The Poet 'n His Reflection

Courtesy: Twitter
It's time the nation of Israel and Palestine
worked out their differences

There's a man in the mirror

From his eyes a flash of doubt

Sparks a disavowal of his reflection,

Head shaking, he flat out

Plucks me off

And tosses me away

An attempt to render his

Own image unseen.

He'll apply a 'copy n' paste'

If he could photoshop his reality

And turn his back on the din

And close his heart to the scream.

But his painted demon

Haunts him as his reflection.

He's grabbing for me

Claws out stripping n' stripping

Away onion thick layers of feeling.

What I won't do

To put him in the groove

That only a fool

Argues with truth.

He sits on a time bomb

The scenes play out on the mirror,

But his mindset's deep-fried

He's strung

On the timeline

Inside the mirror

And treats as slight

The world next door

That he can reach out and touch:

The scourge of the coronavirus

The Gaza Conflict encores

The multiplied gun violence,

The famine pestilence

Gorging Yemen,

Hearts that's gone cold

Cause doors got all closed.

The billowing ash of gray

Showering hail over Tigray.

The endless graphic images

Whizzing past in blurry phases.

Akpan

Trying To Survive The Night

Courtesy: UNHCR

Don't wanna know how the sun

Travels round the moon.

And seriously speaking, I'm not

In the complicated mood

For a geography of tall stories.

I'm bringing my theory

Down to earth,

To us grounded in a hearth.

I'm all about the chemistry

Of self-annihilation

I'm up for a study in human tragedy

On which the race of man is sprung.

Bring out all the bombs

Throw some Uzi in the lineup,

It's the school of hard knocks.

Love don't live here.

This is where gore rocks,

Where pregnant women flee for fear.

Here it's ok to kidnap girls for ransome,

To hold school boys hostage

Even if it's just to prove a point.

Hope we still on the same page?

In point of fact, why not lose the book,

We all know these things get cooked?

Let's do this by word of mouth,

Why the river of humanity flows south.

We slot peace in the ballot box

And then harvest absolute bollocks.

It's trend of the time

And we blend 'n grime,

Now here's something we gatto do

This depends on me as you;

Shoot your hands in the sky

If you've seen enough people die. 

Akpan

Say It Ain't

Courtesy: Pinterest

Do you have a freaking soul 

 But maybe even that is sold 

Lookit all the deed you sowed 

All of it and say it ain't so.

Akpan 

When We

Sometimes it rains water
But there are times it thunders
And those days are full of darkness visible
When we by horror haunted become expendable.

Akpan

Children Of Tomorrow

Sun's gonna be smiling always
Cause we tuned in on our faith
Though darkness casts a shadow
We are all children of tomorrow.

Akpan

State-Without-Borders Nationals

We traversed afar
From Nigeria, Sudan, and Syria
Based in Rohingya, Aqra and Sambisa
We're state-without-borders nationals.

Akpan

Wardog Mentality

It's no big deal
We'll cut our losses
See the blood as oil spill
Collateral for our causes.

Akpan

Strictly From The East

Strictly from the east
Comes forth the beast
Down for a feast
Mean as a wildebeest.

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

Connoisseur

In the voice of a refugee who's lost all.

I find refuge within myself

I must turn to nobody else

I got big promises to keep

And no one else will do for me

I harbor solace inside my heart

I must or quit before I start.

I must take this soul odyssey

I must proceed by what I see

And taste and touch, by what I bleed.

I must find refuge within me

I lost it all except for me.

I’ve come from a place of misery

I find refuge within no one,

There is no one who is someone

Who dares lift me outta this one;

I am the reason I go on.

I must seek no source of comfort

Besides the man in the mirror

I severed all ties with this world,

Now I’m a connoisseur in horrors.

Akpan

Visual Cancer

Source: twinkl.co.uk

For all displaced persons. 

I see dead people

Still breathing but like pimple

On the face of the earth

Cause we erased principle.

Like living substance of death,

They are situational zombies.

We call ‘em refugees

They go ahead of us

Straddling our vain conceit

To report our bloodlust

How we downgrade human dignity

And upgrade hateful wars.

I see displaced persons

Burnt twigs snatched from the fire

Our yet-to-be-learned lessons

Feels like I’m preaching to the choir.

If this situation is critical

Response ought to be reciprocal.

Akpan

Bring Back Yesterday

Bring back yesterday

And with it dreams of better days;

Bring back that moment

When we almost had it all;

Bring back that treatment

Attesting men are capable of love;

Bring back one sweet day,

Make it shine thro our work and play.

Akpan