Art by Gabriela Joyce https://jamartprints.com/artist/gabriela-joyce/
same old
as the music plays in my head
guitars drums basses drown the sorrows of today
i wander down the staircase of dreams
as i trundle down i hear the screams of my past
trying to reach that soft spot in my mind
as my gears start to grind i feel my body
start to move
as i get into a groove
the same old song
in a different tone.
Break Away
Angriness is the fire that burns all
It will hurt you till you fall
If you think you’re safe think again
Because you can never escape the pain
The only way out
Is to free yourself from all doubt.
Untitled
I am from Dublin it is a great place
I play sports such as football which I really enjoy
I play gaa for bsj
I like exercising and going to the gym
I like to watch football and support man United
I like going to watch football matches
I go to school to st benildus
This is me and the end of my poem.
Thinking
From the walls of my room, to the house filled with gloom
I sit alone waiting for something to put my mind to
I think about school and how it can become overbearing
And it’s hard when your mind can be scrambled.
I think about life and how it has its ups and its downs,
And I believe in those downs and those ups you can show
Who you are and
What you stand for.
Workshop
Personally I think I have no poetry skills,
All I know is Racism and homophobia kills,
But the funny rugby guy told us to write 8 lines,
I better finish this poem or I think he resigns.
We learned a lot about humans in this class
And how girls like to sass,
But the thing that I will remember most
Is that boys like to roast.
Annoyance
I enjoy school
I like the work
The part I don’t, is dealing with the fools
They make it stressful
But what I detest
Is when they try so hard to be like the rest.
Best Friends
Pretending to be who I’m not
Sometimes I want to be shot
Not wanting to be here
Wishing I could just disappear
School is often very tough
Some of the people make it awfully rough
But some help you make it through
That’s why I call my best friends my crew.
This Feeling
I don’t know how to say this
My heart’s never felt this way
So please hear me out
Over and over
Time after time
I’ll always be the same
Real emotions don’t leave
Everyone can tell
Do you feel the same?
Stand Out
From the man with a purpose to the man with a lost soul,
From the man who walks through faith to the man who realises it’s too late,
From the man who embraces masculinity to the man who embraces modernity,
From the man who has self-respect, in good form,
To the man who indulges,
From the man who respects women, to the man who thinks he has to fit in
To cross that ribbon,
Society has lost the art of being modest and elegant,
Be yourself and stand out like an elephant.
The Apartment
“Humour me here”
“Ever seen one of these?”
“That is a vinyl record”
“You could probably recall all the data on this album within milliseconds”
“You would be correct”
“That’s not the same as taking the time to actually listen to it”
“I’ll put it on”
– dreams end come true.
Act
As much as you want
To hide the past
Words degrading others
To propel yourself on a pedestal
The man who cares
Is the ‘big man’ at the end of the day
Words hurting others only used to shy away.
Away
I never want to be in a place that I am
Wherever, anywhere else that I can.
When I arrive, I only wish to leave,
To somewhere where there’s something for me to achieve.
And when the opportunity arises,
The only idea I can conjure is lies.
The 175.
Oh how I hate the Dublin bus, running for buses that don’t exist
To be left at a stop with a stitch
Hours on end in the cold
Waiting for a ghost bus that that’ll never show
But one bus in particular that gets me steaming
Is the 175 that you’ll see only when you’re dreaming
The hours I’ve wasted and time poorly used
On a bus that’ll leave you feeling abused.
Learning
In classrooms of learning, we gather each day,
To gather knowledge and find our own way.
Teachers guide us, with patience and care,
As we seek understanding, and knowledge to bear.
Books and papers, pencils and pens,
In classrooms and labs, our learning begins.
Empathy
I know I am blessed to be where I am,
A security in life, and to go to bed calm.
To have understanding of others, from being raised by my mam
To have an open mind, can be a lot for a man
Especially at this age, no clue how long life will span,
So I shall be respectful to others,
Because you never know
The girl out alone and scared at night-
Could be all of our mothers.
Popularity
Eyes
Eyes all around me
A stare
Followed by hundreds more
A shroud of mist surrounds my soul and I’m trapped
In a haze of the glare
Eyes
I can feel them pushing through my shell and peering within
Exposed
And I want to push through
So I keep trying.
Demands
Do the job and be the best,
Forget about the rest,
No fun, no time,
Not even enough to rhyme,
Find the fun in the work,
Please don’t be a jerk,
Don’t be content,
You lost a percent!
Have plans? Don’t forget about training,
Yes, even if it’s raining.
Rant
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can also hurt me”
I’ve come to see that’s far from the truth
Men have been so caught up in life that they don’t know their true selves
Letting go of that stupid masculinity sh*t and seeing my true self
Even for a moment was the best thing that’s ever happened to me
I hate hearing about all this mass-media masculinity
It makes me sick to my stomach
The media has ruined men and now it’s left to this young, lost generation
To try find themselves
We still laugh and still cry but it’s not real
A real laugh is when you share it with someone
That you feel a connection to
You don’t have to know them or be attracted to them
Or even look at them
But a genuine connection is better
Than anything.
Monday Afternoon
I get home from school
After school I hop online
I play d&d with the lads
We have a bit of craic
Then we close the session
Until next Monday after school.
Society
Society is lovely, Society is great
Society has gotten way out of date
Where one person’s joyful, the other depressed,
And we don’t know the different cus their emotions are suppressed,
And we’re hiding our feelings, pretending we’re fine
You’re hiding yours, I’m lying about mine
People do feel things, things difficult to name,
But we bury the feelings and don’t try to explain
We gotta change something cus somethings gotta change,
The Society we are in has us estranged.
To Victory
As I was walking down Whitestown way,
On a Sunny day, to see a game,
A man approached me and he said to me,
“What team is playing in this city?”
Their name is Rovers and you’ll follow them,
Home and away to victory.
Untitled
I come metal studs and legs stained by bloods
I come from the breaking of bones and the throwing of stones
I come from blood stained rags and full kit bags
My life may not be ordinary but it’s nine to share
I come from scarred legs and clothes line pegs
I come from tears to be shed and a damaged head
I come from an angry place that scrunches my face
I come from my home that I can call my own.
Who am I?
Who am I?
A question asked often,
I lie awake at night,
What truly is my passion?
I distract myself from thinking,
Listen away the time,
But it’s always waiting to be answered,
Who the hell am I?
Sometimes I have an idea,
Of who I could truly be,
But then I realise once again,
“No, that’s not me”
I ask myself the question,
I ask it all the time,
But its always waiting to be answered,
Who the hell am I?
From
I come from a land that is near,
I come from a family of six,
I come from a house made of bricks,
Did you know it rhymes with stick, kicks?
Is it Worth it?
14 years of schooling
For what?
The gruelling trek
What have we learned?
What have we gained?
Anything at all?
New people, new experiences
Scary schoolyard
Now feels like home
Teachers inspire
Friendships blossom
Memories that will last forever
It was worth it.
The One
I come from a land not so far away
Never been asked to come and play
Livin’ life all alone
Head buried in my phone
Livin’ life day by day
‘Till I find the one to pave the way
They will be all so sweet
I hope that one day we may finally meet.
I’m Stuck
I’m stuck in 4 square walls
No room for my creativity
I’m stuck in ridged timetables
No space to learn what I like
I’m stuck in drab uniforms
No chance to be unique
I’m stuck in essays and quotes
I just want to break free.
Swimming Free
I come from all boys schools, a place of grit and grind,
But in my spare time, I leave the school behind.
To the pool I go,
Like I did long ago.
The water is where I can be free,
To swim in perfect harmony.
For though the school is tough, and the rules are stern,
In the pool I find my peace, and my soul can yearn.
Baffled
I don’t know what it is that I’m saying
I don’t know whether I should be thinking or praying
I’m writing this without an inkling of a plan
Yet I write because I know I can
As I write, ideas and thoughts flood into my brain
But I don’t articulate them to avoid the pain
I’m currently debating falling asleep
But as they say, hell is only 6 feet deep.
Constant
Sport is the war of the youth and the force of passion
It is the allowance of physical opinion and the nature of compassion
Sport is the felt collaboration as is its danger of endurance
It is the team spirit and its team losing burdens
Sport is the never-ending feeling of worth and
Without hard work comes no triumph
Sport.
Dinosaurs
I really love dinosaurs, herbivores and carnivores.
I love them all, the whole mix, from ol’ tyrannosuaurs to epidexteryx.
Loved them as a toddler, love them still in my teens.
Love them in books and on big and small screens.
I think about them a lot, how they lived their lives.
Some large, feathered beasts, with teeth big as knives.
Seeing them in museums fills me with awe, huge animals from tails to claw.
Yet loving dinosaurs is somewhat of a tragedy,
Spending half your life obsessed with animals you never get to see.
For Myself
Born and raised in south county Dublin,
From a happy family, received a lot of loving,
Spent each summer by the sea in the sun,
With the people who taught me the meaning of fun.
School became the place I’d learn and grow,
Expanding from the seeds my parents did sow,
From age 7, sport became of great importance,
With dreams of one day becoming important and great.
Yet I got older, I realised my achievements are for me, and that set me free to be who I want to be.
Believe
What is this world coming to?
Where we value de-education over the pursuit of beauty.
Where art and music are automated by machines
And menial labour measures our right to live.
Where if you’re different you are bad. You are wrong.
Where our validation as an individual is measured not on the integrity of our soul
But on stereotypes that nobody believes?
Can we break ourselves out of the invisible chains of hypocrisy and pigeonholing?
Is it really so hard to be the best version of ourselves?
I believe we can.
That we can make a world filled with only beautiful people
Blooming in the light of their own achievements.
Where our love for art shapes our love for reality.
Where we break from our stop-gap societies
And embrace what our true potential is.
Experiences
The sound of blue plastic chairs scraping stone floors.
The feeling of getting crushed by students walking through a door.
The horrible noise of your coat getting a rip.
Standing in front of the class, feeling your stomach flip.
Trying not to fall asleep into your arms.
Groans when you have to get up for a fire alarm.
This school has its problems and I have things I regret,
But these are some experiences that I’ll never forget.
Running
Another day same cycle
Work or school can’t wait for nightfall
Just to repeat it again, spiteful
Friends are my escape
From the jail life creates
No time no space
But still life has its place
No control of its pace but still
It’s fun and it’s love
From brother to my mother
While every day might seem the same it’s different
Great and beautiful in some way.
My Life
My life is nothing simple
My life has shit nobody knows about
My life is the life of a boy who hasn’t had a mum for the last 5 years
And every time I seek help from my mother I have nobody to get it off
My life is helping my single father when he can’t manage it all himself
My life is putting on a brave face when I’m at my worst
Because my friends see me as a happy guy
My life is full of joy
My life is going out with my friends and having sore lungs
From laughing so much
My life is my life and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Gain
When I stand at the mirror, out in my hall,
Sometimes I look and feel nothing at all
Video games and movies, I do not entertain
But becoming better and stronger, I no longer feel shame,
Because true happiness is not entertaining yourself with useless distractions.
Me
October 11th 2006,
Is the day I was born the day I came mixed
Nor black nor white but plenty of tricks
They knew he’d be trouble, but in my own social bubble, came out from all the rubble
Of Stillorgan bricks in st benildus college
Where all the boys go to get more knowledge
And in the college of knowledge I guess I’m just kinda sittin here not knowing how to finish
This poem I let my mind roam and this poem needs filling so schools finished now
Guess I’m just chillin..?
Bukayo Saka
Bukayo Saka and his football adventures,
A tale that all the English teams savoured
He’d sprint and turn and shoot with grace,
With his football boots he’d win every race
His speed and skill were unmatched,
On the pitch he was simply unmatched
He’d glide on the pitch like a fish,
Making every move seem like a wish
The English teams watched in awe,
As Saka conquered every challenge he saw
His boots were his trusty tool,
Which made everyone who watched him drool.
Night Sky
Oh as the stars at night shine so bright
I can only help but think how burning balls of fire
Can bring such beauty
As the darkness of the night can look so overwhelming
But that’s what makes it all so magical,
Like millions of fireflies floating in the unknown
And then you have the moon, a brother of the sun,
Similar yet different in many ways
Both share the power to give us light,
In different ways they shine so bright,
This is the night sky
This is where I feel at home.
end
never an end to training
never an end to give up
never an end to get that gold medal.
Bridges
I walk along a rickety bridge
The old dark wood creaks
I walk across the tall, high ridge
But look straight on to higher peaks.
The more bridges come, the more I cross
My head remains clouded in the sky
Fear bringing more will lead to loss
So I never think to try.
Once I pack an extra load
The old bridge no longer holds me
I drift away far from the road
Same mountains I don’t see.
The more I climb the more I fall
But even still I do stand tall.
The road twists and bridges break
But looking back I take a breath
For there’s no better sight to take
Than the one so far from death.
90 minutes
as the whistle blows and the game begins,
as the players who trained on countless nights
who fought through rain and mud and hailstones
and all conditions to win just some kind of achievement
start to run and shout,
as the parents who gave lifts to their kids every sunday
since they were 4 years of age
stand on the side-lines once more
to watch their children play,
as the referee who’s not being paid enough to be here
but does it anyway since he has nowhere else to be
and needs the extra cash in his pocket calls the foul
and the players just roar with disgust
because in this moment all that matters to everyone on this field
is this next 90 minutes.
untitled.
I am the people that came before me
I am the people that fought for my right to be here
I am the people who are here but without voice
I am the people who didn’t get the opportunities I do
I am the people who gave their life to let me live mine
I am those who raised me
I am those who I lost along the way
I am those who confide in me
I am those I confide in.
What is Life?
The famous question everyone knows,
With an answer that always shows
What sort of person that they are,
Whether they are either close or far
If it’s to clean windows on the highest towers
Or to look after grass, shrubs and flowers
Maybe to make someone proud,
Or make them happy as they laugh out loud
Though what I believe is it’s to learn
About yourself, to make you turn
Yourself around
And only then your purpose is what you have found.
Pressure
I don’t know what to say
Or what I’ll do all day
For the rest of my life
I feel pressured to be right.
Musings
They call it ADHD but that’s just me
They call me lazy but I’m a tiny bit brainy
They say I’m dazed but I’m actually amazed
I’m great at sport but I’m academically short
Rugby is my passion but I’m told it affects my actions
At the end of the day I want live my life with a happy wife.
I Am
I am an amazing person
I am an amazing chess player
I am an amazing Gaelic player
I am an amazing hurling player
I am an amazing individual
I am an amazing school person.
Growing Up
Hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon
Is what we used to sleep our baby selves away to
But as the nights change we see ourselves outgrow our former selves,
Branching out into the “real world” we once heard our parents talk about
Engulfed in this new brought on nightmare
We become weary, worn and vulnerable
Ripped apart by the distraught of our own emotions
In denial of what has happened to us we grow sad
But in the days of dark we always manage to find our way back
To the light guided by who we trust and those we love
Never to get lost again.
Expectations
A catastrophe or a masterpiece
Depends on what they ask from me
Rejecting me
No empathy
Whatever they expect from me
Matters to all except for me.
Lionel Messi
Messi Messi Messi
The number ten
Stronger than men
Scoring again again
Messi Messi Messi
You will rage like fire
Who will you admire
Messi Messi Messi
Messi the king
You will need to bring a new thing
You can’t sing
Who will be your right wing
You will need to think
Messi Messi Messi
The greatest of them all.
School
From waking up at 6 in the morning
To hearing the rain pouring,
I get ready for the long day ahead
Although school is dead
I’d rather be sleeping in my bed.
Evening
You watch the community
You see the trees fall
The sky go dull
The teenagers go to the parties
They might just go get the barbies
Then some go play football
They play basketball
They have some fun.