Positive Arithmetic

Argument is flimsy against proof.

Fickle, as pensioners of Morpheus’ Train.

Experience produces depth as blue skies

Are tangible statements for better days.

We stand on the plains of promises

And claim the length and breadth as ours.

All our tomorrows are bursting at the seams,

Here we stand only counting the hours.

Akpan

Jubilation

Feeling is ripe.

The mood is right.

Candor sets the time,

As emotions ignite.

Peals of laughter

Crackle like burning embers.

Celebration is the air.

Jubilation is in the air.

Akpan

A Journey Worth Bragging About

It’s been a journey worth bragging about,

A trek that ought to go the rounds.

For fifty some years tho, the tremors

Rippled the brass tacks of our faith,

The vehicle of unity conveyed us across board.

We found unity in adversity and grace

To commensurate the journey thro the pain.

It’s been a privilege to partake of that walk,

And tons of fun to champion this talk.

A legend is fifty and growing strong.

Akpan

Linger

Some things cannot linger.

Like the certainty of sunrise at dawn,

Like a tune at the tip of the tongue,

Like the soul connecting distant destinies,

Like the eyes of the beholder set on beauty.

Some things must not linger.

Like me wanting to ravel you,

Wanting the whole world to know you

Through and through.

Akpan

Eternal Verses

Sometimes, our inner selves only find

Expression in praise of one of great esteem.

Collecting similar fragments of dreams till it combines

In the face of a portrait that’s indeed a masterpiece.

At such times our creativeness answers only

To the pulses of our heart’s response,

To the spur of the moment.

And as we accept the urgent instance,

We truly live in the magical minute.

As I write for you, my writing dons a facade

There’s a worth in the seconds composing my days.

I value the verity that I can scribble for you,

That I can author a verse so eternally true.

Akpan

Butterfly

Butterfly!

You are my butterfly!

The military juntas,

The dramas of existence,

The various bounty hunters.

You took all in your stride to prominence.

Your metamorphosis is a note of memory.

And the joy it gives to celebrate your anniversary!

Akpan

Knowing You

It’s like catching the rays of the sun

With your face on a rather dull day

And riding the strength that surges through.

It’s like running a mile and picking

An overdose of second wind

And cruising to the heart of the moon.

Knowing you, knowing your name, your fame,

Knowing your ups and downs and your gains,

Is to live where the sky is always blue.

Akpan

To Whom Honor Is Due

To whom honor is due,

I come to pay my dues.

To whom tribute is deserving

I present a rack of trophies.

To home and country;

For the privilege I call family.

To the differences which make us peculiar,

To the similarities for which we’re spectacular.

I raise my glass to a new beginning:

Here’s to a golden anniversary.

Akpan

Requiems

Nightmares and dreamscapes,

Requiems for cursed days.

From eternal chasms of loss

To the silent minutes after,

The ship of this nation’s been rocked

And hauled to rip asunder.

Our hay days pronounced the pain.

How we did thrive in waste

Is the miracle

That bonds us as one people.

Akpan

All That Matters

You cannot begin to count the travails,

Seasons bathed in doubt storms,

The perils and tortures of endless night,

That accompanied our spot in this world.

What we have gained surpasses a dream

And beats the life out of a fantasy.

But we have it and know how we got here.

That is all that matters and nothing else.

Akpan

They Lied!

They say time keeps a record of the days of our lives,

Scrawling our moments in his journals line after line.

They say our past transits to live in another place

Raising questions of Karmas and Abikus and fate.

They say the travel of a lifetime hides in a step

And incite temperaments restless for change in men.

Then they say, opportunity calls but once then it’s bye, bye.

This Land’s defied all odds, so whoever said that . . . They lied!

Akpan

What's A Miracle?

What is a miracle?

Is it God’s answers to our deepest needs?

Is it the thousand and one things that baffle logic?

Or is it you taking the vibes in your stride,

Daring every gale like a child’s kite?

Akpan

Land of 10,000 Suns

This is where the sun sets.

This is where it musters strength

To run its successive course around the world;

Nigeria, the land of ten thousand suns.

This is the power house of Africa.

This is the point of new beginnings.

We hold out hope to the race of man

And by that simple act, we find the items of peace.

Akpan

Break Out

Moments as brief as summer’s fun

Birth experiences that ousts the sun.

This is the day the world calls your own

And brings on the transport of drum rolls.

Have fun.

Explore all your heart’s desires.

Erupt!

And break out like forest fires.

Akpan

With Love and Strength and Faith

With love and strength and faith,

We stand a glorified race.

One people running one race

Skipping hurdles of differences,

Taking turns, passing the baton,

Thriving on a frame of reference

That’s as solid as rock.

We found our moment of grace,

With love and strength and faith.

Akpan

Is It Possible?

Is it possible to have faith and not hope?

Is it possible to have the wood and not the trees?

Is it possible to have a phrase and not the letters?

Is it possible to find rhythm and not poetics?

Is it possible to change without the stages of pain?

Is it possible to find one’s bearings and not direction?

Is it possible to feel the heart of Africa and not the heat?

Is it possible to be the giant of Africa and not Nigeria?

Akpan

Watch, Memory

Memories have a certain way with heroes.

Memories: stunning pictures of yesterday,

Distant realities inhumed in our marrows,

Come thumping thro the dusts of time bringing

Strips of film of battles and conquests past;

Opening this child’s eyes to see the glories,

The struggles and the triumphs that creased our path.

Our grandmothers and grandfathers, hopes fired

Like clay blocks dashed for the mark of the prize.

We came into ripeness of their desire.

Yet, memory like a faithful watchdog fights

To keep labors of heroes past alive.

And as we stand to remember, we ask

That we forget not till we breathe our last.

Akpan

Compare to You

It means a lot more to me

Than scribbled representations could minutely

Present in a snapshot of verse.

It’s like the soothing whisper of a lover

Conveyed on the notes of a jazz instrumental.

The splendor of your grace is a fragrance

Ushered into eminence by poetic overtones.

The jade of your forests,

The tan parches of your wilderness,

The scorch of your sunshine,

The pensive emerald of your lagoons,

And the rustic exquisiteness of your ranches

Makes you special in a style

That could only compare to you.

Akpan

A Time of Remembering

In a time of remembering,

When the deep beckons the deep,

An echo rings through all hearts,

Naming the many faceless parts.

Desire finds his vehicle

And we, trembling, await the miracle.

Akpan

Nothing to Prove

We have nothing to prove to anybody,

The resounding victories are proof enough.

History’s records have the details you need.

We lost some battles but achieved much more.

Through it all we have learned to trust in love.

So, you can either march on with us or

Watch as we recapture the troves we lost.

Akpan