I Will Thrive

I will thrive
I know I've arrived
Cause I'm still alive
After all the bull I survived.
I heard all that jive
About me not being the type
To cliffhang or dive.
Is that just because I rise?
I'm kinda still here so bite
Me or keep it sealed tight.

I will thrive
And no shying will jeopardize
The shine of my sunrise.
I will thrive
And my past can't downsize
The lesson which edifies.
I will not be deprived,
I'll have my soul revived.
For awhile I strive,
In time I will thrive.

Akpan

Undamaged

Lookit all the damage you caused,
You and your band of murderous thugs,
Ever wondered what these could cost?
Guess y'all too busy chucking bombs
To give a damn about lives lost.

You must know we shall not be moved.

Y'all like boys with toys bringing noise;
We rejoice by choice raising our voice.
We are firmly planted like rocks
And we will stand cause we will last
Long after you're stuck in the past.

You must know we shall not be moved.

Akpan

A Storm is Coming

The cloud is moving again.
Humanity responds to change.
Thunders will roar
And things that can be shaken will fall.
Mountains shall be removed
By songs of those in the womb.
Mankind shall stamp out terror
And buy revolution with his blood.
Hope shall be reinstated
By souls who have been incarcerated.
Let he who has a heart believe
My prophecy; a storm is coming.

Akpan

Cinderella Continent

How d'you do, Africa?
Still rocking your Soul Makossa
Sensitive like a Mimosa
Kosher like the stone of Rosetta.

How you doing, Africa?
Building bridges through massacre
Tending gardens in the Sahara;
The world's poetic Cinderella.

It is the dawn of your eureka!
So I say, Good Morning, Africa!

Akpan

Draft

Writing
As a matter of course,
Is rewriting.
And that's saying it short.
So my first set of thoughts
That hit the page running
May not make the final cut
May amount to total bilge.
Words trade places with new words
Sometimes morph into phrases
Building blocks that create a clause.
Jargons align against letters,
Making sense; cooked up nonsense.
With luck, they'll pull a caper.
Still a draft makes much pretense.
I write to rewrite.
And again and again,
Until I get it right
And explode off the page.

Akpan

I'm Blessed To Be Alive

Woke up this morning,
Looked in the mirror,
I beam and I'm smiling
As I wink at my reflection.
The mood is a shawl of goodness;
Ain't no business like your business.
Ama shine into this darkness,
Make it mirror my happiness.
I got reason to celebrate,
I got rhythm so ama break
Outta this cage like daybreak.
The moment's fragrant like fresh bake,
From here on I'm gon' have fun.
There's three words that sum up life
I'll break it down; it goes on,
And I'm blessed to be alive.

Akpan

Don't Knock This Feeling

This feeling that I can go on
Burns deep inside charging protons,
Calling out the things which are not
Giving 'em substance and a thought.
If I get to the mountaintop,
I will look down on the debris
And name each rubble in fashion
There's one way to count my blessing.
Because you can't knock this feeling.
It's like being wired; it's electric.

Akpan

How To Get There

Don't knock it
Strip down to the bare necessities.
Don't pull in on your way back,
If you lock it, you got it hacked.
Tell no one.
This is top secret.
Mum's the word.
Make your mission your statement.
Let your mind feed your eyes,
Set your eyes on the prize.
Hold it straight and focused
And define your locus.
Shed the dead weight
Kill the delay.
Through a singleness of mind,
Put your program on the grind.
Step out, test the waters
If hot, wade the gutters.
Take the ladder
One rung at a time.
And if you can straddle this rhyme,
Add skill and here's what you do;
You'll look back to see if you're fine,
And find the sky far behind you.

Akpan

Tomorrow: In Live and Living Color

You are legend.

Diamond shining from African mines

And it's amazing you don't know it, yet.

Kingdoms rise inside your eyes.

You move hearts when you smile.

The world stands still when you cry.

Inditing for you is such sweet honor;

You're tomorrow, in live n' living color.

Isn't it a phenomena

That whenever I hold your hands

I hold tomorrow in my hands?

Isn't it pure wonder

That whenever I wipe your tears

I heal tomorrow of all tears?

It's with great privilege and honor,

I present tomorrow,

In live and living color.

Akpan

Rhythm

Dance
Like the wind on the sands of Gaza.
Take a chance
With life and let fate take your order.
Loving arms
Await to pick you when you falter.
No offense
If you know better, then do better.

Akpan

Diploma

This poem marks my 800th blog post.

Only a 200 kind of fool
Strikes an argument with his tool.
I'll live each day like I was in school,
I'll sleep in a library, if I could.
I'll drink my fill till my cup runs full,
I'll live beyond the portals of books.
And I'll spin a web of words and hooks
And snatch fantasies out of the blue.
But I will not play down a blunt tool
Cause I'm no 200 kind of fool.
An enlightened mind,
Is a mind fortified.
So I will never stop growing
Cause I'll never stop learning
Until I read down into a coma.
And my tombstone will be my diploma.

Akpan

Glimpsed

For a glimpse of eternity

I'll pluck the stars outta the sky.

For a whiff of epiphany,

I'll wash the sands off the shoreline.

I'll walk 10,000 miles and back

For a shot at hitting the mark.

I'll crawl under a rock

And listen to brooks talk.

I'll live wild and swing on a branch

Hit overdrive and rein in my catch.

Akpan

Humdrum

You could be hung on a humdrum
Stuck in a critical conundrum.
Yet your mind spits rage like an atom,
And your rage holds out like a fulcrum.
You could ride on the whirlwind you stir up,
Even make some big time on the comeup.
Some things you win, and then you lose some,
Some of the time your senses go numb
And your substance melts into the furore.
But don't you ever forget to have fun.

Akpan

Walk in Your Shoes

Tryna be a man with some convictions
And put myself in your situation
I try to play your position.
If this was a game of soccer,
You'd be the under-siege goalkeeper.
Going through, wearing a catcher's mitt
On both hands is the utmost hazard.
Not if your defence can't hold water.
What I wouldn't give for backup
My life hangs on a negotiation;
You chop one bad arm,
We chop one good arm.
If you let go a terrorist
We'll set free one of your school kids.
How d'you survive soul corruption
When you're the bone of contention.

Akpan

Eaten Alive

I once thought you knew
How to take me there.
But it seems you knew
What I wanted to hear.

I held down my game,
Thought you'd do the same.
But you brought me pain,
Gave me up for gain.

I was stuck on you
Guess I had no clue.
Then my world turned blue,
But you didn't come through.

I once thought I knew
You'd always be there.
Now I know it's true
Fate never plays fair.

Akpan

Be Still, Memory

Be still, memory
And let instinct do his stint.
Put a lid on the flashbacks
This one's gon' be a blast.
Hold up, memory
This won't take one minute.
I don't need the pointer
Got this like the back of my hand.
Won't even bathe an eyelid
Just follow my lead.

Akpan

Holla

No matter what happens
Even if there's hell to pay,
Make that move to stay happy
Snatch the chance life blows your way.
Take that overkill pressure
And hammer it into treasure.
No matter how the drama
Knocks you, you can still holla.

Akpan

Game Recognize Game

Y'all come along n' explore
As long we on the same page,
It's gon' be tons of fun;
Game recognize game.
Experience a showdown of heaven
From eleven to the downside of seven.
I am the marvel
You perceive as mysteries ravel.
Take a walk with a god
And you gatto be a maven.
We'll drink of the orange sun.
I am all there is to sightsee
Cause I'm the wood,
Still I'm one solitary tree
But I'm good in the hood.

Akpan

That Whitney Houston Number

You remind me of that oldie,
That golden smile is a special number.
Your friendship is balm for charred lips.
Your lilts are legit chart busters
Your grace is fluid lyrical flow
Cause you know how to hold it down.
And you can't keep it on the low
When yous the vibe that drops the house.
You're the hook that strums my reminisce
Like that nonstop R.Kelly remix.
You are my old school classic
Fearless like a feel good music.
Guess all I'm tryna say is that
You remind me of that Whitney Houston number.

Akpan

What's the Meaning of Akpan?

It's a two-syllabled name,
Got a web-sustained fame
As a search engine hit,
But that in itself is ironic
Because Akpan spells V.I.P.

When you talk title-names,
Akpan has got game.
First name of first sons
Akpan is the Ibibio firstborn.

What's the meaning of Akpan?
First it's a dead ringer for Arkham.
What does Akpan mean?
It reps persons, places n' things.

Akpan is the most celebrated person,
Akpan means the most exceptional thing;
Akpan is the most remarkable place.
Akpan means, on the low down, the ace.

Akpan

Rule of Ku

Ku v. (coo) An Ibibio word which means don't.

You may swim a river uphill
And ride a chariot on the wind
You may tap dance on red-hot coals
And scream like banshees hi on dope.

But whatever you do
You don't ignore the force in you.
Ku says believe in who you are,
Ku says listen to your heart,
Ku says no matter what you do
Ku says the answer is in you.
Just before you play the fool (stop),
Remember the rule of Ku (and don't).

You don't need wings to touch the sky
The answer lies in heaven's eyes.
Ku (don't) depend on things you may see,
It takes skill to lead from within.

Akpan

Design of Darkness

"I'm gon' have a baby."
Come 9 months and ain't no baby
But an overblown foetus
Which had attained quietus.
Slugs racked her body
Stole the joy of maternity,
One day of bloodletting
Blew a nine month wait
To the Kingdom of No-Way.
And now that she's decay
Who mourns her miscarriage?

Akpan

X: Revisited

For the child that died before delivery during a Boko Haram raid of a Borno village.

Half of this hemisphere,
Half of the other;
None of this hemisphere,
None of the other.

Akpan

I Know All About Murder

I know all about murder.
There's demons down the border;
Aliens spew death like larva.
I know stuff to make you shudder;
Children bombed from hell to breakfast.
Now school is out in September.
From bad to mad to suicide bombers.
Best become a Koran holder.

Akpan

I Want to Wake Up

I want to wake up.
I've had enough, already
My reality is blood and gore.
Must I bleed to know its real?

I want to wake up.
Somebody hit me upside the head,
This has gotta be a mix up
Or it's the land of the living dead.

I need a rude-awakening,
My audiovisual is frightening;
It's the Hammer House of Horror remake.
Only difference is it's all up in my face.

I want to wake up for good
I'm so done acting the fool.

Akpan

Break of Exit

Let me into your grief
Lift up the gates to your dungeons
Let the shadows snatch me off the cliff.
Willingly I'll take the plunge.

This may yet be your finest hour,
When you ride the storm to your power.

I'll wrap you in my warmth till you ache
I'll get a stranglehold on that grief
And nudge and whisper till it breaks
And sweeps you into the arms of relief.

Let me hold you tight,
These arms will lay your burdens by.

Akpan

A Printed Page

A printed page
May provoke an image
That shuts the muse in a cage.

A blank page
Is like a 12 gauge
That blasts to hell strains of blockade.

A printed page
Is like spent carnage,
An overstuffed, loud cottage.

A blank page
Is a cabin center-staged
On a vast, lonely acreage.

A printed page
Is loaded carriage
That gives the creativity stoppage.

A blank page
Crackles with a 1,000 voltage
That shocks the muse out its blockage.

Akpan

I Shall Laugh the Worst Laugh I Ever Laughed

To every terrorist. With love.

When we bring you down
Low to the ground, the very ground
And pound you to dust
And prove you dirt-cheap scum.
Just before we blow you away like chaff
I shall laugh the worst laugh I ever laughed.

When we delete your breed
From the records of history,
And your names raise a stink
When we call up your pedigree,
After we reduced you to a gaffe
I shall laugh the worst laugh I ever laughed.

When we downsized your military,
Jacked you up n' hanged you out in the sun
And still coming at you lethally.
When you would gladly beg for quietus,
Just when we got you locked in a grandmal,
I shall laugh the worst laugh I ever laughed.

Akpan

My Pen Will Dig My Grave

A few years ago, while a Boko Haram sect raided a village, one of the kidnapped Chibok girls was made their arms bearer.
She confided in a villager who happened to know who she was, "Tell my mother you saw me." This poem is for her.

Bear in mind that the Chibok girls were kidnapped for trying to get an education and you'll understand the tone of the following verse.


Tell my mother you saw me;
I bear arms and explosives.
Tell her ama get in touch
Even if, as a human torch.
Providence may plug the distance
And concoct a better consequence

Tell my mother I ain't sorry
Because I owe no apology
For trying to acquire skill.
I'm a female man who loves school.
First I'm going to sharpen my tools,
Next I punch down the glass ceiling.

Because I'll perish, if I must, to read.
I will stay my back to the grind
Till I achieve the educated mind.
Cause I am no mental slave.
And I will study in bondage
Or my pen will dig my grave.

Akpan

Up On It. Down On It

If you ain't up on the game
You are down on the game.
If you can't live up to expectations,
You live down to it, no questions.
First, there is action,
Then there's inaction.
You can't be up on a valley
Or be down on a mountain,
This is right down your alley.
Your reactions far outweigh
Decisions yet on your plate.
You stand up, you fight
To keep a dream alive.
Don't sit back n' relax your feet,
What you do is to get geared up.
Because only a fool believes
He's dreaming before he wakes up.

Akpan

I Fight My Own Battles

I fight my own battles.
I've not been known to lose a wager
Never backed down from a scuffle,
My intuition cuts like a razor.
I wrestle armed inner demons
For a shot of inspiration.
I live from my heart
I live for my heart.
I don't cry for help in danger
I get creative with my anger.
I know who the enemy is
So I die daily for practice.
I'm careful not to lose form;
A wink of an eye and I'm done.
I know how treacherous is
The clamber for the top.
I'll hang by the skin of my teeth,
This is personal, and I can't stop.

Akpan

Bars of Rage

Rage has a hold on me
Intense rage consumes me.
So ima put this program on hold
Take my chances n' ride the undertow.
Unleash this rage
From its mental cage
Confront every target in my path
No questions asked.
Ima let this inferno burn wild
Let the bloodhounds fraternize
The time for fear is past.
Heads up! The die is cast.
Rage animates my state
Of mind and illustrates
The pain ima castrate.
Detonate your bombs, morons
Ain't nobody backing down no mo.
So let loose the dogs of war.

Akpan

Remainder Theorem

Sometimes all you're left with
Is your raw gut and instinct
With no promise of backup,
Because your team is Hell's own option.
Special times as these are
Your wits' on a hair trigger
Your every impulse is a weapon,
A follicle is a band of Teflon.
There is no room for second thought
When all you have is one shot.
You aim with your eyes shut tight
Straight from a singleness of mind
Your weakness is your target
And that sets you off at a tangent.
All of your senses
Are heightened to the maximum.
Cause your task is stripped
Down to the barest minimum.

Akpan

Head Down

Sometimes we gatto fall down
To keep our heads down.
The only way to win the fight
May be to reach for the sky.
It's not the force of the ill wind
But the force that resides within.
You'll find hope in failure.
And the thrust of aileron
Surge from the dungeons of your soul
Like larva shot from a volcano.
You'll dig your way out
When you lose sight of your route.

Akpan

There Is A Place

There is a place we go
To find closure from the cold.
It's a spot with no name
Because words are so lame.
Its doors lay wide open
Because the hinges are broken.
Its width adapts to every size
Every person's welcome inside.
There is a place I know
Where kindness has a home;
Its walls echo with laughter,
Abandon wades in its water.
There is a place for those
Who crave someone to hold.
Here there be no trespassers
And the gladness of joy pampers.
There is a place, after all
Where all that matters is love.

Akpan