what carbohydrate I want for dinner,

Pasta or potatoes? Pasta or potatoes?

I don’t know! I don’t know!

But I smile and say you pick,

I smile tell everyone I’m okay,

I’m not,

I don’t know what carbohydrate I want.

 

As I Sit

 

As I sit at my desk wondering what to write,

I notice myself drifting off into a different world,

A world where everything is ok and perfect,

A world where I have no worries,

A world where I don’t need to think carefully about everything I do,

As I drift back into reality, I come back to the realization,

That I am still sitting here at my desk in my room,

With nothing to write about.

 

In the Mirror

 

I look at myself in the mirror,

Pointing out my imperfections, my flaws.

Comparing myself to the other girls,

I’m not half as beautiful as them all.

 

But wait, what about the other things?

That no one can truly see,

The things that are inside,

Like who I am inside of me

 

Like my friendliness in my personality

And how I try to spread positivity

And those rare moments where you don’t usually see

 

Like smiling ever so bright

When you see the stars that light up the sky

But what you don’t realise

You are a star,

You just don’t see why.

 

Out of the Blue

 

He told me one day

Out of the blue

We weren’t even close

I didn’t know what to do

I didn’t know what to do

 

I told him, it’s grand

He gave me a smile

I gave him a hug

And we talked for a while

 

When I think back on it now

I wonder if there was more I could do

That day when he told me

Out of the blue

 

Born and Raised

 

I come from Galway, born and raised

Where feens can cat call a girl and it’s applauded and praised

While bueres reputations get fractured and grazed

 

Swear, the rules here that are so rigid

“You cant go into first year being a frigit! ”

 

Every lad has to fight to be tough and brave

Even though it could lead them to their grave

 

We drink spirits and cans under the stars

So that the shyness goes and we can show you who we are

 

I’ve made many friends here and to know them is to be amazed

I am from Galway born and raised

 

I Miss

 

I miss the days when falling off my bike and scraping my knee,

Felt like the worst thing life could throw at me.

I miss the days when taking a test it didn’t matter if I scored as high as the rest,

All that mattered was that I did my best.

I miss the days when the only approval I needed was my own,

And not my so-called friends and my phone.

I miss the days that were free of stress,

And when I didn’t make myself feel like less.

 

Best Behaviour

 

Be on your best behaviour now

Its time to worship the golden cow.

Time to impress with neatness of dress

And all important appearances.

To bow and scrape all parts of life

Build your little house, find your little wife

All has worked out, you’ve got it made

But can’t you see it’s all a façade.

 

Do not Fear

 

Covid is here but do not fear

We’re in this together it won’t be forever,

Focus on yourself and of course your health

Time to unwind and be more kind!

Pick up a new hobby like painting or drawing

It’s such a great time to start exploring

Don’t be sad, so much fun things to plan

Be there for each other as much as you can

 

At Home

 

At home all day

At home all night

It’s where most my nights are crap

At home, I cry

At home, I wish

That I’ll get out and live again

At home, this quarantine would soon want to end

Before I go off the deep end

 

Pressure Building

 

We could feel the pressure building. Running round the clock

This way of life is not sustainable. The world about to rock

 

How can we keep going, knowing there’s another way

Then Covid came to teach us, showing us we had to pay

 

It was a tragedy like to other for this modern age

Some were sick, some were dying, but we all were in a cage

 

The world began to breathe, animals and trees

Regained a decent life, let them keep it please

 

The air is so much cleaner, it’s easier to see

The problems right in front of us, we all must agree

 

The only world we have is dying on the spot

It’s up to us to change, it doesn’t have to be a lot

 

Surroundings

 

As I sit on this comfy couch,

I see..

A blazing fire upon the mantel,

An overflow of stationery emerging from my pencil pouch,

A scent filling the room of a melted candle,

A clear blue sky to my right,

Just an amazing sight.

 

I Want More

 

I want more

I’m tired of waking up every morning dredging each and every coming day

Each day that passes by life’s cycle only becomes more stark

I’m only growing more tired of life’s pitiful rotation

I want more

I want the fast cars, the private planes, the mansion house, the spontaneous trips to the Bahamas.

I want it all

But of course when I am done daydreaming I am thrown back into the harshness of my desolate reality

And I am just left thinking

I want more

 

At Night

 

At night, I lie awake in bed

Repeating patterns in my head

I still don’t know what it means

But it makes me want to scream

People say it’s just being clean

Which is the biggest lie there’s ever been

 

Unique

 

The world is unique and so am I,

Yet we take and we pressure till we can’t see.

We say it’s in our minds,

But there are so many signs,

The dangers are real,

So we act like we can’t feel,

Were so afraid so we go on pause

So someone else we will solve the problems we’ve caused.

No that’s not the way,

It’s us that will pay.

The world is not just ours,

But there’s no super powers,

It’s up to change.

 

How I Miss

 

As I sit in my room and reflect on it all

And think of all the times I could speak to my friends and not just through a call,

And oh how I miss the little things

Like even hearing the school bell ring

When we could go into the shop without a mask

And when getting work done wasn’t a hard task

I hope it won’t be long till we have finished all our zooms

And we will be back again in our classrooms

 

I Wish

 

I wish that I could be in school and talk and have the chats

Or get the manky bus every morning, with the lads.

I wish that I could gossip about nothing all day.

Or walk around soaked “I don’t need a jacket in the rain!”

I wish I cared what other people say

Instead of sitting around doing nothing all day.

 

A Teen

 

My life as a teen has come to a yield due to covid-19

I miss my friends and family and wish we could all live happily

My life is on a boring repeat and cannot seem to get my work complete

I feel like I am wasting my precious teenage years of cheer

Instead, I regret and start to tear

I don’t know what else to say other than I hope this isn’t here to stay

 

Life on the Farm

 

I come from a farming background

The sheep are in the green fields

I go to check on them twice daily in the morning and evening

The tractor is in the shed

Until the summer time

When we bring home the turf home from the bog

 

Teenage Years

 

In a large girls school,

Beside the swimming pool,

Where students spend most of their day,

Trying to survive in any way,

Getting many projects to complete,

Longing for the summer days with exquisite heat,

And the long nights staying up till sun rise,

Even though it might not be very wise,

Just students enjoying their teenagers years,

Hearing many stories about their life ahead through both ears.

 

Try Your Best

 

If you always try your best

You will never have to wonder

About what you could have done

Try your best every day

And that’s all you can do.

 

Hope

 

I used to live from a world of hugging,

A world of concerts and a world of having fun.

I now live in a world of distancing,

Of face masks and where an old man can’t see his grandson.

Although the world now seems pretty poor,

We will come to see the world as it used to be once more.

All we need to is hope and that is how I will cope,

With all of the badness of today, the future is soon coming our way.

 

Untitled

 

This is where the smell of hairspray and tan take over,

This is where teachers are telling their students to cross their feet more and smile,

This is where the adrenaline kicks in,

This is where everything you have worked for is coming to an end,

This is the World Championships.

 

Sports

 

I like sports it makes me feel good,

It keeps me from trouble in my hood,

When the ball hits the net I feel relieved,

Cause it’s something I’ve achieved,

When people say well done to you,

It takes me out of feeling blue,

I know I can be capable of more,

But until then slán go lore.

 

My Poem

 

I don’t really know what to write about

Poetry is not really my thing

But a poems a way to express yourself

Especially if you can’t sing

 

So I’ll try to string some words together

This is really bad I know

But this is my poem I tried my best

Thanks for listening to my poem!

 

“Cup of Tea”

 

Why can’t life be simple

Just like a cup of tea

Sweet yet full of flavour

And full of mystery

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