Art by Mark Conlan https://jamartprints.com/artist/mark-conlan/
Disagreements
I look at the dress and say
It’s purple with black stripes
You say it’s black with purple stripes
I see the last-minute change of plan
In work exciting and new
You see it as draining and a pain.
I look at the stars at night and think
“What a wonderful day”
You look at the stars and think
“What a waste of a day”
I say it’s half full,
You say it’s half empty.
We can’t compromise
Put it behind us
Instead, we continue to push
And pull letting the
Seconds, minutes, days, weeks
Fly by.
Eventually months pass and we still fight
Going in circles
Letting all precious moments go
As quickly as they came
Wasting time on not seeing eye to eye.
We stop and think about the
Choices that led us here
And this time instead of fighting we think
About what’s in our glass
Where it came from and
What we can ultimately
Do with it.
We become thankful that we even have a glass to judge
It doesn’t matter whether the glass is half full or half empty
There’s water in it
Let’s drink it and move on.
Sweltering
The sun’s a blazing
I’m gazing
Nothing makes me feel better
Than this hot summer weather
Everyone is praising
How it’s so amazing.
swim to survive
the place i call home,
but does it feel homely?
small village filled with troubled people,
yet still a community.
from broken down buildings to broken down people,
the friendly elderly women who smile when
they pass unaware of what the
younger generation in their
small village is getting up to
but if they did, would they care?
that’s the real question, does anyone care?
i don’t think they do
because who knows your story as well as you?
no one in this small village,
no one in the big town.
you’re just a small fish in a big pond,
and you think you might drown.
My Friends
I love my friends
They are always there to help me mend
They make me laugh everyday
And keep all my worries away
They support me when I’m sad
And correct me when I’m bad
They always make me smile
Even if it’s just for a little while.
“really”
you say you love me,
you say “i really do”
you say there’s nothing in this world you’d rather do than be with me,
i come to you and tell you my faults and my hurt,
but you continue to turn around and say “but what about me”
what about my hurt and my faults,
but you say you love me,
you say you really do
yet how come the care you supposedly have for me is never there
how come you continue to lie and hurt me
but you’re right
you “love” me
you “really” do.
Rewind It
Walk on the outside of the footpath
Eat breakfast for dinner
Get up five minutes for school
Change the system
To see women as people equivalent to men
For men to see themselves as emotional beings
To breed creativity and novelty
Press rewind on the player
And start over
Until you gain freedom from this
Enclosed world.
Unwound
Why does time never stop?
My life winds round and round
Trying my best to climb to the top
But sometimes my mind feels bound
Some days I lie in bed
Not knowing am I awake
Thoughts spinning in my head
Carefree time doesn’t wait.
They Should know
The mothers of the world treated so cold
The patriarchy can be oh so bold
“Dress like a lady”
Oh this all cannot be right
We are treated like objects
Paste on show for someone to subject
If only they knew
How much we have been through.
‘Me’
Daughter of 4 children, youngest of them all,
Was never the ‘star’ as people said, I was the most ignored,
Was given everything I needed, had everything I wanted,
Except the love and communication from my family, now isn’t that sad.
I loved music and art,
Sunrises and stars,
The moon and the rain,
The way the clouds dance in the dark,
I grew up quiet, not a lot to say,
Always told the shut up so I guessed it worked out either way.
Started questioning when I was twelve,
Much to my parents’ disgrace,
The gifted child, gay, female, different,
They’d be afraid to show face.
I grew up, my mindset changed,
I accepted myself, this is not a phase,
To be young, gifted, and black as they say,
But I’ll choose myself anytime and I’ll be ok.
teenage heartbreak
after a while you learn the difference between
holding a hand and falling in love,
you begin to learn that kisses don’t always
mean something,
promises can be broken,
just as quickly as they are made
and sometimes
goodbyes really are forever.
Why?
Why did it happen?
Was it because of the way
I couldn’t hold my anger
Or that it would happen in the spur of the moment
That I was hurting and you couldn’t be with me or really see me
All I wanted was to be heard and understood
But you could not and here I am left hurt.
Untitled
Why won’t it make sense
My life has been comfortable
I have lots of friends
My family is kind
My grades are good
But sometimes things just don’t feel right
I want to scream
I want to shout
I want somebody to just let me out
I can’t help the feeling that something is wrong
But there’s no real reason why my head is so torn
The guilt makes it worse
My parents did their best
My friends are all lovely
And I do well on tests
Maybe I’ll grow out of it
Maybe I won’t
But I just feel miserable
And no one will help me out.
Don’t Understand
Why do men think it’s ok,
To say whatever they want To say.
They call on you from across the street,
Or think that you are theirs to beat.
Why do men think that it’s fine,
To think that my body is not mine.
I’m too emotional and sensitive,
Because of the care a man did not give.
In Mallow the River is Shallow
As shallow as your education system
Our education is sick and it gives me the ick
The constant pressure puts us under the weather
You make it hard by making us all alike
But now it’s time to put up a fight
And make things right.
Make Room
Feeling alone in my own home,
I’m so sick of the useless drone,
The sound from inside my head,
I take it out on the people I love instead.
I see their hurt, but they don’t see mine,
It’s getting crowded inside my own mind,
Giving me reasons to rant and rage,
I just want to live free with my own age.
Excitement
The day is here
For us to cheer
Outside with strangers
But not in danger
Friends are near
Everyone can hear
Our voices shouting in excitement
As we make our way to our arrangement
With my friends it’s our right
To have some fun
After the sun
Dressed in our new clothes
But the feeling of them we loath
But preparing to sing our voices away
We know it’s gonna be a good day.
Love
Love can feel like an electric shock
It makes you feel solid as a rock
It controls your emotions
Like the waves of the ocean.
Simply Not Simple
Life is simple people say
But they’re not me throughout the day
What they say behind my back
Makes my heart break and crack
Life is hard, life is tough
And sometimes you’re never enough.
Be Yourself
Women complain about men’s maturity,
Men complain about women’s sensitivity,
Too stubborn, too fake, too serious,
Too forward, too childish, acting delirious,
Comparing and contrasting, switching and changing,
Why can’t we just be our own person?