Poetry
I love going down to my granny’s cottage
On a little farm
In a little town
In Wicklow.
2 weeks every summer
Games outside with my 15 younger cousins
Books in my grandad’s big armchair.
My granny’s soda bread
Mugs
And mugs of hot tea.
I love the time I spend there.
Tara
Her little eyes sparkle
Her toothy and toothless smile twinkles
I have never seen a happier thing
She is so chirpy
She hops around like a little bird
When she leaps on my back
With her chubby wrists around my neck
I don’t mind the weight
It’s’ a small price to pay for her giggles
But when she cries
I want to cry
When they call her names
I want to yell at them
I want her to stay little, young and happy
Forever.
She is bliss now.
A hidden hand of warmth
that transforms
the everyday is glowing
within each of us,
a burning celestial fire
that overwhelms all the senses.
The eyes become blinded
crinkle up in awe
the skin tingles
the sudden apprehension of exposure.
A reminder of sunset summers
salted sand, breathing life
into all beings
revealing their inner light
the magic that is already within us,
our silent witness
shunned by the clouded fog.
Each night the glow is chased away
by a silver shadow,
replacing the only greater light.
A star is ever present yet struggles to be seen,
like the child within all of us.
Bed
You are there for me in my darkest hours
To comfort me at night.
You hold me close
keep me warm when tiredness overcomes me.
When I am happy you are the
Springs that keep me jumping up and down
And when I’m angry you take my punches.
Through sad times you watch me cry
And dry my tears for me.
You make me live the wildest dreams
Each night
And in my nightmares you protect me,
Comfort me, from the things which scare me most.
The Black and Ivory Keys
When I need to relax
I escape to a fantasy world
When I play the black and ivory keys
I sit down powerfully and with poise, in my seat
I create a scene in my mind
As I touch the black and ivory keyes
The scene is created by the sound of music
Filling the depths of my ears
There’s a middle-aged woman
Dancing gracefully in her victorian ball gown
She dances and covers every inch of the dancefloor, To the sound of a russian waltz
She twirls and twirls as she feels the music inside her
The waltz is empowering with long expressive melodies
And changes in key and tonality throughout the piece.
The waltz ends and the lady takes a bow,
In front of her guests.
Now, I’m no longer performing the russian waltz
On the grand yamaha piano, in the grand hall.
I’m sitting on my pouffe in my living room,
Retreating back to reality.
I wait again for the next moment, to
Explore another world,
With the black and ivory keys.
Sitting here just the two of us, talking about it all
We time-travelled in a way
Talking about the memories from summer,
the people who meant
Something to us now
but who mightn’t in two months time.
Time.
It’s pretty incredible, unstoppable, powerful
It’s everything.
It’s how we live, we depend on it
You can never get it back
Something in your life could be so different right now
If you changed one thing about a time in the past.
I often think about this.
Timing is everything.
Bed, Bed, where would I be without you?
You are my favourite hello but my hardest goodbye You are always there for when I need you, in good times and in bad
You are my escape
My place of relaxation and rest
You give me energy and positivity
in times of anxiety or loneliness.
Once I wake up it’s you who gives me a fresh start.
You are always there
And there’s nothing more like the classic saying
There’s no place like your own bed.
Just feeling the movement
Through my bones.
Nothing to distract me
Just get round those cones.
The wind pushing past me
The pain in my knee.
Nothing will keep me
As long as i’m free.
Keep pushing forward
There’s no need to stop.
Everything’s perfect
When you reach that spot.
Nothing to stop me, nobody, none.
Keep going forward, because you love to run.
This short story starts off like any old boring high-school story based on a teenage girl and her life. But this story tells the day that changed a lot of things for a girl called Lucy.
It starts off with just a normal day at school. Lucy has an irish test so is slightly freaking out because she hasn’t studied. Then going to lunch with her friends, but there’s a bit of tension between them because of what happened at the weekend. Things are a bit awkward but lunch is nearly over and there’s only three more classes until they get to go home.
Lucy has music that night and always brings her best friend Rebecca, but tonight that’s going to be awkward. Rebecca gets in the car and there’s silence. Things are worse than expected. They sit through music and finally by the end they being to talk. Lucy says she needs to tell her something about what she tried to explain at the weekend. Rebecca flips, she is in complete denial, she doesn’t want to know. Now it’s up to Lucy, does she tell her the whole truth, everything, even though she knows it will crush Rebecca?
She panics and decides that if it was her she’d like to know. She explains to Rebecca that she saw Rebecca’s parents fighting and her dad slapped her mam across the face. This she already knew but Rebecca couldn’t believe it. Now was the hard part, she explained how the other day she saw Rebecca’s mam with another man, together. And overheard them speaking of how they must keep it a secret from her dad. Rebecca just sat there. Emotionless. Then within seconds, lashed out at Lucy screaming. Then screaming crying, then just floods of tears. She knew then at this moment that it was the right thing to do, she hopes she needed to know. Hours later, after the crying had stopped and she spoke for the first time since she stopped screaming, she thanked her. Lucy just had to weigh out both of the consequences at each scenario and went with her gut feeling, that either way there would be pain, but at least tell the truth to release some of that pain.
Do you remember the creaky wooden chairs
The grating of chalk on a blackboard
As we chewed crayons
And gargled our ABCs in our mouths
Seeing how they would taste.
Our consonants sounding out
Like a tape in reverse
Until that moment of clarity
“LMNOP”
Have you ever experienced
That perfect mess of sounds
That just make sense together?
I look around at our table
As Lily licks her plate.
An insurance against table manners
The dog nips at our feet.
Jenny belts out her musical number
And Grandad turns off his hearing aids
Relishing in the luxuries of his deafness.
And I can’t help but love
This jumbled mess.
LMNOP
She gave me my blue eyes
My blonde hair too
She makes me laugh,
Even when I’m blue.
She makes us dinner,
That’s pretty good too
But she dances like a mam,
And that’s something I say with pride
Because her crappy dancing
Cracks me up every time.
Restore
I wake up at 08:36 am, as normal, i brushed my teeth and went downstairs where I saw my family gathered around the T.V. My mother was on the ground crying. In the 16 years I’ve been alive, I have never seen my mam cry. What has happened?
I sat down beside my Dad and read the writing on the screen. “Due to the over-population of women, this has to be done”. I ask my dad what this means. He remains silent. I can feel my heart pounding, what is happening?
Next thing know, i hear a smash of glass in my sitting room. I hear footsteps marching down the hall. Three men dressed in dark blue suits come in. They grab my mam. She is kicking and screaming. I then feel someone grab my arms, I am being carried out with her. I only see white. I can hear my Dad roaring. It is a sound of heartbreak. My mam and I are thrown into the blue van. The van reads “Restore”. What does this mean?
I remember that I have my keys in my back pocket. I reach my hands in to my pocket. I remember watching a youtube video on how to pick locks. Using my keys I attempt to open the back doors of the van. My mam is so hysterical that she doesn’t notice. I finally get the door open. I scream “Run!” and my mam stops crying. We jump out of the van and begin running. We continue to run for about 10 minutes until I turn around and notice that the coast was clear. I have never run that fast in my life! My mam turns to me, her eyes red and swollen and gives me a tight hug. She says “you saved us.” Saved us from what? I wanted to ask. Just as I turn to ask the question I hear a gun fire. I feel no pain. Is this how it feels to be shot? As i turn to look at my mam it is then I realised, I wasn’t shot. My mam stares into my eyes blankly as her white blouse beings to turn red. I run over to my mam as I watched her die in my arms. Everything becomes dark.
Summer
The clock strikes 12, the exams are over,
Summer has finally arrived.
3 months of excitement and adventure
3 months to spend creating memories.
Catching up with friends and visiting family far away.
Eating ice cream and drinking lemonade.
Having picnics on the beach or in the park
Going on family holidays, travelling on a plane
Laughing, smiling, and probably sun-burning
But most importantly giving myself a break.
Doing what I love and breaking away from strict routine And that’s what summer means to me.
House
It’s the one place I can always return to
I can be myself
There’s very little restrictions
A place of security
A lot of freedom
A door between me and the outside world
There’s no opening hours
A place of comfort
Somewhere I can eat and sleep
No invitation needed.
A smile that can light up your day
A presence that can make anybody smile
Each laugh line a sign of a good time
Each wrinkle a hardship gone by.
Always there with some wise words
Never quick to judge but quick to listen
A kind-hearted gentle soul
A safe haven when needed
A home away from home
A person who has always been my number one fan I love my gran.
Sleep
There is nothing like that comforting feeling
Of collapsing into what I believe is the safest place in the world.
No matter what may have happened that day
Being able to return to that place, helps.
I am completely relaxed. Nothing matters.
It is my favourite place in the world.
The feeling of ease as you phase out of
A state of consciousness,
Your mind is now completely in control
And the whole world seems to stop.
Peace and quiet at last!
Music
There isn’t a time during the day where i’m not listening to music (except in school). I’ll wake up every morning go to my phone and throw on whatever I was listening to the night before. I’ll brush my teeth and wash my face timing myself of the duration of the chosen song. I know the exact location of every song on my playlists, what’s coming on next and how long the song lasts for. I always pick and choose what parts I want to listen to. I skip back and forward never able to listen to a song for its full length. I make sure i have my earphones in my coat pocket before I leave the house Walking home I put them in .Blocking out the noise of the traffic and shouting kids. I connect my phone to the big bluetooth speaker (it lights up in time with the beat ) and blare more songs until my parents get home. This is the time where I feel most relaxed. Feel free. Disconnecting from everyday life.
You held my hand as I walked to school that first day
You were there when i came home, telling you my new best friends name You showed me how to tie my shoelace every day
And you were there when I cried over my many failed attempts It’s okay, you would say
You helped my pick out my communion dress
And told me how I may not want a pink one, she took away the stress You showed me the joy that the world has to see
But also warned me of the dangers that there may be
You are by my side throughout it all
I’m glad I can call you my mom.
It’s a place I know
Where all problems fade away
And in those moments I feel euphoric
Memories etched in my heart
Of experiences there old and new
No two times exactly the same
But the joy is always there
It’s where we are united
And I count down the days
Until I can feel that freedom again.
Seeing Clearly
I know my least favourite feeling
That feeling you get, standing in line
A box being built around you, closing
In as it gets closer to your turn.
You sit in your airplane seat, gripping the Armrests, chewing gum, music blaring in your ears.
Peering over the edge of the diving board the
Rope tethering you to the ground
While the clock ticks on
As soon as you leave the ground the
Band is stretching. Being pulled. Pulling you back.
You push on. It snaps, you’re free.
Looking around you can see everything.
(The sea where you learned to swim.)
You’re up so high nothing obstructs your view
(The mountains where you made your closest friend.)
That box is left abandoned on the ground
(The house where you grew, where you grow.)
That’s my favourite feeling.
Being free. Free to see everything clearly.
Flying.
Hands clasped, eyes locked
Seeing nothing in his eyes but a future
The overwhelming feeling of warmth and safety
Filling me from toe to top, full of joy.
We touch, electricity
My nerves light up like Times Square on New Years Eve Boom bah boom, my heart skips a beat
But only he can do this to me, the power is his.
What is love?
The question I continue to ask myself
It’s this feeling, this indescribable feeling
Vulnerability, is as close as I can get.