This work was first published in Spread the Word’s Young Writers Collective Anthology, 2025. This anthology stands as a testament to the courage, creativity, and growth of a remarkable group of young poets who have spent seven months exploring the power of language and self-expression. The anthology is more than a collection of poems—it is a celebration of emerging voices, of stories told with boldness and vulnerability.
All of the poems can be read here on our website, or you can download the Young Writer’s Collective Anthology to read as a PDF.
Lament for the Voiceless Dead Of The Irish Potato Famine by Brandon Treacy
No blankets for the young
No coffins for the dead
No pillows for the suffering
No prayers left unsaid.
If God exists, did he hear the dying children’s pleas?
A hopeless desolate path they trekked
Thrown to their deaths in the storm
Walking the road of hunger
No pity from the sun to lift them from their slumber.
Death doesn’t wear a black coat.
He isn’t armed with a scythe.
He’s armed with a ballpoint pen he used to sign away a million
lives. The blight’s cause was unknown.
The Famine was the doing of men.
The people could have been saved in their time of need
If only life was greater than greed.
The people laid unburied in the streets
Familiar sights. History repeats.
About Brandon Treacy
Brandon Treacy (He/Him) is a Writer and Filmmaker who possess a BA in Film. Since graduating he has worked on a sold-out award winning play and is currently writing a TV Pilot. His work explores themes such as Identity, legacy, history, connection and resilience.