Daddy

My father, The Rev. A .S. Akpan (!940-1995)
Passed on First of July, 1995

To catch a falling star

Is beyond a poet’s art

Still I’ll knot a handful of notes

From the string of my broken tones

Make strung chords rise like octaves

And pitch for the comet’s tail

If life was a fairytale

Who’d be the fairy godfather

But you?

If I was Aladdin

Who’d be the genie of the lamp

That’s stays true?

You are every father’s envy

An oasis of raw healing scenes

A star that keeps falling falling falling

I reach for you there

Where men cease from care

I long to catch a falling star

And bathe in the rain of sparks

An lift my face to taste your charm

Sometimes I catch on to your grace

Like vibes from radio waves

There’s nothing better than that

You do not sit in your armchair

                                  anymore

And tell me of the Savior

Who took my place on a cross;

You showed me the worth of my words

Taught me to stay creative

Much’s been said ‘bout fathers

Daddy, Daddy

You best that.

Akpan