Day 29: Heroic

Freiberg am Neckar, Afrikahaus, sculptures of concrete, 1986, by Aniedi Okon Akpan and Sunday Jack Akpan
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s about this size

Runs on twos and got eyes

On the prize fakes can’t grasp.

It’s got genuine intellect,

A commitment designed for the wasp,

A flaw lost to deliberate neglect.

It walks on the skies

With feet of the stars that shine

Thro the night of relapse.

It’s the heat of the moment

Peculiarities that strum on harps,

Its weakness is the bond of its strength.

It’s tight as it’s wide,

Got one head held up high

For what lies beyond victory;

It is inventive genius,

Heroic feats that just had to be.

A story forever glorious.

Akpan

Day 28: Flawed Release

UNLOCK THE DOOR QUICK^ - NARA - 515929
Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I had reasons for doing the things I did.

I didn’t know it then but now I see

Sometimes, things happen to unlock mysteries.

Often the flaws that trip us bring us release.

I had to keep going I could not quit

By any means necessary, I pulled thro.

But what is this lump I feel in my throat?

Is it a symptom of guilt or plain bull?

Should I ride my backtrail in slow mo?

I had ideas that could make the world roll.

But I had no means I lacked resources.

So I got creative and hit the road.

I struck a deal with fate but nemesis

Had issues with my methods and ethics.

I didn’t know what I know now back when.

I wonder if it would have made any difference.

Akpan

Day 25: Home for My Muse

Cabin in the Woods
Photo Courtesy: somewhere on the cyberspace

I was lonely.

But I had no use for companionship,

I wanted to be alone.

I wanted to find my muse an abode.

I knew I was going to get there

Just had to get out of public glare.

I was afraid.

I gave no brief to what it takes.

I wanted to taste passion.

I hungered for the waves of inspiration.

So I took pen to paper and carved

A tale on the page a real work of art.

Akpan

Day 24: Sometimes Cruel

The winter storm hits Za'atari camp housing Jordan / Syrian refugees
Photo Courtesy: UNHCR 

I have been held down before,

I’ve been shot into the sun,

And I know this much is true;

That fate can be sometimes cruel.

Love’s gutted me on spear points,

Hate’s held me to his bosom,

Yet I know this much is true;

That fate can be sometimes cruel.

Next time things might go better,

Now all I got is the bitter.

Cause I know this much is true;

That fate can be sometimes cruel.

I have wandered tho not lost;

I’ve forayed at personal cost,

So I know this much is true;

That fate can be sometimes cruel.

Akpan

Day 23: No Mo

Internally Displaced Kids
Photo Courtesy: UNHCR

Will there ever be peace?

Will we mend the broken piece?

Is there hope beyond this

Place of conceit and disease?

(Cause) We can’t go home no mo.

Death has never been timely.

We walked into it blindly.

Worked up our fears sublimely.

Now we treat doom resignedly.

(Cause) We can’t go home no mo.

Akpan

Day 22: Persons Living or Dead

Photo Courtesy: somewhere on the cyberspace

Similarities between persons living or dead

Is entirely coincidental but unheard.

Cause this is my life, not a work of fiction.

If the whole world’s a stage and we’re the actors,

I do my own stunts; I’m my own my own director,

I write my own script and craft my dialogue,

I live my fantasies and slay my dragons,

My dreamscapes, my visions; the setting, the scenes.

My goals are the juices that feed my pacing;

I am the main character in my story,

This is the life I lead, it is not fiction.

I dictate my reactions and resolutions.

Similarities between persons living or dead

Is something entirely unseen or unheard.

Akpan

Day 21: The Feeling Gets You

Sometimes, the feeling gets you.

And you get swept off your feet

And tossed on the face of the moon.

Sometimes, you plead for repeat

But the feeling will never come

Just because you demand for it.

The feeling answers to no one.

A genuine feeling is its own king

But when it gets to moving,

You just can’t fight the feeling.

The feeling is the truest oracle;

Feel it fizz through your follicle,

Taste the magic in the feeling.

There’s no logic to its dealing.

The feel of this feeling is

Filling the vacuum deep within.

This feeling got a hold on me

And I can’t but let it take me.

Akpan

Day 20: One Shine

Photo Courtesy: somewhere on cyberspace

I’ll dip the skies in orange glow,

Speak forth the articles of dawn;

I’ll wake the morning with my flow,

Roll back the dark side of the horizon.

I’ll pierce the clouds with fingers of light

Shot from my corner of the earth.

I’ll rip apart the shroud of night;

Break the day like palm kernel shell.

I can see things clearly now.

My joy flows totally out of bounds.

My hands have worked my waking

Into the new day I’m breaking,

I’m turning the rain to the drain.

Kneading pregnant clouds to change,

But I brought the sun into my night;

Traded several dusks for one shine.

Akpan

Day 19: Setbacks

Photo Courtesy: somewhere on the cyberspace

I know there are mistakes that must be made,

If a man must claim mastery of his game.

That’s why some things will never be the same;

Even if hell freezes over things change.

I’ll pick up the pieces and lay ‘em straight,

Fix each to its own piece, the road is strait.

Time I made my break away from this strain;

Gatto crack this zone things are turning strange.

I know there are stories I must rewrite

If faded glories could dare reignite.

I’ll stay on my grind and try for contrite.

I know what I’ll find may be wrong or right.

I’ll piece together the little setbacks

And hustle harder till I’m back on track.

This is my path home even tho it’s dark,

I’ll reset the tone and renew the spark.

Akpan

Day 18: Aint Broken

Photo Courtesy: somewhere on the cyberspace

If it aint broken, don’t try to fix it.

You try to gild the lily, you jinx it.

Take a lesson from life and six feet.

If you can’t make it, then don’t fake it.

If you can’t break it, you can’t take it.

Don’t hate it if you cannot dig it.

If you will surpass it, then face it.

You can’t refuse it till you tried it.

If you must judge it then, roll with it.

If you aint tried it, don’t wager on it.

If you can’t feel it, don’t hurt on it.

If you can’t imagine it, why want it?

If you aint venture, don’t think about it.

If you aint down on it, you miss on it.

If you don’t believe, don’t try to see it.

If you can’t be true to love, don’t share it.

If you can’t touch the sky don’t throw a fit.

If you can’t hold it down, don’t try to lock it.

If it aint stolen, don’t try to fetch it.

If it aint broken, don’t try to fix it.

Akpan

Day 17: Angle

Photo Courtesy: more-sky.com

It’s hard to comprehend

When you’re observing from a depth.

You lose perspective

When you judge from a tight angle.

You run without motive;

You lose focus your legs tangle.

The hardest things in life

Are the simplest things played for trite.

The sooner we realize,

The best we handle compromise.

And when you come to terms

With the reality inside of you—

Status update confirmed—

You’ll grasp all the truths to hold you.

Akpan

Day 14: If I Could

Photo Courtesy: shushi168.com

If I could trace the many scars

Etched on my heart like landmarks,

I would tally up half the stars

Which punch the skies with their tiny spark.

If I could hold the stream of tears

In the cup f my hands thro the years,

I would scoop the ocean floor bare

And run it with streams of despair.

If I could relive the memory

Playing on my mind’s walls like a movie,

I would shut down the film industry

And write a couple hundred DVDs.

Akpan

Day 13: Before the Light

Photo Courtesy: Alberto Di Donato

What comes before the light

Is what translates the night;

The difference between dawn

And the shades of twilight.

What comes before the sun;

Before the skies go bright?

What thrives before the light,

Are demons with sharp eyes.

Legends of horror tales

Who kick our fright awake,

Because within the dark,

These things see us as we are.

What comes before the light

Is the deep secret down inside;

Our darkest fears arise

And try to paralyze

The very essence of

The stuff that turns us on.

Akpan

Day 12: Love's Loving

Photo Courtesy: Somewhere on the cyberspace

Love has lifted me on firm wings,

Fed my soul with the sweetest things,

Held my parts together in rings

Of warmth that makes my whole heart sing.

Love’s rebuke will heal but not sting,

Love will rise from dirt and still bling,

Love has held me fast like a string,

Now all I am, to love will cling.

Love oh love, your heat does not singe.

The door to your courts has no hinge.

Love has doped me with its syringe.

When we roll, we go on a binge.

Akpan

Day 11: Why Not Me?

Photo Courtesy: pageresource.com

Thunder rolls all around me

I hear storm clouds gathering

This burden would squash a man under;

My labors would make Hercules wonder.

Then I survey the possibility

Of my misery on somebody stronger

But I can only ask, “Why not me?”

The man I would be attracts hate.

But then I look around and see fate.

Aint nobody there to lend a hand

Everybody just misunderstand.

Then I survey the possibility

Of my drama on some other brother

And I think to myself, “Why not me?”

Why the hell would somebody else be me?

Which person in this world could I be?

What do I stand to gain without pain?

Could I be refined without the fire?

Then I survey the possibility

Of my pains on a total stranger

So I yield and say, “Why not me?”

Akpan

Day 9: Touching Feelings

Photo Courtesy: wonderfulengineering.com

If I had faith to move mountains,

I’d lay my cards on the table,

And build a rock from a fountain.

I’ll ride a geyser to heaven

Then I’ll glide on wings of angels.

If I had faith to part the sea,

I’d work wonders mankind will tell;

I’ll do things folks aint ever seen.

I’ll speak to the wind and foretell

Every tomorrow scene by scene.

If I had faith to break thro walls,

I’d remake the earth rid of wars.

I’ll give the three elements charge

Over all emotions corrupt

By the nature of man at large.

If I had faith to touch feelings,

I’d touch new hearts every minute,

I’ll put a shine on all faces

And carry the weak in the streets.

I’ll be there to bleed when they bleed.

Akpan

Day 8: Ticket to the Moon

Logan Zillmer Photography

I gave my heart

It was all I had left to give.

When things fell apart,

It was my last card against grief.

I gave it my best,

I have done all I should have done;

I passed the test,

And the rest of the deal is God’s.

I played my game.

I threw my best shot and hit home.

I lit a flame

But the wind had issues with the glow.

I made last plans,

It was all I could think to do.

I made them grand,

And got my ticket to the moon.

Akpan

Day 7: Scent of Rust

Surreal Photography by Caracas Ionut

The scent of ripeness

Is the scent of rust;

A complete life clefts

In a mote of dust.

That’s how we begin,

And how we go on.

When ripeness kicks in

Its cousin rust comes;

The taste of sourness

Hides in the sweetness.

Life is light and dark.

Fate is good and bad.

Opposites collaborate

In a field of grain

Making it all blend.

Ripeness points to the end

And makes way for rust.

And rust confounds us all.

Akpan