Connections
I watched from the corner of the room,
As mouths moved in a jumbled motion.
Any activities became mundane when,
I looked up at the invisible connected wires that
Stayed closed off to my own.
I was happy to be my own shape,
to change when I deemed what was true of me.
But sometimes I dreamt of what it’d be like to
Be in the same mould everyone was in.
It’s what made it easier to made connections with.
But as I turned back to my page, I knew that I’d
Have to wait for the time for someone else to
Make that connection with me.
That I’d be mixing with shapes that weren’t
As open as me.
Perhaps
One day women won’t feel alarmed,
under the street lights, feeling responsible.
I have a dream they will no longer feel harmed,
they will understand everything is possible.
No more embarrassment or feeling judged,
as the world will finally overcome.
I have a dream no one will trudge,
women will be themselves and march
to the beat of their own drum.
I Have a Dream
Men and women will be the same
blue and pink will just be colours
people will be depicted because of who they are
and not because of how strong they are
meaningless culture wont make us who we are
and one day everyone will be treated the same
maybe one day.
I Was Told by Someone Older Than Me
That women aren’t equal to men because women are too emotional and immature.
I was told by him that people don’t vote for women into positions of power because when they are given leadership, they go hysterical and crazy.
I was told that women are irrational and that they can’t handle roles of leadership; they can’t speak kindly to people they disagree with, and they start disputes for no reason.
He said he was scared of a matriarchy and that one day women will think that they deserve to be treated better than men.
He said that when women menstruate, they are too unpredictable and violent.
School is Hell
Hell for boys,
hell for neurodivergents,
hell for those who have astronomical ambitions,
hell for those who are too intelligent to sit still.
School is hell, and I am the condemned.
The system is hell, and I am condemned.
I hate hell, and it hates me.
To Hold it Back
Everyday I sit here or walk through
the corridors trying to
hold it back.
A stray comment
or an overheard whisper I try to
hold it back.
At home family is dying
but I still come here just like usual trying to
hold it back.
They say school is the best years of your life
but I am in here trying to
hold it back.
Disease
The silence deafened me,
still I lay, lay I still,
feeling less hope after each test.
The same every morning:
“Look away, this’ll hurt a bit.”
And I had to wait a minute,
knowing nothing will change
but the place I may lay in.
As my body hardened,
and I lost control,
my body was no longer mine.
It is There
I feel it in the bathroom
I see it in the hall
I hear it in my head
it’s written on the wall
it fits in every space
it fills up every place
it replays in people’s heads
then repeated in their beds
everybody feels it
we all know it’s there
no one wants to talk about it
but everybody cares.
Yes I Was! Was I?
Raised right—yes, I was raised to respect my parents, my brothers.
Yes, I was raised to tie my shoelaces, yes, I was raised to always talk to the quiet kid.
Yes, I was raised to always have my hand up to answer a question,
until I was met with secondary school. I was raised to gossip about things I couldn’t care less about.
I was raised to stay quiet when the man on the bus asks to sit next to me.
Yes, I was raised to never speak about my problems—was I raised right?
Sneers
You wanna go, fam, as I walk past,
Women don’t dare to stare as they puff flavoured air,
Walk into a club, you’ll get dubbed,
You’re in the hood, but there’s no brotherhood,
You’re on your own, soft as they come,
Iced out in bling, but so are my eyes as my ears ring,
“You wanna go, fam?” then their mum begins to ring,
They don’t answer as they try to act tough,
They’ve had enough snuff, but won’t say nothing to their nan,
A ban on vapes won’t do nothing, a ban on tasting air makes all of them stare with their bloodshot eyes,
Twitch, twitch, tick—the clock won’t stop,
The oil docks are knocked,
Underground like my head, sent to the Dáil, but their heads in John Player Blues,
They just act like fools.
The Boys
I despise the boys in my class
mostly cause i did not grow up with them but,
They are disrespectful
but also they do not care
they do not care about what they do, what they say.
but mostly they do not think about the why
like why they can’t sit together or why they can’t do well on tests
it seems to be everyones fault but their own
That’s what really annoys me, but also the fact that no one teaches them boundaries
and no one tells them what’s wrong.
Attempts to be Better
A life spent in attempts to be better
at everything but what I’m good at doing,
the comparison to those who are perfection,
the want for the perfect face, body, cup size, and complexion.
The counting of the numbers on the back of the box or the pack of Taytos,
the number of lads you got with at the end of the disco,
the fine line between being a prude or a whore, being less or being more,
the want to be more than that—I am taught by the knowledge that I’m not.
The want to get an A when I’m already flat on the floor,
the want for somebody to want, or for me not to want anymore.
Day to Day
In broken homes and gang-spit tomes,
Hail Mary and methamphetamine save my soul.
Rock-slinging, crack-flinging with threats of broken bones,
day-to-day survival by the cold hand of the dole.
I fear tinted windows and brandished steel,
a god of fast escapes, yellow tapes and false faiths,
in passages and promises of days I’ll never feel,
hidden behind drunken eyes and lethal vapes.
One Day
You’ll wake up and realise,
You don’t have to fit in and be tough,
Sometimes all you have to do is be yourself and that is enough.
One day you’ll learn to not care,
You’ll learn to ignore the stares,
Not every interaction will be dares.
Sometimes all you need is a breath of fresh air.
One day you’ll realise that life will be hard,
And you’ll want to be a child in your back yard.
You’ll realise it isnt all about your face card.
For the Girls
It can be art, music, films and writing
For the lads its only Sport, beurs, games and fighting
All the pressure none of the time, too much “How are ya” too much “I’m fine”
School is too long but years start to fly by,
Have no independence but all the responsibility,
and teachers really expect us to study
Waiting for the summer and firsts with friends
Drinking and drugs become the means to all ends.
Cruel Words
They’re nothing new
They’re nothing special
Their looks, their smell
Their mannerisms make life feel like hell.
Their cruel words crawl through my skin
The way they treat others makes something in me burn
Even if you don’t want it
They’ll always get their turn.
They always have words to shame us
Created by them, and used by only them.
Because if it ever happens to you
It’s always going to be men.
Doom Scroll
As bullets whizz past,
And bombs exploding,
Echoing with a big blast,
And all life is eroding.
A soldier is at rest,
Finally at peace,
Fortunate enough to be blessed,
Because his life has ceased.
Yet nothing stops,
Nothing waits,
For his lifeless corpse,
Is all their fate.
The World of Love and Hate
I hate how the world has become, violent, toxic.
How have we succumbed to this?
All the peace and love in the world
and not one can show it without being put down
and talked down upon?
Oh the world how the love you bestow
is behind all the hate you create.
Bro
I come from the suburbs
They say we brothers
But all I see is toxic masculinity
There is no sun shine and rainbows
Only home boys with shades on.
All thinking about the babes.
Not looking for aid.
We stuck in this cycle.
Just for it to be recycled.
Sometimes
It’s like you don’t know the path in life is right,
you are waiting for something to shed some light,
it might feel like you are waiting for that clue every day,
but gradually you will forge your own path and find your way.
Green
Green like the grass
Green like the plants
Green like the traffic lights
and green like the leaves
Green shows the colour of life
The bright blue skies on the fear green grass
The bare tress left with no green leaves.
I Hope One Day
Women will be happy in themselves
I hope one day women will not be scared to be alone at night
I hope one day women will be happy in themselves
I hope one day women will not tolerate discrimination and fight.
My Dog Luna
I got my dog in 2017,
When she was just a puppy.
She is small and ginger
And I am so lucky
She likes to walk
And eat all my my easter eggs
Sometimes she is bold
And runs out the house with her little legs
She is a LUNAtic.
I Love the Way
My girlfriend holds me
How she makes me feel warm and cared abouy
When I’m with her she brings out a side of me that no one else can.
I love her for who she is she smile her laugh
and being able to care and listen to anyone.
I can let my guard down as I feel safe.
The Alarm
The alarm goes off before the light,
and for a second, you forget your name
just a body reaching,
just a hand silencing something loud.
The floor is cold.
The mirror is honest in a way
no person ever is.
Love and Hate
I hate the way myy ears ring at night
I hate the person I see in the mirror
I hate the fact I never feel right
I hate the feeling of not being included
I love the acceptance I feel among the certain
I love the days I wake up bright
I love the serenity I feel at night
I love the way the world turns
I hate the way the way the world burns.
What Matters
What is the line
for a problem today
people don’t bother to feel or to say
I’ve got problems
but there’s people dying
and there’s children in Gaza
and they’re crying
over their famlies’ bodies.
and still
no one cares.
Sometimes
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like
to wake up on the ground of a prison cell
I grew up on the rough side of town
the Gardi judge me everywhere I go
this really makes a man not grow
immigration was the hardest part of life
but it all leads to a sharper knife.
Ballincollig
In Ballincollig the night holds echoes of raised voices
sharp as glass beneath uncertain feet
the Gardai constantly cycle around the dodgy side of ‘Collig
Where anger stays for longer than it should.
doors stay shut but stories creep through walls
in the whispers that no one wants to own
this dodgy town people call my home
but I think it’s like a trapped dome.
Copies
We all will copy whatever is in fashion
but no one is brave enough to give enough passion.
we all will cope in our own way
but no one is able to brush it away.
And as long as there is wonder and willingness to change
there will be hope for our future.
Twin
I am a twin, a part of a half
Who is always together
With their other half.
Only minutes apart,
We’ve been two,
We stick together like glue.
Two separate beings,
Who may be identical,
Although who have individual feelings.
The life of a twin.
Slugs ‘n Stuff
From slug’s sliming around the place
to the Corkonian walls
with sharp shadows
From the mist mystery of that new book
Smelling new sequences to that smelly subtraction
Torn leather of comfy Clarkes
Lads up to ludicrous as we all enjoy this luxury
Hoping this year doesn’t come to a horrific end like last time
I Love
I love yellow like the sun
and yellow like the sand
yellow like sun cream tubes
and bottles of fake tan.
I love yellow like lemonade
and yellow like buttercups
yellow like sweet honey
and yellow like little ducks
I love yellow like sunflowers
yellow like vanilla ice cream
yellow like those memories
that always seem like a dream.
Rúfas the Rainbow Lorikeet!!!
Rúfas the rainbow lorikeet,
I was so glad to meet
In the Irish exam papers
I felt his heart beat
The way his feathers are so sleek
He moves his shiny beak.
I Live for the Pitch of Green
where the grass grows long, and the birds roam
where hurlers were made and displayed
This pitch has seen it all, from big to small
The greatest smell of all, fresh cut grass
blended in with the smell of ash
I live for the pitch of green.
I Come from the Suburbs
I ride to school with my mom
She always knows what’s going on
I listen to the music that understands me
While I feel as happy as can be
I go through school day by day
Sometimes it doesn’t go okay
But I learn and learn
And my haters will burn.
My Life is the Freedom
My life is the laughter.
The time flies quickly
, but my life remains the same.
My life is nature
It changes as we mature.
There are the things we can’t explain.
Life and pain.
I Come from Collig
I come from a country of alcoholics.
I come from a school.
I come from a place where safety is chucked in a pool.
I want to be in a place of calm.
I want to be in a land full of rams.
all free
just to be.
Life in the Classroom
Chalk makes noise in morning light,
Notebooks open, minds take flight.
Questions bloom where silence sat,
Ideas grow in quiet chat.
The clock ticks soft, yet time expands,
Through scribbled notes and raised-up hands.
In every lesson, long and tiring
wondering if it will ever end
A Song of Silk
Through the howling cliffs I walk,
I don’t talk,
In the dirt mouth
I hear you’re one out,
I fight the massive knight,
I almost see heaven’s light,
My vengeful spirit has been copped
So to the green paths I walked,
That’s a story.
Home
My old home in Douglas was nothing special
old walls, old smell, cold
But it is where I come from, my memories of it are gold
I come from cramped rooms, shared meals
bad things and sad things and people that steal
But for all the bad, there is good
I come from my home and I’m proud.
Dreams
Every day I am woken,
My fantasies unwoven,
Although I cannot return,
I must still yearn,
To return to my true home,
To many foreign lands I roam,
In this land, you may find things,
Things that make your mind ring,
You may find creatures big and tall,
Or short and small,
You could find grass as soft as velvet,
Or trees hard like rocks.
At the end of the day,
despite my best effort,
I must return to my dear fort.
Unicorn in a Field of Horses
We follow in the same fashion,
looks and passion
All the shoes with the same squeak
all afraid to speak
with no imagination ourselves,
The same books lie on our shelves
acting as if we are all the same,
all thinking they themselves are lame
When a teacher has a question to ask,
no one balls up to the task,
All the students lie behind the same mask
beneath it all lies a unicorn
who is lost in a field of horses.
We Played
We played soccer after school
on wet grass in Cork
shirts muddy, shoes soaked through
Someone always had a ball
We argued over every goal
like it really mattered
ran until the sky went dark
not wanting to go home from the bais.
I Grew Up in Cork
Rain on the streets,
The chip shops smelled strong, and the buses were late.
We kicked a ball in the alley and stubbed our toes,
And argued over ice cream flavour.
The Lee flowed quietly, mostly ignored,
Sun showed up sometimes, enough to squint.
I dreamed small dreams while waiting for the bus,
And thought Cork was just okay, I guess.
Stuck in a Cage
from waking up in the heavenly grasslands of Ballinora
to drive down into the gloomy land of Ballincollig
Every morning without fail i dread having to put myself through 6 hours of hell
I can’t bear to stay here for one more minute
of my teacher talking about banana wars
while my imagination craves the exploration of the countryside, where my mind runs free.
Negative Ends
We could have been together
you couldnt understand
immaturity negativity
words you cannot comprehend
You know where I am
You just don’t care
immaturity, negativity, the list never ends.
I Like Nature
It’s relaxing and calm
Trees are big and tall
Animals are in the grass
The sky is blue
And grass is green
We Are Women
We are women who found ourselves in art,
Even though we did not fart,
The other girls laughed and jeered,
While we stood centre stage and the audience cheered,
We are women who were taught to be mature,
Never childish or unsure,
But now we know we can laugh, cry and play,
They let us know that it’s ok,
We are women, and although they laugh and jeer,
There’s nowhere I’d rather be than right here.
My Life
My life is not depressing or sad
I find school not that bad
When I hang out with my friends, I feel joyful
They are kind and loyal
When I go home I feel bored
No excitingness just stupid homework
about making a storyboard.
Steak
Steak I ate,
with no plate,
I did not hate,
I went through the gate,
The steak was not fake
it was not cake,
I take my steak as I wake,
Blake ate my steak,
I swam in the lake with my steak,
I listened to Drake with my steak,
steak is not a snake,
I could not rake with my steak,
I love steak.
Suburbs
I come from the suburbs
I go to school, I’m no fool
I am not like the others
I follow my own crowd
I’m not too loud
I stand proud
Those who hate me
Cannot relate to me
I am me and I’m as happy as can be
Telling a Lie
feeling like i might cry
coming home and feeling alone
secrets are like disagreements
leaving it be but it will always be.
Things I Hate
Long days at school or not feeling “cool”,
Being behind gives me no peace of mind.
Always being worse, yes it feels like a curse,
People think I’m always happy,
But truthfully I feel pretty crappy.
Inniscara Bridge
I wake up in the country
by the Inniscara Bridge,
and make the routine trek
into the bottomless kip.
Ballincollig is a nice place
until you go outside,
and then you find out
why everyone’s inside.
Guards line the streets,
scumbags show their knives,
and I just want to stay
in the countryside.
The Tank
I’m built like a tank (well… more like a van),
Play hurling on weekends, or at least that’s the plan.
Mam says I’m “gifted,” coach says I’m “loud,”
But sure I bring energy—keeps the lads proud.
Got boots full of mud and a sliotar that’s lost,
Blamed it on Seán, though it was me who paid the cost.
Ref gave a free? Ah, he must’ve been blind,
I’d swear on my nan I was nowhere behind.
Trying to impress down the side of the pitch,
Did a solo too many—landed straight in a ditch.
She laughed at me anyway, said, “Nice try, kid,”
I said, “That was tactical.” She knew that I fibbed.
Protein shakes? Nah, just Tayto and tea,
Still fastest (or so I claim loudly) on our team, GAA.
Homework’s a mystery, matches come first,
If effort was skill, I’d be county… or worse.
So here’s to the slagging, the rain, and the craic,
To missing easy points and still chatting back.
I might not go pro, but I’ll give it a lash
Sure Cork’s full of legends… I’m just one in the stash.
I Come From
I come from an atheist father and a religious mother.
I come from a Germanic and a Celtic culture.
My Irish ancestors fought the British fiercely in the countryside.
My family was born from nothing yet built an Empire in hard work and determination.
I come from a family who built everything from nothing.
My history has roots dug deep into Irish and European soil.
My father raised me with nothing so i could have everything.
He built an Empire so his son could be Emperor.
Doorway
I opened up the massive doorway,
trotting along to take a walk among the bay.
I arrived at the beach and brought myself food.
I decided to eat fruit like a peach, as they are healthy.
My dog came sprinting towards me with joy.
I grabbed my lifebuoy,
and then I began my journey.
Sunset
I woke at sunset, as I see,
and saw someone in my dream.
It was my dog, so clean and slick,
and it made me dream some more.
My mom came in and I woke up,
and realised I saw my life in full,
fulfilled.
I Have a Dream
I have a dream that one day I can walk down the road and feel safe,
That they can go out in public and not be maimed,
That men will be nicer
And will stop all this dicer.
No more hate
Only love and joy to date.
Szikszó
Visiting my grandmother,
She cooks us a delicacy
In our eyes theres no one greater,
Always tells me a story
One from her past
like my similarity to her father
or about when I was younger.
The Sun is Shining
The sun is shining and is burning my skin like an air fryer, though sweat trickles down my body from the cooking temperature of the sun. I lay down, feel like I am out of energy, though I am enjoying the beach day. Walking on the burns my feet as if I was walking on actual fire.
Hearing kids screaming and laughing as if they are having fun on the beach on a burning day. I get really tanned as the sun cooks my skin and my skin turns really red, like a hot pepper on the beach.
Ballinora GAA
At night dead quite light barley on a dead glow
i walk through to the gym
and my footsteps sound wrong
like their coming back at me threw a speaker
or something with my heart in my stomach in shivers.
My Cat
My cat is a beautiful cat.
He doesn’t judge, yet he doesn’t really listen.
He sits and lets me talk,
bearing whatever weight I tell him that day.
My cat has a beautiful coat of fur,
yet I don’t think he knows.
He messes up my room every day
as his way to repay me for the mess
I make for him every day.
Hurling is Life
I have no wife. It is fun; I am not a nun. I am big.
I like to dig. Hope you have a good day, hip hip hooray, every day
is a good one. I do not own a gun. The sky is red; I am not dead.
I am a menace; I like to play tennis.
That is my rhyme, son
I rhyme.
I Think Poetry is Stupid
I thought this presentation was insightful,
but poetry is stupid.
Someone may have had a horrible life,
but that doesn’t mean they’ll be a good poet,
which makes poetry stupid.
Shakespeare didn’t make any sense with what he wrote.
Nothing he wrote made sense
or resonated with anyone,
but he was one of the greats,
which makes poetry stupid.
He wrote about the ill-fated love of Romeo and Juliet,
and Romeo and Juliet was not a poem.
They were not stupid;
they were relatable, beating all odds only
to die.
Life isn’t stupid,
love isn’t stupid,
fate isn’t stupid,
but making it rhyme and calling it poetry,
that’s stupid.
Fly
There’s a fly on my wall
a small little fly
he sits there watching me as day goes by
he doesn’t bother me at all he doesn’t even move
and I begin to wonder why we chose
to squish these little bugs who just want to live
there lives are so short anyway what joy does it give.
I Walk Along the Beach
The soft golden sand,
I hear the waves clashing against the rocks.
Not a single person in sight,
the quietness is calming,
almost like a dream.
Lived On a Farm
Live on a farm, did him no harm
Played loads of football,
and won it all,
Rock solid at full-back,
playing with his own knack,
Working in treacherous conditions in the field,
His body and determination wouldn’t yield,
forced to be bored in school,
he never lost his cool.
I Hope One Day
I hope one day everybody can get along
I hope people can be happy, funny and strong.
I hope we can share kindness
I hope we can embrace our wildness.
I hope we can respect each other
I hope we can share interests with one another.
I hope we can be grateful for what we have
And I hope we can be ourselves, and live and laugh.
The Bais from Hollywood
Do not mess with them
If you do,
They will come after your mum
They seem cool
but are actually fools
They are sound
but not when they gain pounds
Soccer is So Good
It gets me away from school
To the pitches of freedom
From the dungeons of hell
It can make me stay there for hours
While school is a prison
This is why
Soccer is a blessing
And school is a nightmare.
Bubbles the Fish
Bubbles is happy,
Then Bubbles is sad,
After Bubbles takes a bath,
I am glad,
That bubbles is my lad.
I Hate the Colour Red
I hate the colour of my face when I’m nervous.
I hate the colour of my spots,
I hate the colour of the burden I face once a month,
but most of all, I hate what the colour reminds me of:
embarrassment, fear, nerves.
But I’ve been told it’s in my head that I don’t like the colour.