1st Place - Junior
Scrying
Her head plunged into
the water.
Lost in translation,
she looked closer,
for floating answers.
Answers sink, when they are
searched for,
And so will you.
Everyone is an
answer to a long drawn out question,
in someone’s idea.
Who are they?
Is to sink?
Is to learn?
Is to death?
There are no lifeboats
in such murky
waters.
Eerie to the unknown.
No opalescent dreams descend here.
Only wrangled words.
That do not breathe,
thus harder to find.
She awoke from the trance.
No tears needed.
The answers streamed down her face.
Sophie Cullen
Notre Dame Secondary School
Upper Churchtown Road
Churchtown
Dublin 14
2ndPlace - Junior
Watching
Squatting by the tree
An old frog observes the faces
Hidden in the clouds
Eoin Hill
Holy Family Community School
Rathcoole
Co. Dublin
3rd Place - Junior
New York
In a moment,
I am the bustling crowds,
Filling the streets with
Noise and humanity
I am a minute,
On a subway train,
The metal rattling,
The sound of singers,
Singing their lives away
Until the next station
I am the day,
That the sun shines
On frozen leaves
Walking from winter
Welcoming spring,
And hot dogs
I am the week
I spent, admiring the
Looming buildings
Over me, as
I shuffled
Through the south
I am the month,
That I spent
Embracing the madness
Pulsating to the music
Of George Gershwin’s
Rhapsody in Blue
I am the year,
I spent wishing
That every second
I could spend in
That crazy city,
Beautiful city
That is
New York
Highly Commended - Junior
Endless
His spidery caress
Reaches for me,
Corrupting my dream
and fantasies.
His feathery touch
In the shrieking silence,
Vein wrenching crash
As the torment commences
The endless charade
Of smiles and laughter,
Bitter-sweet smiles,
Bone chilling laughter.
He stands like an avenging angel,
Dark and frightening eyes,
Wings of red tipped daggers,
Whispers of vague goodbyes and faint sighs.
Death won’t wait.
He’ll come.
Whenever, wherever,
When you least expect it…
Death won’t wait.
He’ll come.
Waad Ahmed
Notre Dame Secondary School
Churchtown
Dublin 14
Highly Commended –Junior
This Shore
Ashen sand
Metallic cold,
Wind bites
Sea sings,
Salt lips
This shore has rhythm,
It keeps the time I will never find,
Until the music of the waves fades
And I am forgotten….
Colm Keady Tabbal
Seamount College
Kinvara
Co. Galway
Commended - Junior
Young Love Never Lasts
The feeling I get when he holds my hand,
I get butterflies, I can barely stand,
But young love never lasts.
His hugs are as warm as the sun,
On a summers day having fun,
But young love never lasts.
He makes me laugh and smile,
For him I’d run a mile,
But young love never lasts.
Every time I’m with him my heart skips a beat,
I love him so much, I would never leave,
But young love never lasts.
I hope our love will last forever,
And one day you too will endeavour,
But young love never lasts.
His love for me is leaving now,
I wonder to myself, “But how?
Because young love never lasts
Hannah Donohue
Ratoath College
Ratoath
Co. Meath
Commended - Junior
Letter to Parents Volume 13
My self- imposed conversation ban
Is still in force because I can
Communicate with you and Dad
By means of pen and refill pad.
For reasons random I’ve chosen rhyme
To convey my thoughts to you this time.
Please treat my letter with respect
And do not scan it for defect.
I’ll now outline some simple rules
To be used by you and other fools
Who simply fail to comprehend
That life is difficult at this end.
Your little girl has grown up fast.
Its time you acknowledged this when asked
To listen to her personal view
I know much more than you two do.
So here’s a list of don’ts and do’s
Which peace-loving parents should always use
When making attempts to harmonise
With persons who are young and wise.
Please don’t engage in public display
Of affection or love in any way.
Such behaviour is totally cheesy
And honestly makes me feel quite queasy.
When chauffeuring my friends and me
Efficiently from A to B
Please resist the strong temptation
To involve yourself in our conversation
Your attempts at witty repartee
Are not the thing when out with me
No need for the Spanish Inquisition
It’s for us to talk and you to listen
Don’t sit in judgment of my friends
You know nothing of current trends
In matters fashion you provide the money
But your sense of style
Is just not funny.
When you see my teachers in the distance
Please follow my lead and show resistance
Their company you seem to crave
Judging by your exuberant wave.
If you wish to gain respect
There are certain things I do expect.
Please procure a classy car
And a Hollister voucher would go far.
Sleepovers could become a weekly treat
And pedicures for my aching feet
Designer labels are essential
In the fulfillment of my true potential.
Terms and conditions to these rules apply
And just as soon as you comply
My silence ends, I’ll speak your praises
And view your faults
As passing phases.
Aoife Nic Ionnrachtaigh
Coláiste Íde
Baile an Ghóilín
An Daingean
Co Chiarraí
Commended - Junior
The Car Starts
The lights flash and he drives away.
That’s him gone for the rest of the day.
When he comes home he looks like he’ dead
He trots upstairs and falls into bed.
He’s never around when I have something to say.
He has no time for him and me to play.
Even on holidays he has somewhere to be.
‘Places to go, things to see.’
Times are tough, that I know.
But every day he has to go.
The lights come on and the car starts leaving.
My mum always says, ‘You’ll see him this evening.’
But when he comes home I’m already sleeping,
Having that dream of the car leaving.
Oliver Ward
St. Columba’s College
Stranorlar
Co. Donegal
Commended - Junior
Comfort
The cold, hard floor is a comfort,
Sitting child-like in a trance,
The world is bigger now and
I don’t have to worry.
I am only a child.
Complication is a foggy dream,
I don’t need to fret.
My little place calms me.
Everything is taller and I am not expected to understand.
At the age of four,
Sitting on the kitchen floor.
Time doesn’t ‘tick tock’,
As it did in ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’.
It pauses, because I am in my little place.
It straightens things out,
Even if I’m not thinking straight.
My little place.
So, I go back in time,
A child, at the age of four,
Sitting on the cold, hard kitchen floor.
Mary Mc Namee
St. Mary’s Secondary School
Edenderry
Co. Offaly