Poem #1281: Silence Of The Children

No change of clothes, no toys for the kids,
hiding in a room while war rages outside.
Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Newsweek

The clothes on their back

Emphasize their lack

And they can't go back

Stuck in some basement

In stack abasement

Men, women n' kids in

A den no bare necessities

In a room crowded out

War rages outside

Children hunker down

Uncertainty wracks each mind

No toys

To lighten the mood

No choice

But stay in the room

No noise

To get in the groove

Boredom

Contends with gloom

Bombs done

Increased the ruin

No fade to happy days

Wish that was the case

In a country

Where kids can't play

And run wild and free.

Akpan

Poem #1278: Women Of Ukraine

Some Ukrainian women chose to stay and
fight alongside their men for their homeland.
This verse celebrates their valor.
Photo Courtesy: Facebook/The Daily Show

The women of Ukraine
Are women of valor
They can make it rain
When men need a favor
For better or worse
They excel them all
They heed the clarion call
Not one of them balks
They deal in lead
Just like they baked bread
When home was still home
They'll defend
Their own
Against a beast
To the last drop
Of blood n' resist
In their labor of love
For home n' country
As for the love of family
The women of Ukraine
Don't fear pain
Nor seek fame
Like clouds of gray
They were born to reign.

Akpan

Poem #1270: God Be Magnified

 

Russia's devastation of Ukraine
Photo Courtesy: Red Cross

Let all who seek You
Rejoice and be glad
In You
Let them be turned back
Who desire our hurt
Give all who love
Your salvation
A brave new song:
God be magnified
In the midst of war
Rush to deliver us
From those who lie
In wait for our lives
Pursue and overcome
Help us in a rush
Reward them with shame
And cause us
To escape
God be magnified
In our mortal life
We want to see
Your salvation
In the Land of the Living
You alone are God.
Akpan

Poem #1269: Battlecry

Photo Courtesy: newsweek.com

Let God arise

Let His enemies

Be scattered wide

Establish your will

Scatter the peoples

Who delight

In war like the ripples

Let all who hate

Peace flee

As before a plague

As wax melts before heat

As smoke driven away

By a hurricane

Let God

Our God

Make useless all

Weapons of war

To the fatherless

Be a Father

To the widow

A Defender

Comfort the home-

Less and be their Shelter

Let our God arise

In the power of His might.

Akpan

#1268: Never Again, Europe

Ukrainian children playing in the basement.
Photo Courtesy: UNICEF/Facebook

The Germans

Took Poland

And sparked

A world war

The Americans

Stalled an encore

And have taken Poland

Russia must be content

With Ukraine

Europe was silent

For Hitler

Again silent

With Russia

As they sack Ukraine

What happened

To 'Never Again?'

Who harkens

To save Ukraine

Just gon' stand by

And watch kids die

Europe's ideals

Are under siege

The entire continent

Faces heavy bombardment

Not from Russian bombs

The strength of your

Union is in the boiling pot

But history

Need not be relived

Confront the enemy

Make him feel the heat

Spit it to his face

Never Again!

Akpan

Poem #1267: The Divine Stand

Photo Courtesy: Facebook/New York Times

Jesus
Stand among us
In Your risen power
Make evil powers
Run for cover
Silence every gun
Speak but a word
And dispel the storm
Crush the haughty spirit
Tumble principalities
Remove the Prince of Russia
Break the gates of brass
Cut the bars
Of iron in sunder
Jesus
Stand among us
Wield a mighty weapon
And lead us into triumph
We declare war
A decisive 30-day onslaught
Shatter the forces
Of desolation
Release angelic forces
Disgrace the sons
Of darkness
Rebuke the merciless
Seize power
From the oppressor
Let Your mercy shower
In the 30-day war
Jesus
Stand among us
In Your Resurrection
Power
Lord, we give You this hour.

Akpan

Poem #1266: Sealed With A Kiss

Ukrainian refugee child
Photo Courtesy: UNICEF 

Russian diplomacy is

Bombs in a mail

Sealed with a kiss

And if blackmail

Falls thru

Then it's Dexter's laboratory

Where things go boom 💥

From war on a territory

A world war looms

This can't be arbitrary

With masters of doom and gloom

Faithful to leave a trail

Of blood and gore

In your wake

It's your signature

Mode of operation

Anything you want

You take

Never minding the cost

What would it take

To make y'all stop

Playing God

Oh I forgot

You don't believe in God.

Akpan

Poem #1265: Covid, Conflict, Children

Ukrainian child
Photo Courtesy: UNICEF

Russian diplomacy is
Bombs in a mail
Sealed with a kiss
And if blackmail
Falls thru
Then it's Dexter's laboratory
Where things go boom 💥
From war on a territory
A world war looms
This can't be arbitrary
With masters of doom and gloom
Faithful to leave a trail
Of blood and gore
In your wake
It's your signature
Mode of operation
Anything you want
You take
Never minding the cost
What would it take
To make y'all stop
Playing God
Oh I forgot
You don't believe in God.

Akpan

Poem #1264: One Point Five

In just 10 days of the conflict
Photo Courtesy: UNHCR

10 days

1.5 million people

News breaks

Raising follicles

Dread

Crawls all over my flesh

Like a million ants

I rinse my glass

As thirst like a blast

Burns my lungs

So lost for words

Where's the love

When it pours

Stone cold hate

Like golf ball-sized hail

Devil having a field day

Batting hail

Against our pain

Ukraine! To Ukraine!

Arise humanity

Defeat

Is not an option

Bond passion

To compassion

Squash this senseless war

Like a bug.

Akpan

Poem #1263: Good Neighbor

 

Over 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees have crossed
 their nation's border into neighboring states
in the past 10 days.
Photo Courtesy: UNICEF

Russia, Russia
Stephen Kingesque
Sisters of Eluria
Polishing grotesque
With finesse and mastery
And a flattering of treachery
Purporting to heal
And when healing's done
It's all about Kill Bill
Here's a masterclass
On the Danse Macabre
You animate the past
With millennial massacre
You go hard
On civilian quarters
Wreaking harm
Yielding no quarter
You've lent a new definition
To the phrases, 'Brother's Keeper'
And 'Good Neighbor.'

Akpan

#1262: From Russia Without Gloves

Ukrainian civilian apartments shelled by
Russian fighter jets.
Photo Courtesy: Facebook

Bear hugs

Come without gloves

And in a Russ-ia

With its mili-shia

Crowding borders

Like blood brothers

On a vendetta

A nation

That don't believe in God

Will combust

Like matchsticks on

Hot desert sod

Taking Ukraine

Inflicting grave pain

Rising from a revolution

From a monarchy

To lethal injection

Of anarchy

Into a democracy

Is this your proof of literacy

What happened to diplomacy

It's the 21st century

Playing judge, prosecution

And jury

It's your court

It's your call

Take a shot

At peace

If you please.

Akpan

POEM #1261: Benefactor Of Oppression

A Ukrainian child
Photo Courtesy: Facebook/ABC NEWS

I grew up in Africa

To gruesome massacres

Via military juntas

And propaganda

Fueled by Russia

Blaming America

For the extreme drama

Played out in West Africa

Thank God for

The world wide web

That unfurled

The web

Of lies

Took the wool

From my eyes

I've been schooled

What about the Ajaokuta

Steel Mill project

Awarded the folks in Russia

That plunged the nation in debt

Besides the false hope of utopia

When the Russian contractor left

And the consequent

State of dystopia

Russia-sponsored wars

Wrecked Africa

Sold weapons

On both sides

Of the lines

We've heard of your power

Your desire

To raise an empire

No African state's been bettered

But you've prospered

From Africa's every cent

And initiated its descent

Now it's Ukraine's turn

To buckle

If the wheel turns

Full circle.

Akpan

Why You Should Google Yourself

Courtesy: Wikipedia

WritersDigest.com at a time featured/tweeted an article with the title What Agents Want to See When They Google You. I'm not sure those are the exact words but it's close enough for a working title. This post is similar to that one. Difference is what literary agents seek don't count for much in light of what you anticipate.

Search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask, and let's not forget the giant Russian search machine, Yandex.ru, (this is one of my blog's top traffic sources) could be a lot more fun for writers and creators of web content if you know how to wield them to boost your writerly ego. You can learn a lot more about your online presence and image by reading what other users—especially, if these users constitute people you've never really associated with on any of the social networking platforms—are saying about you.

The coolest way to find out what sort of image you have created online is by googling yourself. You may have to use a different browser than the one you're used to (search engines like Google often than not gives you cached copies of web pages you've visited on the first page of search results). You might want to use a different system all together. You might be amazed what folks say about you/your blog/website. I have.

You ought to find out whether the image you've been angling to portray—the one which drove you to create a site—aligns with what readers see when they view your platform. In other words, ascertain that the idea you put on the line is what is delivered into their bosom. This is one guaranteed method to help you determine you're hitting your target audience and find out your blog/site tows the same line as who/what you wish to be identified with.

Here, a personal example, I once Googled myself and one of the search results happened to be a website that collects URLS and groups them into different categories based on each site’s primary focus. There were categories of all varieties. It had blogs/sites listed under sports, education, apps and so on. In the midst of these assortments was a section devoted to blogs/sites centering on writing—creative writing. You can guess the one that featured my blog.

Yandex Homepage

I was thrilled to know that somebody recognized my blog for what it stands for. Rather, for the impression I set out to achieve from the onset when I created it. I think it did add some to my writerly ego. You deserve to know what people around the web think and say about you or your site. And that's why you need to open your browser right this minute and get right down to work.

The results might amaze you. Then again, who knows? You might get a really good shake-up which may turn out to be the wake-up call you've needed all along.

Keep your pen bleeding!

Akpan

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