The green, white & gold flag rising outside the GPO,
Crowds gather to remember this day 100 years ago,
The proclamation read and the green colour floods the streets,
As the march takes place we stand in peace ,
To awknowledge our leaders who fought for our country,
To allow our citizens to be free,

History flooding through the young & old ,
All standing as one as the story we know re told,
The army saluting together United,
As we remember the volunteers our minds enlightened ,
The fight for freedom, For us today
I'm proud to be Irish, it is not hard to say.

It starts with a single time,
you get back up saying you're fine 'till in the dark place you find yourself crying,
temptation seems to work on overtime.

The slightest one you thought would be fun,
regretting it now wanting to run, feeling alone your heart so cold,
it begins to suddenly hit home,
Noticing you're not the only one feeling it ,
hurt them all without meaning it,
while all along they've been screaming it.

This thing I cannot grip,
I've lost all control,
lack of feelings in my soul,
time on time I say I'm done,
promises are made said it was the last one.

Everyones is different,
but in a way the same,
all caught in an over active brain,
each day a new beginning,
not knowing what it will be bringing,
a throw back, a relapse,
here it goes again,
each of us wonder can it ever end.

The ability to leave the past behind,
The mistrust, the hurt.. Just don't be blind,
Actions, not just words need to be a must,
A new person? You can learn to trust,
Build your self love, streghten yourself,
Then it will be easier to believe someone else ,
Do not allow frustrations from before to once again come knocking on the door,
You cannot compare each and every person,
Stop expecting the worst! It is never certain!
No two people are the same
If she breaks down them walls don't go insane!!
Accept things as they happen, go with the flow
Be cautious, no over thinking though!
What is meant to be,  will be
You have no control over this you must see,
Gather the happiness and strength on your own and keep it there set in stone ,
The power is yours, the happiness and confidence you shall own.

I watched the petals form into a flower, The most beautiful I had ever seen,
Showing its colour with every glimpse of the sun ,
Hiding it's true colours for those who looked the closest,
Through the days slowly wilting ,
Lines forming and changing in shade,
I watched as it darkened,
Observed as the petal slowly flew to the ground ,
Gracefully finishing it's days,
Laying there alone as once the bud did start,
Limp and lifeless,
Where had the time gone.

Dear generation

Why is it that what's in the media is all the craze?
Big lips , small waist seems what is it these days ,

How come
Education isn't important ?
When the images in your brain of life are distorted

You complain of migrants coming from ashore
Yet you aren't even aware of the difference between a refugee and a migrant for sure

Why do you laugh when you see someone different ?
How many of your brain cells are you missing?

Why do you joke at someones appearance
Ever think a stroke may be the interference

How come you think it's cool to have a friend who's gay?
But yet you question if being transgender is okay?

You point and giggle at the girl who is 'fat'
Ever consider a medical issue being the cause of that?

Dear generation

Why do you think everyone should be the same?
& judge someone for not wanting to play your games

Why can't we speak of things that are important..
racism, **** & crime of the sorts
Because these topics of conversation aren't cool of course

How come girls are ***** & ******
When who knows what happens with Guys behind closed doors..

How is that taking drugs at 13 has become normal ?
Yet you can't be Seen with your parents at a store though?

Dear generation

Take a step back think of what you've become,
We could change this mess for the future one by one..

Let me drift away with the other unheard souls ,
Watching my past , my present and setting goals ,
Let me feel the pain release and iron out each and every crease,
Let these days of sadness cease and pick myself up piece by piece

Allow me to stop unloading on her,
And some how somewhere find a cure,
For with these feelings I am quite unsure,

I want to keep this happiness and not be this giant big mess
what is this what do you suggest?

The trees bend above our heads
But yet we do not feel inclosed,

The currents hurry down the stream
We do not fear how fierce it flows,

Many hear voices in their heads
But yet aren't scared of the dead,

Daily feel the strength of the wind
But wonder of the words it sings,

The rain could crash& bang and clatter
But none of that really matters,

What we really fear are the daily faces We all see & all the voices which we hear.

Christmas comes again this year,
Except we do not have you here,
Sitting at our table ,
Filling us with cheer ,
Singing Christmas songs with us and raising up your beer ,
To happiness & health within the new year.
Today we will remember ,
The joy you used to bring
And each moment of the day your presence with us will ring ,
You're still our father, grandad& friend  & today to you our Christmas love we will send.
Your love and memories are still here and we will miss you it's very clear

As the months have gone by,
I have seen you try and try,
To turn things around& pick yourself up from the ground,
No matter what the rumour, never let it affect your humor,
A smile on your face,
Seems you have everything in place.

The fight goes on and on,
But still you, you remain strong,
The shine in your eyes,
Behind it you hide, the lies
of being okay, a struggle you face everyday.

But still through it all, you remain there,
Advice you give, your heart you share,
The love its real, you make sure I feel, creating your own little armour of steel.

An inspiration for me,
A true friend not hard to see,
Beside you I will remain,
No matter what the pain.

Over the handle bars and up the road,
hold on tight,here we go,
waving on to the people going by,
this man, oh you know, he was never shy,
the friendly smile was not just every once and awhile,
always there ,an ear to share,
a heart, oh he really did care.

The peeky cap, if you stole he'd snap
"you're never too old for a slap",
them shining eyes, often spoke of his 3 boys,
when they where young& the things they done,
he never forgot, the two who complete the lot,
two wonderful girls for years were there by his side,
the stories he'd share,
he'd tell of his wife, the woman who complete his life,
her beautiful looks they were always a must.

through the years,was fond of his beers,
always an eexcuse to raise 3 cheers,
a man full of laughter and everyone would follow after,
he'd  joke, you'd choke leaving you with a croke.

when he was around, there was never a frown,
one thing he wouldn't do, was bring you down,
you know he was messing, if he was in your life a blessing,
a true gent, in his company time well spent,
a man so strong, a hero, in our hearts he belongs!

Behind a giggle and a smile, she's been hiding all the time, they make a joke  she never spoke, the fear of being judged, by the people she really loved, it hurt her too deep, so this to herself she would keep.

The day it all changed, created a great feeling of shame, showing who she was, became one of her flaws, said it wasn't her but yet she couldn't find a cure, for something so wrong, this can't be were she belongs.

They weren't meant to care, their feelings not afraid to share, the feeling of disgust, but in them she tried to trust, do they accept it or really reject it , she feels she should have kept it.

She wasn't alone though, that quickly began to show , because all of her friends they already know, a call away , in theirs she had to stay , the normality was there, these girls they would never care.

The support began to rise, along with a little surprise, at the start she may have been ashamed but all that suddenly changed, the pride she can show , now they all know , her happiness at the centre which began to represent her.

Created in a storm,
The red most vivid,
The colour of love
Representing the deepest of pain,
The rapids in your mind,
None as beautiful as those of the ocean,
Getting deeper and deeper
Beyond the basic grit of the past,
Pulling times of discontent from every fabric of the memory,
Until you snap! like a simple branch
Silver the only glimmer in the dark
Colliding with the paleness of your skin,
Stained now by not only blothes of that colour of love but also those of hurt, fear and never ending pain.

I'm putting pen to paper but unable to find the words ,
A buzz in my mind writing is my cure,
I could stay up all night just to find the one simple phrase,
The ones I thought before,all a haze.

I think it through& through again,
But still only holding in my hand the pen,
My hand is shaking , tapping as thinking ,
As I slowly can feel my heart sinking ,
I think of the past words I have written ,
All of the topics I was mistakenly hitting.

But tonight nothing coming to mind,
The words inside unwilling to subside,
Collision with heart& mind and soul,
This pen& paper beginning to grow old.

My mind for awhile has been empty,
Don't get me wrong words have been pleanty,
But nothing like poetry to clear my mind,
Not the easiest of things I could find,
Perhaps this is a good thing & it is starting to sink in,
My happiest days are waiting to begin.

I’m seeking inspiration, as this is what I am lacking,
For me be the source of this,
A tranquil guide, my focus, my distraction
Tell me the stories of what makes your heart so tender.
Show me your memories, and allow me to imagine you as a child
Tell me of what you fear and what creates warmth within you.
Let me discover what makes your body tremble
Allow me to see your smile which is hidden,
to hear the laughter when your kind of comedy is spoken,
The real, the genuine and the deepness within you
This is what I wish to be my inspiration.

The hurt , the pain, the fights,
For others were unseen sights,
Hidden away, at home the secret would stay,
carefully thought of,
A fear which was never sought of,
For a child should have been unknown,
They were not even fully grown.

The emotions they had to deal with, had nobody to truely feel them with , not knowing , when it would be , the future they wish they could see , it could happen at any time , the kid should have been in her prime.

The smiles infront of others ,
The constant unsure stutters,
The acts of being brave,
Are the ones others generally crave,
Trying to escape the sudden calls, and after can hardly even crawl.

Waiting for this all to end, abit of safety would have been a god send, to talk of it now , we are still unsure how, the marks may no longer be there, but still we doubt if they care , to trust people everyday is much more difficult than they say.

This thing everybody knows of, but still is hardly spoken of, the children won't say it, adults prey among it, this problem needs to stop or it will hit an all time top.

It's like a path of a never ending journey
One you can't complete in a hurry
There's no map,guide or directions
It's trials and trivias and excitement and sadness
Roads of curves and bumps , straight paths & crossed ones
Success and failure repeated continuously
Love and regret,family and enemies
Mistakes to set you for the future
Learn your own lessons without being warned,
You have a set time you must remain in the game but a time of which you are unaware,
Tasks to be competed
Days feeling defeated but at the finish line you will see what you came to be

They think your life's a walk in the park,
when in reality you're finding your way in the dark,
at the beginning there wasn't a mark,
but as I said that was just the start,

You reach out,
Wish you hadn't to shout for help,
Feel unable to assist yourself,
Always the one left on the shelf,

You hate to complain,
But suddenly your crying in the rain,
With the evil thoughts running through your brain,
Always left trying to refrain,

The helpless&selfless; thoughts of the day,
Leave it hard to see the sun rays,
Hiding away,
In one place you stay,
Trying to last the remainder of the way,

With tears in your eyes,
Speaking nothing but lies,
Countless tries, but still you say your fine,

Hoping one day,
You will be able to say,
You made it alive&now; its all okay!

To let go ;
the beginning of a new adventure,
a fresh start, a journey unknown
interesting stories & an outlook which is of new,
Happiness  being created with each step,
faces new and old filling up my day,
Experiences, which before I never have had
creating the new and rebuilding old connections
Freedom; unusual but greatly satisfying

I see the trees, the birds and the flowers,
Their beauty through the summer showers,
The colours the shades , the warmth the haze,
Seem to all go on for days,

I hear the water down the window,
And the wind as people go,
I notice the animals small and fragile,
I wonder if I was welcome for awhile,

I feel the peace, the calm and the quiet,
The tranquility of the nature surrounding me,
is not something everyone can see,
I mean, they walk by looking at the sky?
Surely they notice the birds and bees who fly?
For me it's different, I feel, see, hear and wonder about the nature around me ,
the experience for others and how ignorant they must be,
to just not stop for awhile & take a seat in nature right beside me.

Listen, What do you hear?
A killer silence in a crowd of people,
Nobody speaks no longer,
Every person young and old looking down ,
In the deepest silence we may hear , tap tap tap or click click click,
The moments pass,
At long last, someone may say 'hello' or 'i better go' ,
But in quick realisation we see this person is like us all, hand to their ear speaking through a line,
Board games no longer, street lights rarely seen in the midst of evening by the children,
Each of us, glued to screens , letting time pass away, no time spent together, a new love of our lives ,
What is this you ask?
The devil i say, also know as technolgy.

We get put into groups by the colour of our skin,
Judged if percieved as 'too fat' or 'too thin',
Singled out for looking different to them all,
Perhaps you are seen as slightly too tall,
Name calling and looks spotting is all the rage,
Ridiculous really in this day and age,
Both genders 'beauty' reviewed time and time,
This generation is certainly out of line,
They define peoples beauty by the medias conception,
Letting it alter their personal perception,
The pain they cause to the people they prey among,
Your faith in humanity would nearly be gone,
Who should show these people they are doing wrong,
What they have been causing all along,
Societies segregation and marginalisation,
Creates for us a serious realisation,
History is repeating again and again,
This same thing was happening way back when.
To be yourself today, is something they tell us is not okay,
We need to stop these people , tell them, soon it will be our day.

Holding on,
With the smallest glimmer of hope,
Finding ways to fight, deal or cope,
At 1st it seemed impossible
But slowly the realisation current issues were topical,
Lost friendships, breakdowns , communication errors and lack of self love,
One, two at a time or all of the above.
Dulling out the problems and hiding away,
Some amount of release when decided this way you did not want to stay.

Self belief,
fresh start,  the one of new beginnings,
Learning to handle things before your mind starts spinning,
A release, you do not need others glorification to be worthy,
Worthy of love, respect, happiness, self security
A little motivation goes far, a focus just to start.

Look inside,
Reflection, a little self assessment,
The strength you had before
Somewhere inside you this is stored,
Make them changed necessary for you,
Stop allowing the colour which describes you to be the darkest blue.

There i was,
It was as if the world had paused,
Sitting facing out the window,
All alone i let the tears go,
Dad walked through the door,
Holding back i knew i had more,
I wiped them quickly ,
Without delay i turned to see if everything was okay,
He didnt question the tears in my eyes,
Couldnt see what behind my smile i did hide,
He was used to this sight, but never asked what i had to fight,
After left again , his favourite song he sang, brought back a memory in my head it rang...

I have made it,
I have pieced myself up bit by bit,
Getting stronger with every hit,
With help around ,
Never let myself reach the ground ,
Where in the past I would have drowned,
My thoughts, my feelings are my embrace ,
Recovery you see, it is not a race ,
It is something which requires you to set your pace,
No matter how long you are down,
I promise you can still come around ,
With happiness your aim ,
You will never be the same ,
Although of your depression never be ashamed ,
I have scars and I have marks ,
Of which I may never part,
But accepting them is just the start,
The strength I feel now ,
Before to stop myself I did not even know how.
If you're a survivor of depression please take your bow.

That moment of panic when you thought you were at ease ,
Pleading with your mind 'just 5 minutes please!',
The over thinking, the thoughts they never stop,
Most days plans they become a flop;

Boarding a bus, it would be just my luck
The trembling hands
People start to look
Heart beating fast
How long this one will last ?
Clench your hand hope that it's fast.

The feeling of loosing your mind,
Not one that's ever too kind ,
With everything in life you start falling behind;

It's the trigger for fights & Sleepless nights,
Feeling that you do nothing right in life,
Afraid people will say it's all in your head,
The name is anxiety it's just rarely said!

The creaking of that old chair is all which they could hear,
''take a seat'' he said and move it near,
he would tell a story of which he was very fond;
it included a bike, an old friend, and a huge duck pond;
He spoke these words time and time,
no remembrance of telling it but, once more would be fine,
He chuckled and chuckled at the top of his lungs
telling of his friend and how off his bike he was flung,
With a smile, he glanced at the family around
a sudden moment of silence;
'' Whats your name?'' he frowned
A nervous laughter from his daughter he heard :
But the man? he just stared.
Unsure of these people who once more came to visit,
''story telling is my job, so your problem what is it?!''
His voice he projected, confusion portrayed;
great sadness in his family, but by his side they stayed.

I remember the day , I didn't know what to say, stuck for words, everything seemed so blurred, I murdered a hug but people just shrugged I pretended I was ok but I have to say it didn't last too long just for the day,

No moment goes by that I don't wish you were here , lay awake at night trying to fight the tears, wishing you would come home , prove I'm not alone,

We'll meet again someday so they say and I pray that then you will stay, just hoping you're okay and at rest, the big man only takes the best, when he took you he passed that test

We all miss you like mad trying not be sad, put on a brave face just like dad .. To see you one more time would mean the world but maybe it would ruin the surprise of the future

When our day comes at least we know that we have a safe place to go with someone who cares I know you're up there somewhere watching me write this and keeping me safe telling me you're in a good place.

When lust turned to want ,
It was all a dream,
But want soon turned to fights,
They were never seen,

The words of love & anger and doubt,
That's what the relationship was about,
The hate she splattered across my mind ,
often traces of love you could never find ,

In anger she would shout and scream and push,
The relationship we had was not based on trust,
Once a friend, another girl was involved,
That's why this mist trust could not be solved,

It was friends or her , my emotions they all began to stir,
This could not be real she loved me I was sure ,
I made a choice of my free will,
My friends they are with me still,

The memories we have they remain,
The words she shouted my thoughts they stain ,
When I speak of it now I'm told I must have been insane ,
The relationship to me caused an emotional strain.

The mind, it is a funny thing you see,
The o rgan with possibly the most ability,
Tricks us into believing the false to be true,
Often it points out the worst about you,
Increases your self doubt , your panic, your stress,
Even on days when you've been feeling your best,
Brings up some issues which are hard to push through,
Where do the thoughts come from? I haven't a clue!,
The anxiety arises out of nowhere,
With nobody else these thoughts you really want to share,
Will they think you are crazy, a bit mad or a mess?
Even this will bring about more stress,
"Take a deep breath and practice grounding" ,
The words you hear no matter what surrounding,
Can we explain our feelings ,  what's going on inside,
When we ourselves have no understanding  of these lies?
Never shutting off , laying awake late at night replaying every detail until morning light,
With anxiety comes insomnia ,  more issues which occur,
The mind, the greatest o rgan.. are we really sure?

Sitting there, by the candle light ,
You start to write,
First time in awhile you begin to feel okay,
Each day slowly finding your way,
Trying always to have a positive word to say,

A clear head,
Remembering everything she has said,
Puts a smile on your face,
This girl you would never replace,
Happiness runs through you,
This feels like a new you,

Physically alone,
but her heart your own,
although you never write anything in stone,

She knows the real you,
The bad, the good, the fake, the true,
You see her flaws,
But still look in awe,

This girl gives you a positive feeling,
She helps you in every step of healing,
Every word with a sincere meaning,
Morning, noon and every evening.

An issue it has been for many a year,
A secret behind doors of which you often do not hear,
Within families and friends, workplaces the lot
To seek of this would not be a long shot.
It gets to us all through one channel or another,
Whether it your neighbour,friend,sister or brother,
Observe and you will see just how easy it can be,
A source, a connection you could get to in 3.
Little fear when it is felt it is required,
Over and over never seem to get tired,
A deeper need creates desperate measures,
Often leading to the sale of many treasures,
A family breakdown, withdrawal and depression,
It was only meant to be for the night of that one session,
It gets out of hand, you slip through the cracks and man oh man you wish for normal life back,
At the start, it was good, a trip like no other,
Now so deep you steal from your own mother,
Looks have changed, personality altered, an unknown individual who would have thought it?
Bruises and cuts, owed money and hideaways now a thing,
A strain to everyone's lives drugs do bring,
Your own person no longer, you thought of yourself as stronger,
Your life stolen, taken away if only that one time you had not strayed...

Nobody is born with the entitlement to happiness,
Each day we build & grow and develop,
We make decisions & aim for them to bring us in the right direction,
The little things we allow to bring us down,
Only stand in the way of what we thrive for,
You must take chances& roads and lanes
Just to find your path in life,
Each day bringing yourself one way or another,
Take the happiness bit by bit and make yourself into the person you deserve ,
Share it with others and influence theirs too
Happiness is the little things they see in you and each and everything which you may do.

It's quiet, it's dark,
there isn't even a bark,
In the black of night,
There are simply some fights.

The wind outside,
Would make all the young hide,
The warmth of the house,
Would move not even a mouse.

The sudden sound,
But nobody is around,
You begin to sink,
Scared to even blink.

It gets closer to you,
There's nothing you can do,
Your mind is alive,
You're numb on the inside.