Playing Me

Courtesy: @noveliciouss (Twitter)

You know I thought you was strong.

But it seems you were playing me all along,

You're one more face in the throng

Somehow, I thought you was strong.

I managed to figure you wrong

Posing that cliché of young and dumb

While you rapped my feelings like a song

Last time it worked, this time it bombed.

Akpan

Quietude

Courtesy: Twitter (@novelicious)

Alone in the silence

I dare to touch the hem of Your garment.

Alone with Your Presence

I choose to cherish this moment. 

Alone as all alone

At the Right Hand of God,

Alone with the fullness of Your voice,

All alone designed by personal choice. 

Alone drinking in pleasures evermore,

I eat my fill of the bread of Your House.

Alone where no evil may come,

I'm amazed to see Your grace abounds. 

Alone with You in this silence,

Alone complete in infinite oneness. 

Akpan

Day 12: Impossible is Unacceptable

Photo: bridgingtheunbridgeable.com

Forces of limitation are held captive by their own invention.

But like a 20/20 vision, I see through distinctly.

I will not be denied access into triumph by random distractions.

My intent is like burning glass and illuminating,

So you should understand when I insist,

Impossible is unacceptable.

I remain undiscouraged by erratic tendencies.

Although, the road’s probably inaccessible

A little voice informed me that resource awaits me

In the most unlikely and difficult places.

Like a pack of ice in a lake of fire

Inventing a niche with a molecule of desire.

The decision to take a stand fortified my mind

Against the gimmicks of persecution.

So I put my back to the grind

And locked my destiny in position.

My dream is brilliant like an HD picture.

It’s ever before me, and shoots me over dilemma.

My faith revitalizes my composure.

Like a foretaste of one day in forever

Are the particulars of the struggles I encounter,

To compare the evil I go through with the blessings I perceive.

And with due respect to all that’s inevitable,

Impossible is and will always remain unacceptable.

Akpan

Day 8: Hope Triumphs Still

Photo: realityandhope.com

For Mandela

Hope triumphs still.

Even when sailin’ on thro a fog, he’s the chieftain of his own domain.

He’s like an athlete stoned on a rush of adrenalin.

Hope’s endowed with a tendency to reach beyond this terrestrial plane.

Hope ain’t a reward received when you accomplish your goals;

Hope is the vibe which drives your goals and keeps the forces of change on their toes;

Channels all the positive influence at your disposal.

When nightfall breaches your perimeter,

Hope trundles on with a fierce urgency.

When your strength trickles off in days of adversity

Hope triumphs still.

Life’s support system when the dam breaks;

Hope never fails.

In the darkest corner of insensate despair,

Hope is the voice crying out to deal out repair.

In the morning light, when terrors from nightmares invade your privacy;

In the face of impregnable foe when skepticism ruins your fantasy;

Hope says, “You are going thro so you can come out.

“Here’s my hand, you can make it if you choose not to stay down.”

Take this magic and ignite your private lil’ world.

Truth will come crashing home after you pass thro the eye of the storm.

Hope triumphs still.

When fear rocks the earth to its very foundations,

You can count on a hopeful outlook to be your aileron.

Remember to set your eyes where rut and decay can’t hold a candle to it.

Striving above your ability means tackling the issue till you achieve.

Be strong in your heart. Keep your eyes peeled for the light at the end of the tunnel.

And when you find it, make a break for it.

Every good thing will come to you on the threshold of faith. Come fire, come hell.

When life’s being bitchy grab it by the lapel and say, “I ain’t done with you.”

Then pick up the pieces, dust off your butt and push on through.

Somebody’s looking out for you and all he wants is for you to understand

Hope triumphs still.

When opposition outguns you and you’re stranded without a plan,

Give ‘em the fight of your life. You’ve been placed there for a reason.

Thrive beyond your limits; train the heat on adversary thro your mental prism.

Every time you lift your head from under a burden, it’s a declaration of victory:

Hope triumphs still.

Akpan

Santa's Worst Nightmare

What if Santa had personal demons? (Of course, he does battle internal fears, everybody does... right?) But if Santa had nightmares what would be the content of his incubus? Would it be fear of his arch-enemy, Jack Frost kidnapping Santa Claus and ruining the Christmas fun? The Grinch who tries to steal Christmas? A psychotic killer turning his bullets lose on kids? If Santa had nightmares what would be his worst? Read on and try to see if you can solve that piece of jigsaw puzzle on your own.

     And while you're at it, try to picture a Santa's grotto void of laughing, joyful kids at the peak of the Christmas season, if you can. If I was Santa, I know that would scare me titless.

The refrain comes in after each verse. I bet you can do that on your own so I didn't bother repeating 'em.

Photo: babybitznpartypieces.com

          'Twas the night before stuff got awry
          And all things beautiful grew tawdry
          The season took a bad turn and went gory
          Need I say things fell out in one big hurry?
          
          How still I saw them lie
          Permanently immobilized in my mind's eye.
          The endless column stretched from East to West
          I gasped as my breath caught in my breast.
          What could this be?
          Who is this beast?
          For one moment, I heard my heartbeat
          The rhythm disjointed and out of sync.
          
          The moanful creak of the derelict carousel
          Carved a ring of finality like doom's peculiar tassel.
          These kids, I wish they had a childish sort of carousal,
          One fine night, without their parents' counsel.
          Darkness is fallen.
          Silence is omen.
          Carols have been altered to dirge,
          Deserted grottoes placed on the verge.
          
          What's the point of a universe full of tall people
          When who you really need are the small people?
          Who stole children voices, that quaint magical dialect?
          Who robbed the season of music and a chance to recollect
          Good, genuine memories?
          How do I reminisce?
          What was the weapon-a gun, sword or deception?
          Did the Pied Piper make a visitation?
          
          It's empty! Empty! The whole world is empty!
          The sound in the silence is deathly prophecy.
          I close my eyes and dare not open it for fear
          Of what may come upon the midnight drear.
          The crows are flying.
          The wind is sighing.
          I think I'll stop by some field and pick the new blossoms;
          Never dreamed I'd witness the day kids abhor Santa Claus!
          
          
          Akpan

Paranoid Noel

I want you to close your eyes and try to imagine a kid who's grown up but is not done and over with his dread of Santa Claus. He still believes Santa is a maniac from some unidentified alien planet who is out to strangle little kids and eat them up. But wait, there's more. What if this guy (man or woman) believes Santa is still tailing him after all those years of going to visit the bearded one at the mall? What if his paranoia has driven him to the lip and actually, pushed him over the edge into the abyss of insanity?

These are the things I need you to keep in mind when you read this verse if you find you have any strength left in you to go on. I know you do.

          I seen him sitting in the mall all but acting Santa Claus.

          I seen with my eyes a kid he throttled with his glove-concealed claws.

          Don't you patronize me, I can tell dragons from dinosaurs.

          I know what I saws like I know meteors are slugs from catapults

          Of the gods released over their tireless and dumb cosmic wars.

          I watch my back 'cause in point of fact, his stare penetrates walls.

          

          I hear rats in the walls by the sound but I know who's really in there.

          You don't fool me old sorcerer, I know your tricks and I'm prepared.

          I saw a deer yesterday. It didn't look my way but it saw me clear.

          A spy from the Old One as every Christmas card's bugged with ears.

          I don't take cards, they all looking out for him with the gloves and beards.

          Mom and dad worked for him too, dragged me screaming into his lair.

          

          Woulda sucked my blood with vampyre fangs but I numbed him with my screams,

          Broke into a run and I never been back to see him since.

          It's same story for father and mother. Lord, forgive me my sins.

          As a man, I paid them a visit and chopped them in pieces.

          I made them pay for all my pains; the nightmares that stalk my bliss.

          I'm here now, a lonely man, peace won't allow my fantasies.

          

          I saw that old fool yesterday. Have I told you that it's Christmas?

          He walked up to me all  Ho! Ho! and hypocritical farce. 

          I saw the bulge of his belly and it all came back in a blast,

          What would have become of me had I not taken off in a flash.

          I coaxed him into a corner no more fear of Christmas past.

          I wrung the neck off his bulk and fed scavengers his carcass. 

          

          

          Akpan

She Got Game

Happy Independence Day, Nigeria!
Photo credit: Radio Nigeria Online

Snug as a slug in a Glock,

She drops in like a bomb

And steps across the threshold.

She’s a wonder to behold.

She don’t break stride or cringe in fear,

They all fall down as she comes near.

Screams of jubilation tear the air;

She just turned 52 but her charms conceal the years.

Now who dares step to her when she mount the stage?

‘Cause if you’re game, she’s same.

She done trade her shame for grace;

She’s bad;

She got game.

Cooked as a book with a good hook;

She breezes in like a spook

And marks her place as a rule.

She faces competition and cooks their goose.

She don’t stumble when she scores a hat trick,

Why, she been at it more than half a century.

All her children sing, Nigeria, ‘Tis of Thee!

For one more season, she triumphed as one winning team.

Now who dares step to her when she climb the stage?

‘Cause if you’re game, she’s same.

She done trade her shame for grace.

Oh mama! Ain’t she game!

She’s bad and

She got game.

Akpan 

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Peculiarity

Courtesy: kommentz.com

Peculiarity:

It means you’re invested

And everybody detests your grit.

You are too unpredictable for anyone to place

And you transcend the space of elemental ugliness

Still reaching upward in a state of grace.

There’s a unique loveliness,

You feel it as much as you hoard it.

It makes it impossible for the world to rape

The individual aroused within.

Finally, you found the spot where you belong;

Soulful cries pierce the air with wordless opus.

You view the world thro invented perspective,

As one solitary profound genius of initiative.

Yet, you also achieved haunting loneliness;

For every triumph, there is a sacrifice.

It’s the clause wrapped up with the sheaves of harvest:

Standing apart, taking a stand has its bitter price.

Akpan

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7 Ways Random Writing Can Boost Your Output

Seeking the best technique to get you out of that uncharacteristically fallow period and boost your output a 100% more?

What you need, my friend is random writing!

This statement raises an interesting question:

                                    What is random writing?

Random Writing is talking on paper.

It’s the process where the writer freely expresses his feelings and thoughts as he pours out the contents of his heart on the page without stopping to edit.

That sounds a lot like free writing but it’s not. Free writing is done in careless abandon and is a kind of prewriting process that helps you unclog your mind and get on with the real project. Random writing is the real project in draft! I’ll talk more on this later.

What I’m about presently, is how this writing device can boost your output.

1. Discover Something to Write

Random writing does not require a title or a theme. You put your pen to the paper and let the first words that appear guide the flow. Just keep on writing and you’ll be amazed.

2. Bust the Block

Do I need to explain this one?

One of the best ways to get your juice flowing when you’re stuck is to random write. Just talk to yourself on paper. Sometimes, a little rambling might be sufficient to give you a good wind but don’t let up if it don’t happen when you expect.

3. Stay Focused

You are either a writer or you’re not. Writer’s write, it’s as simple as that. Juggle your creativity, stay in the middle of the road with random writing.

4. Develop A Unique Writing Voice

One of the benefits of conscious writing is that it opens up your soul to soar. You are given wings to explore the details of the real self. The deeper you reach within you to splash raw words on the pages of your journal, the closer you come to carving a niche for your writing style. You ain’t writing to fulfill a specific writing structure and this helps you discover how you truly sound on paper.

5. Invent A Writing Style

When you lay raw, unedited words on paper, it’s not impossible to stumble on a new style of writing. Especially, if you do stuff like poetry. Because, this kind of writing is not planned, you might create a seemingly random pattern in your writing and come to adopt it as a personal style. It happened to me!

6. Stay Productive

Your mind is always talking. Capture those words on paper and judge ‘em later. You are always certain of stuff to write without the over thinking involved.

7. Conquer self-Doubt

Defeat the inner critic who keeps screaming, “You know you can’t write!”

Write anyway!

You write without thinking too much about what to write. Let the words flow one after the other. Don’t try to judge, put everything down. There’ll be time enough for editing.

You won’t need everything you write but the ones you do need will make all the difference.

Keep your pen bleeding!

Akpan

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