The following poems have been selected from twelve poets published in The Unfinished Book of Poetry 2024, and are being displayed in Cork City Library’s Poetry in the Parks project during the summer, via installations in Marina Park, Fitzgerald’s Park, Tramore Valley Park, Ballincollig Regional Park, Gerry O’Sullivan Park and the Blarney Sanctuary Walkway. The displays are part of the 2024 Cruinniú na nÓg festival. Audio recordings of the twelve poets reading these poems are also accessible via QR code in the park displays.
(installed at Tramore Valley Park)
What I didn’t know by Leona Waugh
was how swiftly childhood passes.
I comb through college courses,
searching for the one
that will define my future.
My eyes, assaulted by the choices.
Just yesterday, my fingertips barely reached
the kitchen shelves
and I couldn’t tie my laces.
So how, pray tell,
am I supposed to leave this place?
Perhaps it’s a positive thing,
having so many doors wide open.
To be able to walk any road.
I could be anything I wanted.
Doctor, writer, bricklayer.
What I don’t yet know,
is how to embrace this freedom.
(installed at Tramore Valley Park)
Wind and Rain by Alisha Zafar
The clouds break down,
into rain
which roams with the sound
of a huge wind rushing.
The wind rages, carrying its burdens,
while the rain falls
without hearing itself
void of thought or emotion, simply
letting go.
(installed at Blarney Sanctuary Walkway)
The Medal by Amy O’Sullivan
My mom gave me a necklace – a miraculous medal to be precise. It’s just a simple little Virgin Mary. I noticed the M for Mary carved on the back. I look into it as if it’s a mirror. I imagine my reflection through its shiny hard silver glimmer. I scrape my fingernail around its bumpy edge if I’m stressed or nervous. Years have passed since my mom handed it to me. With its pretty chain, it’s become something I wear for safety. A chain that I’d wear to match earrings is now a chain I need earrings to match with. I wear it morning, noon and night. As I reflect on everything my mom sacrifices for me, I think about the necklace, the love and protection it represents. And decide that the M is not for Mary, but for Mom.
(installed at Ballincollig Regional Park)
Domhan na Samhlaíochta by Laura Ní Ghiollabháin
Ag suí i mo sheomra,
Leabhar i mo lámh,
Gach duine sa teach
Ag codladh go sámh.
An lampa ar lonradh,
Tá’n seomra lasta buí,
Táim ag sú gach uile sonra
Sula théim i mo luí.
Domhan na samhlaíochta
Lán de dhraíocht, gan mórán brí,
Téim ann gach oíche
Gan mé fiú ag fágaint an tí.
Beach by Caragh Ní Loingsigh
Tá beach sa teach
Céard a dhéanfaimid
Mearbhall is gruaim tríd is tríd
Bzz, bzz, ciúnas
Suaimhneas sa teach
Mise is mo chlann ag faire amach
Titeann oíche, mo cheann ina roithleán
Braithim aois fiche
Camán im lámh
Ní fiú cluiche é
Táim dáiríre
Deireadh na beiche le teacht!
Teenagers Navigating Life in Today’s World by Katie Kent
In a world of screens, where voices blend,
Teenagers navigate, around the bend.
Snapshots shared, likes and hearts,
A digital dance, where connection starts.
School hallways echo with laughter and fears,
Peer pressures whisper in adolescent ears.
Identity blooms in a selfie’s glow,
In the ebb and flow of highs and lows.
Texts and emojis tell stories untold,
In the teenage script, secrets unfold.
Striving for dreams, finding a place,
In today’s world, a teenage embrace.
Likes and comments, a social display,
Teenagers seek their own unique way.
Through hashtags and trends, they find a voice,
In a symphony of choices, each their own choice.
Amidst the chaos, friendships bloom,
In shared memes and a crowded room.
Yet beneath the surface, where feelings reside,
Teenagers navigate this rollercoaster ride.
(installed at Marina Park)
Poem about Nature by Ciara Butler
I hear beeping, grey metal monsters,
their drivers yelling, rushing to their jobs,
where they work 9-5 5 days a week,
the few green trees, hiding in the mass,
the mass of concrete stone, plastic benches
and expensive objects called “trees”,
I tread carefully as I walk, over the bridge,
the wood having salt all over, like my chips for dinner,
people smile as cameras click, posing
in the same places where people have jumped, I love how
we all live in oblivion, of each other’s pain, and happiness,
because after all, who isn’t a little self-centred.
(installed at Gerry O’Sullivan Park)
The Birds and I by Saoirse O’Leary
The dull cold feel of the light grey sky
The dull cold feel of the light grey sky
The dull cold feel of the light grey sky
Wondering how the birds up high can fly
The chimneys that can be seen
The chimneys that can be seen
Forever thinking if the birds have been
The red brick building we call a school
The red brick building we call a school
The red brick building we call a school
And I’m stuck inside acting a fool
The posters of different shapes and sizes
The posters of different shapes and sizes
With text and images hiding surprises
Wishing to be a bird up high
Wishing to be a bird up high
Wishing to be a bird up high
Forever free with my friends by my side
(installed at Gerry O’Sullivan Park)
Promise by Kayleigh Martin
In summer’s embrace, the sun’s warm kiss,
Awakens the earth in a sweet bliss.
Fields of green and skies of blue,
Nature’s canvas, ever anew.
Whispers of wind through trees so tall,
As laughter dances, free for all.
Golden rays caress each flower’s face,
In this season of boundless grace.
(installed at Fitzgerald’s Park)
A Truth Beyond Denying by Namo Siller-Aziz
Why do solar eclipses happen? Once upon a time there were two suns, but it was just too hot. Nothing could grow and there was no night. The two suns were the eyes of an eagle. With its beady gaze it scanned the world. The League of Gods had to find a solution, so they sent the God of War, who was a cat. He rode his chariot pulled by mice. He landed on the Eagle’s beak, which were the stars. Cat then proceeded to scratch one of the Eagle’s eyes, so that now there was only one sun and one blind moon. So when a solar eclipse happens it’s just the eagle going cross-eyed.
(installed at Fitzgerald’s Park)
Dog by Dylan Nowak
The loud dog,
The dog that barks,
The excited dog
Oh warm dog,
Oh cuddly dog,
Oh as dog should be
The silly dog,
Sillier than a fish,
It jumps around to anything that looks tasty
Oh warm dog,
Oh cuddly dog,
Oh as a dog should be
The dog that comforts me,
A dog that barks in excitement to me,
The one that growls when I don’t pet him enough
Oh warm dog,
Oh cuddly dog,
Oh as a dog should be,
The dog that saves me.
[Heartily approved by Remi]
(installed at Blarney Sanctuary Walkway)
Ann Chovi by Kieran Lane Panah
After three weeks of my care,
Ann Chovi did not want to eat,
or swim,
or live.
So Ann Chovi did not eat,
or swim,
or live.
After a few days Ann Chovi died,
A silent death, upside down in a fishbowl.
Then took its final journey
Down the Toilet.
Unfinished Book of Poetry 2024 (High Resolution 25.8MB)
Foreword
The 20th edition of this groundbreaking anthology marks a special waypoint in the rich journey that is The Unfinished Book of Poetry. A bumper 280 pages replete with courageous, extraordinary, often highly imaginative compositions attests to the unique value this project holds for young writers in Cork city. It has also been published as an eBook, which is easily searchable online.
The 2024 edition features poems from 64 young writers engaged in transition year, representing five Cork city schools. Since the outset, over thirty schools have taken part in the project, the début edition having been published back in 2005, the year Cork was the European Capital of Culture.
The finished poems are all well-polished, due not only to the zeal, vision and commitment of these young creatives, but also to the diligent tutorship of the five professional assisting writers. Each step of their creative guidance is critical for the course, informing the students on what is possible in poetry while their well-published, award-winning tutors get to coax out the talents of a budding demographic, one which they themselves would love to have been part of in decades gone by. Who knows, it may not be long before student alumni from The Unfinished Book of Poetry series have become poetry tutors themselves.
Huge Congratulations to all of the young writers, from:
• Christ King Girls’ Secondary School with poet Afric McGlinchey in Tory Top Library and at the school;
• St. Angela’s College led by poet David McLoghlin at Cork City Library;
• St. Vincent’s Secondary School with poet Tina Pisco at the school;
• Gaelcholáiste Choilm chúram Colm Ó Ceallacháin, i Leabharlann Bhaile an Chollaigh; agus
• Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh led by poet John W. Sexton in Bishopstown Library and at the school.
With special thanks to all the Cork city library staff.
Enjoy!
Project Curator, April 2024
