If I Was The Sun

If I was the sun

It'll be a pleasure to burn

I'll melt all nuclear reactors

and pulverize trace of radiation

I'll scorch he roiling sea

and boil all submarines

till they pop n' float like dead things

If I was the sun

I'll stare down every gun

and fry them into balls of bun

I'll blaze at 451 Fahrenheit

All war declarations will alight

and paper will be spared for write

I'll raze the roof

of all war rooms

Strip bare secret tombs

If I was the sun

I'll flare like the Olympic torch

And smoulder bombs with one touch

If I was the sun

I'll wake the dawn

with balls of burning war thugs

I'll stab deceit with my glare

before which hate is laid bare

Then I'll dry up every tear

If I was the sun...

I'm way over my head in this

The hell I'm the sun

Though, it was nice thinking about it.

Akpan

Poet's Curse

I groan in the pain

my fingers unlocked

I shoulda stopped

at the first word

No! Rather at the first train of thought

It rocks my body electric

It knocks me into a concussive

state of mind where reality

is dragged kicking and screaming

into a cesspool of the fictive

My fingers composed my misery

because I would not turn a blind eye

to the curse in a dead man's eyes

I am god in a zone of twilights

Shall I chop off my fingers

cause it offends yours truly?

Shall I resolve to murder

And indulge self-mutiny

I will soon die

than live a lie

Yet, what I shall choose

is solace of the words which bruise

my soul and blow my fuse.

Akpan

I'm Good

What does it matter

if things go wrong

I'll push it harder

and lift up a song

I know where drama lives

and I was born to breathe

I'll cut raw courage loose

and hit that rendezvous

rearrange stress and dress

it down for good

I'm good.

Akpan

Legacy

After memory's portraits fade

and time's due is paid

after age's tomb is laid

and death no longer raid

After pyramids decay

after worth is arcane

and tides won't rise like Cain

and moons crumbled like cake

After oblivion gains fame

and waste is name of the game

after political campaign

and blatant lies hit the train

My words will remain.

Akpan

A Multitude of Words

In the beginning was talk

Then a multitude of words

Made room for argument

The latter aided by pinpricks

Laid down the rules of engagement

We miss how things

Used to be

When a child was a child

And not a suicide

They got talks on the Middle East

Been trading words since I wore bibs

Peace talks to broker peace choke peace

Now it’s the Arabs

Wanna be starting Jihads

They got Nigeria and Niger

Stomping to the tune of Boko Haram

Sparking BBOGs

Raping, ‘pregnating teens

And we still negotiating…

In the multitude of words

There wanteth not wars.

Akpan

Source of Honey

I watch you pass me by

But not before I

Glimpse the dagger in your eye

No wink not even a smile

But it don’t come as a surprise

I am no source of honey

You can’t milk me

And get a bag of money

You tried to teach me wisdom

Point the way to the kingdom

But I was slow I was dumb

I didn’t dig why so much fuss

Should be made for cash n’ not love

I am no source of honey

You put me on your blacklist

Cause you can’t dig me for money

If I fall on the fly

You won’t even bathe an eye

Nor give me the time of life

We could see eye to eye

If you’d straddle my line

I am no source of honey

But you can lean on me

Kindness is richer than money

I’ll walk with you 1,000 miles

And we could share the talks n’ smiles

We'll shape our dreams into a child’s

And I’ll put my money on it

If dreams don’t lie we’ll hit it

Still I am no source of honey

And bees will sting

If you squeeze. I can’t shit money

I am no source of honey

You can’t change me into money

I’m no automatic teller machine

I also fantasise about sunny

Days but I won’t let you pawn me

I am no source of honey

I won’t be your hoochie

Nor will I sell out to money.

Akpan

Let's Get Serious And Go To War

Photo Courtesy: UNHCR (modified)

We’ve come too far raise the bar

And erect a gas chamber

Why not toss a bomb

Blow that laughter to kingdom come

Let’s get serious and go to war.

What’s peace

Got to do with't when bliss

Tangos with ignorance

Brotherhood pays penance

We got too much love

To give it snaps the cord

Let’s get serious and go to war.

Drug that wimp

Slug the pregnant bitch

Drown the damn refugee

And put that river on the map

I know you lo’ that

Com’on show me some blood

Let’s get serious and spark a war.

A party ain’t a party

If the war dogs ain’t in it

Get ready to make some noise

Cause the boys gon’ bring their toys

We been having loads of fun

Let’s get serious and throw a war.

Forget breakdancin’

We ammo freelancin’

Bomb some kill ‘em off

An off-the-set James Bond

Don’t show me love

Show me a Kalashnikov

Let’s get serious and bomb the world.

Akpan

Breakdancer

For MJ

If legend you must rewrite

Then rewrite history

They say legends never die

Now there’s a mystery

What I must write

Has been written

And tho my spot is tight

I’ll wedge it

With some smooth moves

Like you used to groove

You stunned men

With a flip of your hand

And your backslide

Was one bonafide

Work of art

That moved hearts

To blame it on the good times

For me the sun always shines

They say legends never die

Blame the tears but I won’t cry.

Akpan

She Loved To Dance

The bodies of Salvadoran migrant Oscar Alberto Martínez Ramírezand
his nearly 2-year-old daughter, Valeria, lie
onthe bank of the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Mexico.

Vali loved to dance

Could she have your hands?

Of course, she knows classical

Sweet Mexican baroque guitar

Vali is from Salvador

Her momma’s Tania Avalos

Vali got her pets stuffed

Then she made a pit stop.

Vali had a father

A stalwart who was Oscar

They made to swim a river

And get across the border

Vali hit the bank

Of the Rio Grande

She was with her father

And she won’t be back.

Akpan

Pale Irretrievables

Salvadoran migrant Oscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his
nearly 2-year-old daughter, Valeria who drowned trying to cross
the Rio Grande river in Mexico to Brownsville, Texas, USA.
Courtesy: The Washington Post

Could you please hold that line?

Before you rock your shine

Come let me take you right

Down to a friend of mine

She’s down by the Rio Grande

Tucked in the death damp

T-shirt of the young man

This tragic beauty once called ‘Dad’

Dead

Did I tell you she died?

The river took her head

And banged it against its spine

Again! Again! Again!

Again! Again! Again!

             Again!

Until locked in that final embrace…

Even so she held her grace

Maybe she yelled his name

As the current slapped her face

And choked her

Until all she did was whisper

Down by the Rio Grande

Lay Valeria

Marooned on the banks among the reeds

Tucked into the t-shirt of a man

Named after the famed award for movies

Down by the Rio Grande

Is a picture less than grand.

Akpan

Your Words Will Be there

As light gives away the gloom

So your words ease away my blues.

You know the right moment to whisper

You’re like a nun playing sister

You strum a handful of notes

As your words massage my bones

To nestle in the marrows

Tending suture to tattered hope

Your word is a strong tower

Filling the volume of every hour

When I’m scared

When I drown in my tears

Your words will be there.

Akpan

Destruction Makes Power

For want of threads of dialogue

A city heads down to the morgue,

And there the ill-fated bullock

Got its horns wrapped around a deadlock.

Out of hatred

Destruction makes power,

Life once sacred

Is spat out like dry powder,

Things gone to a head

Now fall down dead.

Syria

She is by horror haunted,

Rhymes with myriad

As a bomb-tide erases the wasted

Until those 40% bleed or sleep.

The darkness is complete.

Akpan

Wait For The Angel

I wait for the angel

Hope they got wings for a rebel,

To fly me away from this hell

I’m tucked into like a tunnel.

I wait for the angel

Of righteousness to cast a spell

And boost me till my fears dispel

And rain down vowels like a bell.

I wait for the angel

To bring me hope in my Bethel

And in this despair raise a citadel

That thwarts the pace of shrapnel.

I wait for the angel

Come and deliver this Abel

Before my sacrifices compel

The Cains of this age to rebel.

I wait for the angel

Right here at the foot of the stairwell

I will wait to meet my Gabri-El

To filter out the lies of Jezebel.

Akpan

Chronic Encore

History is a stuck record

History is on chronic encore

History is recurrent cancer

He asks the question

And he gives the answer,

History is a broken record.

History competes with himself

He strives to best his record best

History is stuck in a flawed groove

Cause history’s got something to prove

History makes the grand opening

He takes the baton in mid-race

And cuts the ribbon at grand closing

History never gives time a break

History is on repeat

Like a radio request hit

He improvises

…and revises

And yet rotates on his axis

So the fallout's always the same

Then begins his game

Like a game of spades

Played for higher stakes

All over again.

Akpan

Tapes

For Assad. Tyrant of Syria.

As sad

As bad

As mad

There are tapes to prove that

You looked sad

When they put you on TV

You looked mad

When they pulled out your CV

You did not take your oat

Before you took that oath

Or you would not turn your office

Into a blood-letting orifice.

You responded to calls for interviews

But would not share your people’s views

You won’t sit down to talk it out

But made up time to run your mouth

You sent your phoenix

Burned the masses to ashes

Turned on your gimmicks

And blew up their asses

            “It wasn’t me.”

So you said.

            “It was him!”

So we heard.

“He’s respected military.

They fuck all night in malefactory!”

So you turned him loose

A mass murderer

You the asswipe fool

And a cobra, you are

As sad

As bad

As mad

There are tapes to prove that.

Akpan

  

Eluria

Freedom is what some call it

By what ever name you give it

The magic shoots it into orbit,

Freedom to be who you choose

And not give a darn who sees you.

Release from the demands of others

Without peeking over your shoulder.

So what more could you ask of

Life in a time when peer pressure

Binds like the laws of Medes n' Persia?

Freedom, release, ease of expression,

Escape from the Sisters of Eluria,

A nook all your own to savor.

Akpan

Get To Know Me

You don't know me.
You craft a résumé
And plot nonfiction mystery
While sipping on daiquiris.
And you call that deep
But you don't know me.

You don't know my name
You talk a good game
And call me trite it's a shame
When gold digging is so lame
You went and threw shade,
But I know that game .

You don't know me
I'm not the plain in Spain,
Or a shot of Chianti in Tuscany
And you're high on windowpane
Pitching camaraderie
But you know talk is cheap.

Akpan

Into

Into war I come

Bearing nothing but weapons,

Into peace I ease

Bringing unkindly offerings,

Into life I strive

Vaguely struggling to survive

Into hope I grope

Feeling for answers to nope.

Into pain I strain

Working my ass off to maintain,

Into luck I log

And publish myself on a blog,

Into love I plod

Wary of signs from above,

Into hate I wade

Threading the edge of its blade.

Akpan

R U Done?

Let me know when you're done

Believe me I can wait.

You can stall for so long

Cause it's fish or cut bait.

Don't wanna make excuses

All this jive just confuses.

But I'm not letting myself down

I'll get this or go underground

You give me a runaround

Make me feel I'm from downtown.

No matter what it takes

Ama bend it or break.

So let me know what's up

And I will fill my cup.

Akpan

Get Off The Pot

Come heavy or not at all

Get your butt up.

This is war.

Be prepared to walk thru walls.

Grab your guns

Strap on your bombs.

Check your slugs,

No time for flaws.

The scent of blood

Is your clarion call.

Arms n' ammunition

Can't be overzealous.

Engage terror

Don't back down get furious.

Apply your guts

Make the comeback spontaneous.

Spit your rage rugged n' raw.

This is fun

We havin' a ball

We've had enough

We takin' back our world

So shit or get off the pot.

Akpan

Answer the Damn Question

May I ask a question?

Of course it's loaded

Why else is it a question?

What's wrong if it's coded?

Can't you just answer

The question or not?

Whadd'ya mean it's cancer

Am I raising Cain or what?

It's just one simple question

No! I don't want a session.

Tryna get something straight

Wouldn't know if it's bait,

So what if it is?

You look scared as shit.

Whadd'ya gotta hide?

Just a simple question aiight?

Stop talkin' shit

Answer the damn question.

You ain't worth shit

If you can't play position,

Why you gotta be a prince

If you can't lead for beans?

Akpan