St. Declan’s College, Cabra, Co. Dublin

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You can be a bully,
You can act hard,
You can throw unnecessary insults,
You can be unhappy,
And be the worst version of yourself
Or you can be accepting,
You can be kind,
You can bite your tongue,
You can be happy,
And be the best version of yourself.

Anon

Cruel Expectations

The crushing weight of loneliness
An anchor that drags me down
I see myself walking the streets
Of this old run down town
But his town isn’t real
It’s all in my head
A chrysalis of emotions
That wants me to be dead
It tell me to be this and that
Prim, proper, to get in line
Too quiet, too weak
Grow a spine
The cruellest master I submit to
No lord, king or guard
But the cold stares of people
Who make it so hard.

Brent Pagquil

Missing Out

“You will be fine,” they say
The fact is they don’t actually know what went through you that day
You may feel down and in the dumps
Don’t let it bruise you or leave bumps
Don’t worry if you don’t get picked there the ones missing out
They will be the ones that end up in doubt
“You’re not good enough” they might say
Now you’re saying to yourself why did you stay
Don’t worry when you leave you will be missed
They will be laughed at or even hissed

Conor Murphy

You Don’t Like Me

Stupid, dumb, foolish and ill
If those words don’t describe me then I don’t know what will
I’ve always grown fond of you from the moment we met
And every time I see you, my face turns all red

Not because I have a fever
Not because I’m holding back a laugh
But every time I’m near you I become this big mess and a half

And I was so damn dense to think you’d be the same
Because you give so many signs that you like my name

But it is just not the case
Because you don’t like me
And I try so hard to make myself believe the truth
Only to fall for you more and waste my entire youth

Anon

Existence

Existence snuffed out
Heart’s grown cold
He sits in the corner
Smoking cigarettes and growing old

Slaps our back
Tells us about the good old days
He’s got nothing to do
And less to say

Ryan Holmes

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If you can study everyday, without procrastination, you’ll be smart
If you can workout, without injury or slack , you’ll be strong
If you can eat properly, without giving into temptation, you’ll be lean
If you can attend school everyday, listen attentively and work hard, you’ll be praised
If you conform to society, without speaking out, you’ll be comfortable
If you follow monthly trends, without being yourself, you’ll be popular
If you stand there, while someone is being put down, you’ll have security
But if you believe in yourself, stand strong and keep your values
Live your life how you want to, and push the abuse of society aside
You may not be smart, strong, lean, praised, comfortable or popular
But you’ll be happy,
And- which is more- you’ll be noble.

Anthony Khijinski

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I wake up, puddle of sweat
I have nightmares when I get back into bed
It’s like these voices just keep playing on repeat in the back of my head
And I can’t get them to leave me alone
And years and years pass by but I still hate being alone,
Trapped into the abode of my own home.
Because that’s when the voices get the loudest
And they’re opening up like hell as if this is a moment far from my proudest
But these demons keep pressing me, I swear they’re the foulest
But I’ve grown comfortable just by their presence
My conscious is calloused, my dreams are their playground
My thoughts are their palace, my will is soon a graveyard
Anxiety isn’t an item you can return from the store
It comes back attacking even more and more
And I didn’t tell anyone, because I was too scared about what they’d say
And I know deep down there was nothing they could do to take it away
It was my fight to fight and my battle to face
As I remember that house I grew up in
And how those demons would rattle that place.
And I’ve spent my whole life trying to run away from the feeling
The feeling of being lonely, the feeling of being lost
That feeling of being sick when the lights turn off
That feeling of being depressed, that feeling of being anxious
That feeling of screaming to God, begging him to take this
Only to get silenced in return
I’d lay in that bed crying and I would toss and I would turn,
Overthinking every detail that could make others mourn
As I’m announcing it now that the devil can’t hold me.
I’m walking away from the old me.
And I’m demanding a refund on every lie they have sold me
You know I’d find a way out sooner or later
And I found my escape in the form of a saviour.
Good night.

Anon

I Hate Racing

I run with a club
I train really hard
Four times a week
But I’m still very Bad
When I run a race
I get very nervous
My body tenses up
And my muscles don’t service
I come dead last
And feel very bad
Hate myself to death
Just hope my friends don’t judge me

Kilian Corcoran

Hot Summer Nights

May. Shallow waters, floating, bubbles. Mirroring.
June. The heat is on. Long sunsets.
July, sticky. Jumping in, you’re not there. Same again.
You’ll never know.
I know nothing. Nothing, just nothing.
August. Silence.
Begin again, maybe another?
Is it better to speak, or to die?

Laurence

Imagine…

Imagine being told you’re pregnant
Imagine being told your child would be perfect
Imagine telling your whole family of the news
Imagine being told your child is a boy
Imagine being told your child is three weeks overdue
Imagine being told your waters have broken
Imagine the excitement

Imagine never knowing if you could hold your child again
Imagine never knowing if your child would live to grow old
Imagine never knowing if your child will ever go to school
Imagine never knowing if your child could take his last breath
Imagine never knowing if your child would have friends
Imagine never knowing if your child would have a name
Imagine the pain

Imagine the feeling of holding your child again
Imagine the feeling of watching your child grow up
Imagine the feeling of sending your child to school
Imagine the feeling of seeing your child breathing with ease
Imagine the feeling of bringing your child to his friend’s house
Imagine the feeling of giving your child a name
Imagine the joy

Imagine no more, now it’s time to believe

Believe in this story
Believe in hope
Believe in family
Believe in everything that’s good in the world

Believe in heartbreak
Believe in failure
Believe in loss
Believe in everything that bad in the world

Imagine believing in this story
Imagine believing in me
Believing in me that would be ridiculous
Then my parents are the most ridiculous people that has walked this planet
My parents imagined, cried and suffered,
In the end, my parents believed.

Anon

The System

You’re born with no control of where or when you are,
No choice of race, nationality, wealth or your car,
You’re put into society expected to take a ride,
With nobody there to act as your guide,
You’re forced to go to school if you are lucky,
At first, it’s not so bad
Meeting friends and all that
You’re made to sit subjects you feel you won’t need,
But what can you do? Nobody cares about your creed,
Sit through 14 years in this gullible system,
You feel you’re stuck in a bad ecosystem,
The pain, the struggle and all the doubt,
What was it for?
What was it all about?

Ivan

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Skull a can? They love you,
Get an A they hate you.
Might be gay? You Loser.
Roll a good one? Hero,
Never done hash? No life.
Act real hard? You must be,
Talk about feelings? He’s messed up.
Act real hard? Are you really?
Talk about feelings? You must be smart.

Noah

Why So?

Why so sombre? Why so sullen?
You make an unfaithful tune.
Why so meek? Why so fatigued?
It will be over soon.

You have a beautiful life, so many meanings,
Yet all you possess is this subtle feeling.
A feeling of hurt, and a feeling of draining,
And endless moments, for just feeling nothing.

You go around with your head down low, hoping to not be seen.
And we all don’t know what the hell you even mean.
Did we do something bad?
We want you to be glad.

But you look like you’re ruined.
And that makes us feel worried,
So why so sad? Why so gloom?
For it will be over soon.

Anon

Tired

I’m tired of people saying someone failed
When they weren’t really told what to do
If you’re not shown how to try
Then how can you
If someone’s mam and dad never showed them that they can do good
Then shut up saying they’re bad
Just because you got support that they never had.
When coaches scream as you made a mistake
Because they never coached you in the right way
When a teacher’s annoyed that someone failed a test
And it’s because the teacher never brought out their best.
That’s pony because it’s not true,
How can you succeed when no one showed you

Matthew Flanagan

Is Anyone Perfect

I may be skinny
I may look bad
I don’t think it’s sad
I may have no brain
I may be insane
But do you want me to go down the drain
I may be stupid
I may have bad hair
At the end of the day I don’t care
So what do you have say
Please be my guest
I can take a hit
But I can tell you I will be missed

Conor Murphy

Better

I won’t lie I’ve seen people suffer
They won’t go outside rather stay under the covers
Seen people getting no supper and they come from the gutters
I wonder if the world will get better
I’ll do my bit I won’t fold under pressure
Check the news see loads of terror
Remember when the world was better
Now its shit just needs to change a little bit
I hope it gets better

David Sesay

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I don’t like most kids in my class,
They are bad.
I don’t like the footballer who thinks he’s amazing and shows everyone disrespect.
I don’t like the American kid in my class that’s better than everyone because he wants to be an architect.
I don’t like the Russian kid who brags about his PC and has more than one dialect.
I don’t like the small kid who thinks he’s mad but really has a lack of self-respect.
I don’t like myself because I write mean poems about people.

Anon

Basketball

Five assassins, trained for years,
Slicing and dicing through the defence.
Thundering feet, a programmed approach
Thrives on the battleground. As the path clears
Towards a final charge. Victory is near,
Two steps until the final destination.
He soars to the sky, and throws down the hammer,
A slam dunk triumph.

Robert Danca

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All kids my age are burning their liver
That 70cl pouring like a river
I’m just out here tryna make some silver
Get rich young with out pulling a trigger

Anon

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The date is august 18th
Its All-Ireland final day
The colours always defer
It’s such a sight to see
The train packed to the rafters
Just like Croke park will be
Lets just hope the boys do their best
But we can only wait and see

Anon

The Ones

To the ones who doubt,
Who put you down.
“You aren’t good enough”,
Just ’cause they weren’t.
They don’t want you to succeed,
Just watch you fall and bleed.
Maybe you’ll fall,
But go again.
Don’t lay down,
Keep going.

Shane

War

As I enter the ring, I am prepared for war
I am about to be a matador
My opponent will be seeing red
Chasing me, he’ll want me dead
I will side step and throw a punch
Soon he’ll be doubled over spitting up his lunch
I slip his punch and see him go past
I land an uppercut sending him to Belfast
He out flat on the deck
The ref gives him a check
He count “8, 9, 10”
I am delighted that I won again

Finn Howard

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“Pick up your rifles and we’ll take the GPO” they shouted
“For the freedom of Ireland we hold and we shall not let go”
As the British come, we’ll load our guns and give them a show
The smoke fills my lungs, as the fire burns hot
For the fight we gave some of us will be hung and our leaders shot
For the blood sacrifice we will spill
Will give our next generation the thrill
Of the green fields and blue skies of a beautiful Ireland now free

Anon

Bohs and Rovers

The battle will never be over
Under the lights
Street fights
Just the red and black
The hoops want payback
Its war
Who will score
Nothing can compare
To the despair
When you loose
Left a bruise
This ain’t no cruise
You can’t excuse
You must try
Or you’ll be left to die

Anon

The Blink of an Eye

My parents always told life will pass in the blink of an eye,
Now I am an old man I let out a deep depressing sigh,
Although I never understood just how fast,
Now I see my life has passed,
As my deepest fear was dying without being remembered,
I always thought i was too self centered,
Whether it was through work or family or even sport,
I now discover that I have come up short
Now as life has gone at the speed of light,
I lay here and realize my biggest fright,
It seems I have done nothing with my poor little life,
I have made no kids or found no wife,
For now, my brain is full of dread,
As I know that soon I will be dead.

Robert Callaghan

Championship Final

The day has finally come
A day unlucky for some
As I met up with my teammates
The nerves in my stomach began to roar
As I sit in the dressing room everyone is quiet
I play music through my headphones to get me excited
The manager comes in the team is called
My nerves settle, i was ready for this
The laces tied, the jerseys pulled on
We were ready to cause a riot
Before we go out
And make history
The manager gives us the talk
“Lads you’ve made it this far”
“Enjoy it!”
“But get ready for an absolute riot”
The dressing room roars with excitement.
As we bust through the dressing room door
Only two teams in it now
Let’s see who can win it all

Gerard O’Reilly

Family

Raised in Crumlin with me ma and da,
Turned all sour when they drifted apart,
Moved to the country with me ma, its crap,
Going to me da’s once a night,
Me ma and da both find someone else,
It’s all looking good for them and myself,
All is good now no more fights,
Stay close to family and you’re sorted for life.

Ryan O’Connell

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Where is Madeline McCann
Is she in the back of a van?
Is she at the bottom on the canal?
Is she unaware of her true identity?
Hopefully we find out what happened to her
And about the events that occurred

Liam Keating

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Roses are red violets are blue
To my school I despise you

Our classes are rubbish we do no work, when the teachers not looking you may have a vicious smirk
TY is what you make of it they say, then what’s with the $400 we pay.

My tutor is stupid as fuck and my class was assigned her, to my luck
She marks us in when we are out,
She probably wouldn’t notice nor care if we were mitching about.

There is a vegan in our class, he would most certainly like us all to kiss his ass
There’s a couple of Neanderthals with negative IQ
But that for now isn’t my issue.

Those are my problems at least for now
Like lightning Macqueen, I shall bounce and say KACHOW!

Anon

Out with the Lads

Couple cans the charm
350mls no harm
Starting to feel light in the head
Now there’s a lot of regret and dread
Stumbling all over the place
Feels like I’m in space
Woke up getting the stomach pumped
Little did I know I’d been jumped
Phone and wallet gone
Next time cop on

Anon

Good Luck

Good luck to yeh.
You left before I was born. Why?
Is it because you didnt love my ma?
Did you use her cause you were young?
I probably will never find out?
But if I do…
You’re dead.

Aaron Weldon

Bottle

He bottled a nine point lead
He’ll never be at the top
His team is full of bottlers
His name is Jurgen Klopp

Kevin

The Boys

All the boys got out of class
8 seconds and Gerry Morgan covered 50 metres of grass
He sent us back to B21
While all the boys still in the hall having fun
The whole class became the centre of attention
While s harvey and Gerry (the finisher) Morgan gave them detention

Anon

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Last night I drove a car
Not knowing how to drive
Not owning a car
I drove and knocked down
People I loved
Went 120 through one town.

I stopped at Hedgeville
And slept in the back seat
Excited about my new life.

Anon

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Flaking out with the boys
Fighting dandelions and eating bugs
Ram ranch on the speaker, broken bones on the moon
Seeing demons and mandy
Sleep paralysis got me again
Few excellence for the road
Don’t collapse again pal…

Daniel Casey