The arm of youth
Rising up
A white flag
Bobbing on the surface
Of the lake
A life they once had
Taken, like them
With the current.

When I have fears that I am

I need to find some old besotted meaning
I need to find my seat on the train of things
I need to find the person who will listen even when
I don't want to be heard or seen or known,

Even when I don’t want to have been.

Emma Tobin is an 18-year-old from Newbridge, Co Kildare. She is working on her third novel, blogs at abcofbeingateenager.blogspot.ie and curates the Ink Stains blog on writing.ie. She contributes to the arts show Artyfacts on KFM Radio and has written opinion pieces for The Irish Times. Her poetry awards include the Trócaire/Poetry Ireland senior post-primary category in 2014 and 2015. She also received the Conor Bowman Youth Award at the Hopkins Poetry Summer School in 2014