Solitary Paradise
I found where I was meant to be
Away from insecurity
No worries about who I meet
Strangers on a friendless street
I knew no one and no one knew me
That was the way it was meant to be
No one could judge me on how I behaved
I could dress how I want, loud and brave
Each stranger had their own problems
And so it seems did I
Everyone’s alone here
In this lonely paradise
Don’t get me wrong I loved the privacy
But what’s the point of being on a paradise
If you have to pay the price
Being without the ones you love
It not a paradise anymore
For nobody’s footprints mark the shore
A prison disguised as a paradise
Where nobody cares
You just have to blend
To make it work
And make amends
Nicole Doran
Depression
It gnaws the inside of your soul
Until you have nothing left to give
Like the embers of a fading fire
Begging just to live
The more it burns the more you scream
A rabbit in a fox’s dream
Finn Byrne
Untitled
We really do care but don’t want to make a fuss
The sun shines bright on our faces
But in Ireland not on a regular basis
People get hours of entertainment watching a big screen.
But when they come out everything looks dark green
The rage boils inside of me from people who are mean.
My blood turns green with anger but it just can’t be seen
Orlaith Butler
Dyslexia
I have dyslexia,
And I have to shout
Cos school makes me feel
Like I just cannot
Do anything right
And words are like
A blinding light
Don’t need words
But I can still fight
Jimmy Molloy
The World
The world is no longer what it seems
I used to have fascinating and enormous dreams
I put my views in to the social pool
Thrown back at me and told just do ‘school’
The longer I sit in class the longer my dreams won’t last
And I am sick and tired of being asked
What I want to do once I leave
But my dream has disappeared now I must grieve
Latisha Ngouoto
Broken Doors
I think of my insecurity’s like a broken soul
It bangs at the door to my mind
Like a policeman raiding
A gangster’s lair
Who left it all behind
Trying to find the victim
In an addict’s septic hive
Hope no one can hear me breathe
Just trying to survive
Glen Stafford
Better Now
You are better now,
You are better now.
It boils within me,
I cannot control it.
You are better now,
You are better now.
A kettle boiling,
Bubbling, raging.
You are better now,
You are better now.
For your own true nature,
Everybody nudges, budges,
The cruel eyes judges.
You are better now,
You are better now.
Craig Keogh
Judge
People judge you for what you do and wear.
The slagging, no one seems to care
You unwillingly come to get an education.
It is a policy of this broken nation
The teachers never stop giving out
To students they constantly scream and shout.
This makes every innocent student jumpy
Oh why so mean and why so grumpy?
Ava White
Humankind’s Demise
Remember what happened, the war, the famine, we all fought
“RUN, he screams” *the stranger is whisked away by a passing shot*
I am left staring into nothingness, eyes fully bloodshot
Back to their camp in a state of shock, forced to take my own mug shot
Soon enough I wish to be shot, not covered in blood or snot
This apocalyptic wasteland, an empire of sticks and stones
The manifestation of our end, reduced to dust and bones
The great beast brought to its knees with ease
Left to rot by itself, riddled with disease
Here the orphans feast upon the flesh of fading mortals
The oceans have run dry and on the wind you hear the chortles
Of the stranger choking on a scream, consumed by this existence
The world is fleeting, leaving only husk of mere subsistence
Gary Mernagh
Monarch
Nothing has ever, currently does,
Or will ever matter,
Ignorance is all you need to know,
The facts are all a tatter.
You’ll be the man, become the best,
So serve yourself and screw the rest.
No one will dare stand in your way,
Your heart is all you need betray.
You’ll remain forever without light,
The master of your harnessed spite.
Excitement pulses, power corrupts,
Unbridled rage, anger erupts,
Injustice rains on those who deny.
But fortune will arrive to those who pacify.
An empire, built on lies and monarchy
Death, destruction, chaos, anarchy.
Seán Power
Lies and Rumours
Lies and rumours feed and grow
Like fungus between an old man’s toe
The shell-like images of human beings
Gossip and falsehoods, blind-all-seeing
Manic obsession with winning you try
The pope says you’re sinning, you kneel and you cry
You write people off, you dig and you peeve
As fake as the cheapskate glue of your weave
Áine
The Whispered Wind
As I sit and hear the wind blowing through the trees
I can hear the rattle of my mind whisper on the breeze
The story of a girl who was having a hard time
To figure out the happy things that helped the world to rhyme
The girl who always went into the same dark, closed-up space
Who hid behind her shadow, afraid to show her face
Until one day everything ended, she’s quietly lying there
The wind blowing through the trees, whispering in her hair.
Megan Byrne
Survive
Progressive flow
Alternative meander
Wear
Yesterday, today, our tomorrow
When I will not be here anymore
I idolized you
You betrayed me
Coward
Riveted on myself, I felt your breath
More and more overturning
Die in your arms
To survive
Kuzco Amara
Sometimes
Sometimes I just can’t think
I seem to freeze
Like an ice rink
Sometimes the pressure
Seems all too much
I’m out of time
And out of luck
I try my best
And that’s what counts
The best things come
In small amounts
Emma knight
Fake Love
I always try to make everyone happy
And forget about myself
I don’t like to be selfish
And when I am
I don’t feel well
I tried masking the pain
Just to see you gain
But in the end
What do I get from you?
Fake Love
I am quiet
But that doesn’t mean
I haven’t got feelings
You think I’m fine
Because I’m not talking about my feelings that much
So you won’t be upset.
But if it would be real love
You would see something is wrong.
But if I open myself
You just say:
“Why you sad?”
I don’t know, nan molla
Cuz’ it’s all Fake Love
Siobhán Sinnott
Days have Changed
The days have changed they are not all the same
From days of trauma and pain
To drinks and games
Surrounded by friends but feeling grounding
For my life to end it is a constant moving
Earth and time is our worst enemy to which
There is no remedy
Take all the drugs you want but you are no thug
You have no empathy because you never snug and had no hugs
Drive byes to sad goodbyes
Abandonment to resentment
We are thought about consent
While we call each other bent
Yet you still need to vent your anger
You call me a filthy banger
We have a can to ease your nerves
So you be the man they all deserve
Anon
Untitled
My name Jim
And I’m friends with Tim
But Tim is deaf so I ask
Jeff if he would be my chef
Then Jeff lost an arm because
He was not able to turn off the fire alarm.
I sent Jeff to the hospital and little by little
He recovered but discovered that he was brittle
James Hanlon
Sport
I have always loved sport
Even on the basketball court
The major teams have to use the airport
They all need their passport
GAA is a contact sport
GAA is played on a pitch
The former players watch from the ditch
If you run too hard you might get a stitch
Anon
Untitled
I don’t know why I have to mess
Most of the time I try my best
But I do have something to confess
I feel like I just cant stop talking
These angry teachers always balking
To the principle I go walking
Screaming parents, I can’t be taught
It was not just me
I just got caught
I must confess,
That though I mess
I do not always try my best.
Steven Clarke
Flavour
Flavour of lemon and lime,
To me is a sour high,
Cuz when seven of us are up
It’s for a short time.
Lookin like mimes,
Trapped in a box,
Pretending to be fine,
Drugs distractin us,
From stepping on life’s landmines.
Boy Cailte
Eoin Butler
Oh How I’d Love a Cake
Two o”clock I stay awake,
Thinking about tomorrows cake.
I wounder how will it taste,
Oh how it could be such a disgrace.
If it is sponge,
You wouldn’t want to see me plunge,
But if its not chocolate cake,
I may suffer from heartbreak
The more the icing,
The higher the pricing,
Less toppings,
More frostings.
I have had a vision
And have made my decision.
Oh I’d love a cake,
But unfortunately I can’t bake.
Anon
Untitled
I go to the gym,
It’s almost full to the brim.
I lift the weight; my mates think I’m great,
They help me out when in doubt.
The distance between the bar and me isn’t very far,
I have one goal in mind, to leave all failure behind.
Anon
Untitled
I honestly have no idea what to write
I have tried with all my might
But despite my effort I can’t get anything right
I always seem to mess things up
I’m always late
I miss the bus
For I am like a winter’s night
Far too cold and not too bright
Oisin
The Creature
There is a creature that lives in my freezer,
Smoke escapes from his lips as he breathes,
He paces back and forth,
As the silhouette of his baseball cap bobs up and down behind the curtain.
He greets my friends when they visit the house,
A brief nod of the head, then returns to his business.
He eats dinner with us at the table, but only on the weekends.
My brother wants to play with him sometimes,
Yet the creature insists he is busy, and moves on with his day.
I don’t particularly like the creature.
We used to argue and disagree quite often,
But now he gets on with his day and I get on with mine.
Caitlin Barron