Sancta Maria College, Louisburgh, Co. Mayo

Oil on Canvas

A pencil sketch of heaven.
Scribbles black and grey
Everything that’s in-between
A dream of come what may

Void of colour, void of feeling.
Hidden eyes and hidden ears
Always watching, ever seeing

Void of sentiment, void of tint.
The sky is dead and cold as flint
Dead as this unholy land

Void of any hue, void of all emotion.
Strokes of oil paint this world
The sky a sketch of hell.

Theo Cullen-Mouze

Untitled

As my childhood ends and my knowledge grows
My confidence fades as I become old
I learn new lessons that tear me apart
Even ones that break my heart

Every day I try to become stronger
With friends and family there for the long term
I am currently happy and so full of love
So away with my worries that I am sick of

Aoife Clarke

I am Me

When they stop laughing at my jokes
And sit in silence, looks of discomfort on each face
I realise the darkness that has enshrouded them
And in my tracks I ask myself
“How’d I get here?”

Maybe it was when I stood between those two,
Throwing words that I didn’t understand,
Destroying everything around them- everything they’ve created,
As I cried out for it to stop.

No, maybe it was when I hid from him, of all people,
And begged for him to leave so that he wouldn’t get hurt,
So I wouldn’t get hurt- so I wouldn’t have to watch
As the madness unfolded all over again.

When I think long and hard I realise,
That’s not it, that’s not me anymore.
I’m not the child who whimpers in the corner for it to stop.
I’m the girl with a passion for speaking my mind and being myself.
A connoisseur for dark, gruesome and offensive jokes.

So when they give me their horribly disturbed expressions
And giggle awkwardly between themselves,
I assure myself that there’s nothing wrong with me,
I may not be the embodiment of “normal”,
But I am me.

Nicole Karl

A Tide of Plastic

Every day, I sail,
I sail on a tide.
A tide not of water,
But of plastic.

As I watch this tide,
Twist and turn,
I wonder what happens,
To the wildlife below the waves.

At each passing day,
I try to turn,
People’s minds
Against this tide of plastic.

This tide of plastic must be turned.

Callum Conlon

Alongside

It’s always baffled me,
I’ve been in this situation.
For three long years,
But nothing to show for it.
I know these people,
Or rather
I think I do.
I can only guess
That we feel the same.
Our relationships
Only skin deep
Nothing more
Than sharing laugh
In passing.
But it won’t matter,

Two weeks,

A month.

20 years.

They will just
Be another 50 people
I suffered alongside.

Caroline Mannion

Don’t Promise Me

Don’t promise me an always, because that doesn’t exist.
Don’t promise me the world, because it’ll never be yours.
Don’t promise me the sky, because we’ll never reach it.
And don’t promise me an eternal love, because anyway I’ll never be yours.

Nerea and Paola

My Grandad

That fateful day,
My grandad dear,
He passed away,
At a mere 60 year.

That huge Latin funeral
A beautiful celebration
My never-ending love, immovable,
It felt like it was attended by the whole nation.

Saul McCarthy

Contamination

In any part of this nation,
You can find contamination.
Just a brutal devastation,
Why can’t we see this situation?

The world is dying,
Trees are crying,
And no one is it replying.

We can listen,
We can see,
But we can’t do anything for it.

I have heard a million people,
Talking about such a big problem.
But they don’t act or even move,
Because they think others will do.

I’m afraid of our future,
We just take,
We never give,
Is humanity just a thief?

Berta Roviro

My Personal Life

I’m looking at the flag on my wall
I don’t want to be ashamed for that at all
But my world is full of hate
I’m doing things I don’t want to do
But everyone thinks it’s just overrated
Even if I’m proud to say
It’s more than just voodoo
I could scream it for hours
Over the whole way
It’s my life why do I need to tell you
That I’m bi
And that I don’t want to decide my preferred gender
So don’t cry
If you have a problem with that,
Just recall you’re not my only close call!

Jule Brandt

Irish Dancing

It’s only a hobby that’s what they told me,
Even though every day that’s where i would be,
Blood sweat and tears went in every week,
It feels like so long ago I hit my peak,

Irish dancing is something everyone can do,
But I can tell you not many would make it through,
The stress, the pain, emotional strain,
No one understands it just the same.

Eva McLoughlin

Rat Race

Competing, vying, trying to achieve
All the while hoping, so i could believe
Facing the struggle, trying to stay on top
Only to be knocked down again by the painful reminder
That you’ll always be a flop
Finding small triumphs within meaningless interactions
Holding onto it so desperately, finding comfort in the simple transactions
Accepting the defeat, accepting the condition
Reminds me it’s all
In my head
A competition

Emma Carroll

The Only Dog

Dad carried her in,
With her blood soaked chin,
A blanket wrapped around her,
We knew she wouldn’t stir.

Her body was cold,
Even though she wasn’t very old,
She’s only a dog, they said,
But it didn’t change the fact that they she was dead.

Hannah Reed

Mayo for Sam

On Jones’s Road squeezing through the crowds
A sea of Green and Red
Our hopes reaching the clouds
For the Sam to come home to Mayo instead.

As the anthem rings out
And the crowd begins to roar
Our minds clear of doubt
As Keegan pops a score.

On the way home with tearful eyes
Sitting in the back without a sound
Pulling into Supermacs, hearing the cries
For the Dubs were once again crowned.

On Jones’s Road squeezing through the crowd
A sea of Green and Red
We hear the roar of the Storm Cloud
Our hopes and dreams dead.

Lucy and Ciara

This Buck

‘The story’
Here is a story
Bout a man who hides his glory
Give him a wink
He’ll get a drink
He loves beer
Hates his dear
This buck is mad
But also my dad

Anon

Future

They say I’m dedicated
Yet lazy
Keep my mind occupied
But my futures hazy
Don’t have a plan
But I do what I can
It’s easy to chase
But can you hold the pace?
Doing what others aren’t
Makes your determination apparent
Working harder than any
Compliments? Not many
Put in the hours
Where others would cower
But it doesn’t matter
Because u failed the latter
You better finish school
Following your dreams ain’t cool

Anon

Like a War

It’s like a war
But so much more,
Can kill you in and out
And basically, throughout.

Even with all this
There’s endless bliss,
Like winning a game
And reaching the fame.

This is the meaning
Without all the weaning
That this is who I am,
Gaelic Football, oh damn.

Saoirse Lally

Halloween Night

The sun sets low and the nights grow cold
The leaves start to rot and the wind starts to groan
The season is in full swing and you know what that means
The trick or treaters will be eggin the streets
Oh yes, those little feckers, will be screaming and shouting
On how little sweets they got from the old folks home
Because if they don’t get their Haribo’s and Kinder Beunos
They will have a fit and attack your home with toilet paper and rotten eggs
But that does not matter; not to me at least
Because I will be far, far away
On the beaches on the Mediterranean
I love Halloween night, but the little pricks who only play tricks
I hope you fall into a hole and you can’t get out.
For your misdeeds of Halloween night

Paul Crossan

My Dream

When I was 15 I didn’t know what to do with my life
I opened up YouTube
Saw a short film playing on the screen
When it was watching it
I was thinking
I love films
And I love filming
Should I do it or will I be bad at it.
I watch another one made by the same person
It made me think about the same thing
If I do it will I be good at it
I wanted to try
I got my camera and started to take pictures
When I was done, my dad said “those are really good”
And I wanted to take more went out for the day
Just me and my camera no one else, just me and nature,
My camera and my dream to become a film maker

Matthew Joyce

Life

Pen and paper.
Waiting for the bell.
Same classes.
Same time.
Every day.
Get me out of here.
Someone.
Please.
School. Work. Die.
That’s life.
But I’m going to change that.

Leanne Pinder

Riding a Bike

Riding a bike is like life
I told my best friend you know
‘Man up’ she told me
I don’t care I’m your wife
I didn’t really care until I was at an all-time low

It was autumn when I was at rock bottom
I cried out for help but know body want to know

But cycling and clearing your head is the best feeling
Hitting a 30km is the best at healing

The wind in your hair and getting to the top of that hill
Definitely makes you stop taking that pill

It definitely was a long ride home

Harry