Joseph's Wars

Due to escalating violence arising after the general elections,
Joseph has fled his country, the CAR, for the third time.
Courtesy: UNHCR

Creeping

Like a thief

In the still of the night,

They sped under the starlit

Central African sky.

Sprinting not for the calling

Of the coveted Olympic prize

But for the mortal privilege

Of witnessing another, be it cold, night.

Theirs is a heart-wrenching

Suicidal, sickening story.

Once was it said

But thrice have I heard,

A young man fled home

Not for a crime of his own

Making

But for the volent awakening

That rocked a nation off her heels.

Peace spat in his face

With the sound of gunshot sprays.

'It's the third time. I am tired,'

Joseph says, and his situation is dire.

What is the measure of hate required

To turn on an encore bloodletting?

And whence is the streams of healing

For the afflicted?

My people

Are marked for death

And their chronicle

Is as fuel for the hearth.

Akpan

Fight Good

Courtesy:UNHCR.org

I know all the colors

The basic organic combination

That form the shades of emotion,

Evoking the tone of a raging ocean.

It's blood and silt and gore,

It's reckless hope cast

Like an anchor on a strange shore;

It's the rat race to bleed the CAR.

Yet I believe in the strength

That in man's soul is entrenched,

The ability to stand up

Once again.

The capacity to heed this call

And let compassion fall like rain

On this patched weary sod. 

Millions are deeply hurting

In the Central African Republic. 

They need a breath of life

On the ever-mounting emotional debris.

You can fight this good fight

And make your heart a home,

A shelter for these tired souls.

Let their plight move you

So that when you move,

They move.

Akpan

Thicker Than Blood

World Refugee Day

I took a ride

In the passenger side

By my best friend’ side

And I got hit by surprise

Like a one-two punch to the side

When the ghastly sights

Paid out in the deep of my mind

Time to do right's never been this tight

                                             

As I bend the corner

There's structures scattered from hell to breakfast

School's been out since summer

And don't look like it'll be back by November

We may not stop the rain of leaves in October

But with open arms we can show em it's far from over

Arm in arm as one people we grow stronger

Thro the storm with refugees we stand together

The lives and future of millions

Rest on the pinions of our opinions

They sailed from afar seeking a new Zion

Fleeing a dungeon they once called home

It's our turn to offer them hope

Bring them into the fold initiate a reunion

Give them warm embrace like true companions

Akpan