In Hiding

Squabbling concerns fail to ignite a reaction
As they all voice opinions formed in the dark.
Disregarded are the unguarded who expect
Confessions to come willing as to why the words
Landing on page after page are red, enticing
Bad luck and worse scrawls that resemble
Streaks of blood staining the yellowish pages.
Memories, dreams and realities collide inside
As my mind struggles to comprehend between
The periods of dejection, jubilation and depression
Experienced in each of the three at any moment.
And friends’ voices shrill higher in their pleas
For access to my thoughts even though they are free
For all to see regardless of our natural degree.
But the pressure mounts, the brow twitches more
As tears in vain try to escape the clutches of my
Unforgivable lashes, barriers to and from my sanctum.
So when the calls come with renewed vigour I shall answer
With brutal honesty why my life is lived through lies
In the safety of solitude secretly sought in the night:
That this is a choice of my own making.

News: published on SpunOut.ie

SpunOut.ie is an online magazine that provides journalistic articles in varying media on all sorts of topics - in the website's own words it "is an independent, youth powered national charity working to empower young people to create personal and social change."

The website is incredibly interactive and is divided into six sections: Home, The Mag, Health & Life, Take Action, Forum and Get Involved. The Mag section is where fiction and poetry gets published and it is where SpunOut.ie have published my poem Rat Race. They have changed the structure of Rat Race, though, for reasons I can only assume have to do with the space available on the display page - for the original version click here.

They take all sorts of articles, not just fiction writing, so it is definitely worth clicking into the Get Involved link and seeing what you can contribute to SpunOut.ie.

News: published in Minus 9 Online - Minus 9 Squared's cousin

The editor of the monthly online zine Minus 9 Squared has set up a new blog called Minus 9 Online. The aim of the new blog is to provide a continuous stream of work by writers and artists during the gap between publication of the monthly zines proper.

The blog is split into two categories - Words on a Page, for poetry, prose and short stories; and Pictures on a Screen, for all work of a visual nature.

Three of my poems currently feature in the Words on a Page category of the blog - Fantasies, All the Old Friends and Rankle; though, once the blog receives more submissions they'll disappear from the home page quite quickly!

Submitting work to the blog is a good way of getting exposed and could lead to being published in Minus 9 Squared itself, or even in other magazines as anybody could be reading/viewing the content. At the time of writing, the blog remains relatively bare, so help fill it up with a catalogue of work by getting the submissions in!

Miracle

Today is her birthday, so we bake her
A cake, but one silly mistake is all
It can take and now we are left with no
Place to put her candle. The birthday girl
Will arrive soon and as the seconds slip
Away panic grips us all as we know
That time is running out to rectify
This simple wrong; there is no money to
Buy a replacement, and even if there
Was, the gift would mean more if handcrafted.
And the birthday room floating away on
The balloons that fill it seems absent of the
Crucial component which would give it life,
So a miracle is cried out for and,
With God apparently absent in our
Time of need, we turn to you - the one who
Has always made things happen when others
Have stood still. Your eyes widen in fear at
First but the colour surrounding you in
This moment of majestic expectation
Carries you to the kitchen, a place you
Feel quite homely in despite its walls never
Being able to keep you. And you smile,
And you laugh, and you revel in your role
Of responsibility as the sheer
Power of friendship makes something once
A distinct impossibility become
A wonderful realisation in
The form of a completed cake, perfectly
Edible and equally as delicious
As its now forgotten predecessor.
And the sense of satisfaction culminates
With the look on the birthday girl’s face when
She steps through the door - a genuine look
Of joyful shock that can not be achieved
Without the element of surprise; but
It is the cake that grabs her attention
As it is her favourite flavour, and once
The birthday girl blows out her candle, she
Looks up and smiles at you from across the
Room, knowing this could never have happened
Without you, even though she knows nothing
Of the cake mishap (which is better left unsaid!),
And you smile back because for you today
Is just about being happy with friends,
Which is a daily miracle in itself.

Measure

And praise lavish in its delivery
drops at his doorstep when it all goes well,
as he smiles his smile so famous for its
authenticity; but any man can
be a good man when things go according
to plan - the true measure of a man can
only be seen when it all falls apart.