Design of Darkness

"I'm gon' have a baby."
Come 9 months and ain't no baby
But an overblown foetus
Which had attained quietus.
Slugs racked her body
Stole the joy of maternity,
One day of bloodletting
Blew a nine month wait
To the Kingdom of No-Way.
And now that she's decay
Who mourns her miscarriage?

Akpan

X: Revisited

For the child that died before delivery during a Boko Haram raid of a Borno village.

Half of this hemisphere,
Half of the other;
None of this hemisphere,
None of the other.

Akpan

I Know All About Murder

I know all about murder.
There's demons down the border;
Aliens spew death like larva.
I know stuff to make you shudder;
Children bombed from hell to breakfast.
Now school is out in September.
From bad to mad to suicide bombers.
Best become a Koran holder.

Akpan

I Want to Wake Up

I want to wake up.
I've had enough, already
My reality is blood and gore.
Must I bleed to know its real?

I want to wake up.
Somebody hit me upside the head,
This has gotta be a mix up
Or it's the land of the living dead.

I need a rude-awakening,
My audiovisual is frightening;
It's the Hammer House of Horror remake.
Only difference is it's all up in my face.

I want to wake up for good
I'm so done acting the fool.

Akpan

Break of Exit

Let me into your grief
Lift up the gates to your dungeons
Let the shadows snatch me off the cliff.
Willingly I'll take the plunge.

This may yet be your finest hour,
When you ride the storm to your power.

I'll wrap you in my warmth till you ache
I'll get a stranglehold on that grief
And nudge and whisper till it breaks
And sweeps you into the arms of relief.

Let me hold you tight,
These arms will lay your burdens by.

Akpan

A Printed Page

A printed page
May provoke an image
That shuts the muse in a cage.

A blank page
Is like a 12 gauge
That blasts to hell strains of blockade.

A printed page
Is like spent carnage,
An overstuffed, loud cottage.

A blank page
Is a cabin center-staged
On a vast, lonely acreage.

A printed page
Is loaded carriage
That gives the creativity stoppage.

A blank page
Crackles with a 1,000 voltage
That shocks the muse out its blockage.

Akpan

I Shall Laugh the Worst Laugh I Ever Laughed

To every terrorist. With love.

When we bring you down
Low to the ground, the very ground
And pound you to dust
And prove you dirt-cheap scum.
Just before we blow you away like chaff
I shall laugh the worst laugh I ever laughed.

When we delete your breed
From the records of history,
And your names raise a stink
When we call up your pedigree,
After we reduced you to a gaffe
I shall laugh the worst laugh I ever laughed.

When we downsized your military,
Jacked you up n' hanged you out in the sun
And still coming at you lethally.
When you would gladly beg for quietus,
Just when we got you locked in a grandmal,
I shall laugh the worst laugh I ever laughed.

Akpan

My Pen Will Dig My Grave

A few years ago, while a Boko Haram sect raided a village, one of the kidnapped Chibok girls was made their arms bearer.
She confided in a villager who happened to know who she was, "Tell my mother you saw me." This poem is for her.

Bear in mind that the Chibok girls were kidnapped for trying to get an education and you'll understand the tone of the following verse.


Tell my mother you saw me;
I bear arms and explosives.
Tell her ama get in touch
Even if, as a human torch.
Providence may plug the distance
And concoct a better consequence

Tell my mother I ain't sorry
Because I owe no apology
For trying to acquire skill.
I'm a female man who loves school.
First I'm going to sharpen my tools,
Next I punch down the glass ceiling.

Because I'll perish, if I must, to read.
I will stay my back to the grind
Till I achieve the educated mind.
Cause I am no mental slave.
And I will study in bondage
Or my pen will dig my grave.

Akpan

Up On It. Down On It

If you ain't up on the game
You are down on the game.
If you can't live up to expectations,
You live down to it, no questions.
First, there is action,
Then there's inaction.
You can't be up on a valley
Or be down on a mountain,
This is right down your alley.
Your reactions far outweigh
Decisions yet on your plate.
You stand up, you fight
To keep a dream alive.
Don't sit back n' relax your feet,
What you do is to get geared up.
Because only a fool believes
He's dreaming before he wakes up.

Akpan

I Fight My Own Battles

I fight my own battles.
I've not been known to lose a wager
Never backed down from a scuffle,
My intuition cuts like a razor.
I wrestle armed inner demons
For a shot of inspiration.
I live from my heart
I live for my heart.
I don't cry for help in danger
I get creative with my anger.
I know who the enemy is
So I die daily for practice.
I'm careful not to lose form;
A wink of an eye and I'm done.
I know how treacherous is
The clamber for the top.
I'll hang by the skin of my teeth,
This is personal, and I can't stop.

Akpan

Bars of Rage

Rage has a hold on me
Intense rage consumes me.
So ima put this program on hold
Take my chances n' ride the undertow.
Unleash this rage
From its mental cage
Confront every target in my path
No questions asked.
Ima let this inferno burn wild
Let the bloodhounds fraternize
The time for fear is past.
Heads up! The die is cast.
Rage animates my state
Of mind and illustrates
The pain ima castrate.
Detonate your bombs, morons
Ain't nobody backing down no mo.
So let loose the dogs of war.

Akpan

Remainder Theorem

Sometimes all you're left with
Is your raw gut and instinct
With no promise of backup,
Because your team is Hell's own option.
Special times as these are
Your wits' on a hair trigger
Your every impulse is a weapon,
A follicle is a band of Teflon.
There is no room for second thought
When all you have is one shot.
You aim with your eyes shut tight
Straight from a singleness of mind
Your weakness is your target
And that sets you off at a tangent.
All of your senses
Are heightened to the maximum.
Cause your task is stripped
Down to the barest minimum.

Akpan

Head Down

Sometimes we gatto fall down
To keep our heads down.
The only way to win the fight
May be to reach for the sky.
It's not the force of the ill wind
But the force that resides within.
You'll find hope in failure.
And the thrust of aileron
Surge from the dungeons of your soul
Like larva shot from a volcano.
You'll dig your way out
When you lose sight of your route.

Akpan

There Is A Place

There is a place we go
To find closure from the cold.
It's a spot with no name
Because words are so lame.
Its doors lay wide open
Because the hinges are broken.
Its width adapts to every size
Every person's welcome inside.
There is a place I know
Where kindness has a home;
Its walls echo with laughter,
Abandon wades in its water.
There is a place for those
Who crave someone to hold.
Here there be no trespassers
And the gladness of joy pampers.
There is a place, after all
Where all that matters is love.

Akpan

Day 30: Nanando

Updated: May 5, 2019

Na.nan.do n. (/na'nan‚doe/) An ibibio word meaning,
flawless, spotless, blameless, without guile.

This one's for the Chibok girl who touched the sky;
The one who was found buried alive.
Boko Haram, I spit on your pride.
We forget not to remember our kind.


Nat King Cole called you 'unforgettable,'
To Vandross, you were 'the one who holds our hearts.'
Tupac Shakur called you, 'untouchable.'
MJ called you, 'a place in our hearts.'
Martin Luther King called you, 'a dream,'
Maya Angelou called you, 'phenomenal.'
Lionel Richie called you, 'my destiny.'
Will Smith called you, 'the Taj Mahal.'
Joe called you, 'a song I love to sing.'
Boyz II Men called you, 'Beautiful Woman.'
Someone called you, 'the answer in the wind.'

But we call you Nanando.
A name worth its weight in gold.
You're the lyric of our magnum opus,
The theme of our never-ending song.
That's why we call you Nanando;
You're the synopsis of our anecdote.

Akpan

Day 29: End of the Line

Tho my walk takes me through
The valley of the substance of death,
I'll truck on with my tools,
And tackle my demons like a debt.
I'll straddle the eye of a needle.
My camel and I will slide regal.
I heard all about fear
And its companionship with evil.
I've been trapped in its snare
My encounter was no less lyrical.
Tho I maintain one step at a time,
I'll get there at the end of the line.

Akpan

Day 28: Unrhymed

Can I have a word with you?

Come away with me

And sit on this pampas grass.

Let us palaver

Just the two of us

Mi corazón.

We could talk the night away,

Until the constellations fall out.

We could build castles in the sky.

Or I could gift you the moon

In full bloom crowned with the stars.

Let's play the games we used

To play when we was children,

When innocence held its appeal

And we laughed and squealed

Without a single care in the world.

I want to look into your eyes

And forget about the worries

Of a universe gone to hell

In a hand basket.

I want to strum your heart strings

And let your words massage

My broken tones to buy back

The lost years and redeem

The children's laughter like prey

Snatched from the jaws of a bear.

But would we ever hear the

Simple sounds of child-like amusement,

Or recognize its cadence if it carries

Shouted from the mountaintop?

Akpan

Day 27: The Prosperity Preacher

I am rich.
And don't you forget it bitch.
I done carved up my niche
Anybody got beef best switch.

I am rich.
My program got no glitch
The universe is my reach
I shut down every snitch.

I am rich.
You punks can't call me Grinch.
Cause I practice what I preach.
Ain't nothing wrong if I filch.

I am rich.
I got no love for no leech.
I'll wipe you out with bleach
I'm connected like a stitch.

I am rich.
I'll wash sand off the beach.
I grease palms to scratch a itch.
There's no wall I can't breach.

I am rich.
When I spend I don't flinch.
When hard times take a pinch
I can still holla like a finch.

I am rich.
I dump poor wretches in the ditch.
Dollar is the salvation I teach.
I twitch n' whistle to that pitch.

Akpan

Day 26: Here's Tomorrow

This one goes out to the great people of Nigeria.


Here's tomorrow.
Take it, it's yours.
You're king of kingdom renown.
Take your throne, your day has come.
No matter what happens, you won.
Here's the future,
Signed, sealed and delivered,
Because you made a decision;
You're served what you deserve.
You raised yourself from the gutter.
Step through that portal
And create a lavish life
From laurels of a good fight.
You are sole entrepreneur
You are not allowed to demure.
Poetic Justice upped your game
Above all the ruins of today.
Here's tomorrow.
None may steal it, none borrow.
So step to the plate like a hero.

Here's tomorrow.
Take it, it's yours.

Akpan

Day 25: Still On The Sparrow

I'm stressed,
But I'm blessed.
Destiny's caress
Set my soul at rest.
I squared my limitations,
So I play my position.
Dusted off my butt
And strut my stuff.
I've counted my sorrows
Crossed 'em out with my blessings.
His eye's still on the sparrow
I'm bettered by the lessons.

Akpan

Day 24: Happy Now

I'm supposed to be happy now?

I guess you got me figured out.

You run my game into the ground

But I bought victory on rebound.

I'm sold out on a principle,

Your killer dream ain't worth nickel.

I'm supposed to be happy now?

You don't own sh*t so just bounce.

Can't talk your way around the mess

You created, you're more or less

Fiction running dirty bidness.

That's the new def of madness.

I'm supposed to be happy now?

Cause a loser can't hold it down?

What's there to be happy about?

Akpan

Day 23: I Must Be Crying

How many souls lost to terrorist attacks?

I bet we lost count?

How come the tears in my eyes,

When I see a lost Paradise?

How come this burden on my heart,

When there's word of you in a hearse?

How come I find it hard to breathe,

Whenever I watch the TV?

There's blood all over the reports.

I see your face on every corpse.

How come this lump in my throat,

When I think you on death row?

This ache tears at my inside,

I must be crying.

Akpan

Day 22: Dope

Hot like a solar ball,
Crackling like a lightning bolt,
Sizzling like a drop of palm
Oil in a smoking saucepan.
I can read you, ma.
Kinetic like an avalanche,
Poetic like Dr. Maya.
Ancient like the pyramids
Of Gaza, your résumé
Is a shot of Mead.
Potent like latent omen,
Dead-on loyal like tribesmen.
Gyrating like a whirlwind,
Whooshing from the jar of a genie,
You're a sight scene.

Akpan

Day 21: I'm Not Afraid

I'm not afraid
If tomorrow should fail.
My debts are paid.
And I'm posted like mail.

My roots are firm
And I'm thick at the stem,
Fear ain't worth a darn.
I got faith by the helm.

I'm not afraid.
Figures my mind's made.
I'm cut out to win this race.
On that word I rest my case.

I ain't scared.
I'm not afraid.
It's all a dare.
I am not afraid.

Akpan

Day 20: F.E.A.R

I don't like your face
I don't like your taste,
That metallic twang
Welling up to flood my tongue.
I don't like the unreserved place
Of honor the human race
Gave you to bring you fame.
I don't like your game
I think it all a total shame.
I don't like the craze
For flight when you raze;
I don't like the rat race
That bring amazing disgrace.
Ama be on your case
And stay focused in case,
You creep and you came.
I don't like your name
I don't like the choices we make
That put the icing on the cake.
We cede and it's how you maintain.
I'll be damned if that ain't insane.
I don't like the ace
You seem to weave like lace
Into the fabric of our days.
I don't like your trait
And I'm being straight;
The way teeth chatter,
And tongues quiver,
And courage shatter,
When you prey on the innocent.
It ain't no sentiment.
I don't like your face.
So pack up n' leave without a trace.

Akpan

Day 19: I Betcha

It's gotta break ya
If it's gon' make ya.
Any thang that shake ya,
Gon' alter ya future,
Shape the bigger picture.
No pain may hurt ya
And would not purge ya.
Cause it can touch ya,
Ain't make it torture.
Don't let stress 'reck ya
Make trouble erect ya,
It's gon' perfect ya.
What doesn't break ya,
Won't make ya, I betcha.

Akpan

Day 18: Know Your Business

You have to knock harder
If the door don't open on first try.
Strip down your dilemma.
If fate serves up stress don't buy.
Strap C4s 'round your waist,
Let competition know your business.
Set the record straight, ace
State your mission, show no weakness.
Ask and you shall receive
You may want to flash explosives.
Point is, don't be deceived,
You came too far to back down, please.
Rage is fundamental;
You seek with both hands on the metal.

Akpan

Day 17: Dead Reckoning

So tell me how you run a destiny
Is it like an automobile?
Like you gatto have a key?
Does it feature ignition?
And what about the engine?
I might suspect internal combustion.
Does it roll on wheels?
Is there room for two or three,
Or do you tunnel thro solo?
Does the route fly like a sparrow?
Or do you beat your own path
Thro the wild and hit a deadpan?
Can you stray from your itinerary?
Is maintaining focus a luxury?
D'you dig for it like buried treasure?
D'you master it like a signature?
Does it grow on you?
Keep you company, too?
Do you acquire skill
On how you run a destiny?

Akpan

Day 16: I'll Stand

It's my Birthday today! 🎂

This one's for all the kidnapped girls.
In all our hearts, you shine like pearls.



You drag me thro mud
But I stand tall.
You whip me with steel chords
But I'm straight ball'n.
You feed me with turd
So you'll hear me bawl.
And take me for a broad
But I won't stall.

But I'll stand
Tho you think I'll fall apart.
I'll stand
If only to prove I can.
I'll lift up my head
And wheel with the stars.
When you take me for dead,
I'll stand.

Just when you think I'm undone
I'll break my fall.
My faith's a loose cannon
Ama wreckin' ball.
You defile me for fun
But I recall.
You think the war's won
But I'm playin' y'all.

You think I'm gone n' out
But I press on.
You think you'll run me down?
So bring it on.
Who you think run things clown?
Got my groove on.
My cries are victory shouts
And I'm game on.

Akpan

Day 15: Rime Within Rime

Walk like a champion

Talk like a champion

Stalk like a champion

Decode like Champollion.

Unique like a drop of sunshine

Paradise resides in your eyes;

Subtle and sublime like moonshine,

Vibes crystallize in you like ice.

Sometimes, when you ride, you coincide

Like rimes within rimes of a multi-rime.

Divine design live and alive

A last line that vibrates thro time.

Akpan

Day 14: Shoe Nail

The worth of a timeless epiphany

May be weighed by a lost shoe nail;

The diligence in the search for a remedy.

Or one might be found wanting on the scale.

The magic needful for a fairytale ending,

May be in the goose that chucks gold.

Yet, if the fowl dies, it's all intestine.

And the trail to a sesame might go cold.

The angle that rings off the climax,

May be the fleecing of the golden sheep.

And toils of desperation might bring an axe

To hope till hearts are no longer at ease.

Akpan

Day 13: A Peace to End All Peace

I know that I have lost so much.
But would hope give hope respite from loss?
If I had a straw to clutch at
Would fate snatch victory from my grasp?
I have held out my hands all day
To a world gone cold in the month of May.
Would that my care and earthly chaos
Broker peace and mend my errors:
Never a peace to end all peace,
No terror to sell religion.
All I ask is personal release.
And the presence of mind and gut
To savor it with pomp and pride.

Akpan

Day 12: E.G

Take for instance,
I'm strung on this penchant
Tho I can't flow cause I'm peasant
So I'm a victim of circumstance.

Take for example,
I had a bite of the apple.
So I ride ingenuity's lapel.
But all around are hostile people.

Take for illustration,
There's this wide range of options
So I'm stuck for a decision.
But I wipe the program and toss caution.

Akpan

Day 11: Blank Page

Give me a blank page.
Create a writing space.
I'll burn on that page,
Verbs that traverse age.

Give me a blank page.
And I'll make a change,
From words that levitate
Off the page to engage.

For me a blank page's
Seduction uncaged.
Ere I bleed my rage,
Give me a blank page.

Akpan

Day 10: Reduced

Appearance is an uncertain guide.
I won't down talk, if you're prejudiced.
But I won't take that thorn to my side;
I ain't the sum total of your twisted lies.
And so I refuse to be reduced.

I stashed the past in the past.
I tossed my burden, the storm's passed.
Why y'all tryna me feel downcast?
Defeat's a mind-state, no questions asked.
And so I refuse to be reduced.

Akpan

Day 9: Burst into Sunshine

Up through the clouds
To burst into sunshine.
Like soap bubbles
Powered by projectiles.
Negotiate the hurdles
Straddling your blindside.
Command the chariots of the wind.
Leap, freefall, and spread your wings.
Up and down you bounce
And bump and slide on the clouds.
Like pollen, glide,
Survey the land, settle and thrive.

Akpan

Day 8: Money Answers All

Said the Lady to her lover:
'Honey, who the hell was that?'
'You mean on the phone?'
'Yeah, on the phone.'
'Uh, just the landlord.'
'What'd he want?'
'Guy was just talking a good game.'
'Was money in the details?'
'What's money got to do with it?'
'Honey, money answers all things.'
'Baby this ain't worth your bother.'
'I'll be the judge of that.'
'We talked business is all.'

'From 12 to their downside of one?'

'Been tryna reach me all day.'
'Has he?'
'Today was all the rage.'
'But ain't it kinda funny?'
'The long talk?'
'And tagging you like shark to blood.'
'Well, it's over. The deal's done.'
'But why he call you up at night?'
'We set up a meet. I didn't show up.'
'How come I'm feeling negative vibes?'
'Baby, I don't see nothing going wrong.'
'Ain't nothing going on with the rent?'
'Oh hell, woman! Give it a rest.'

Akpan

Day 7: Osmosis

Come closer let me feel your warmth
And absorb the molecules of emotion
Like the shore drinks of the ocean.
I'll sip on your courage on impact
Until it drowns out my vacancy
One touch can translate a universe;
A slight brush may quicken a heartbeat.
A miracle may come thro eye contact
With a stranger on a lonely track.
Open up your heart and make an art
Of reaching out to rock the distant.

Let me share your world as we hold hands.

Your smile brings me joy on a platter.
Your grace shields me from the patter
Touch me deep with words softly whispered
Kiss me and I'll learn true surrender.

Akpan

Day 6: Sorry

I'm tryna keep this affair low-key.
So long as we stay on the same page.
I'll keep my distance, you keep your apology.
Sorry, won't get fooled again.

I hope in time, you find your niche
Cause I intend to fine tune my pitch.
That 'Let's start over' thing is so lame.
Sorry, won't get fooled again.

And this face off means all debt's paid.
Try to forget the games we played,
Hope you get yours all the same,
Sorry, won't get fooled again.

Akpan

Day 5: Sail

You are a sail.
You just need to find your game.
Catch a storm and set up a stage.
When sea billows come to commensurate.

You are a sail.
Set sail like a float on high winds.
Tackle the waves with a vengeful rage,
Ride the tide and find your rhythm.

You are a sail.
You're slack only until your tuff is rough.
Rise when the moon pulls the waves,
Keep your head one notch above the chaos.

Akpan

Day 4: Shero

For Maya Angelou

Your girlish smile
Is hands off suicide.
In your quest to rise
You blurred the lines,
Blending the elements of black and white.
It's cold news that stays hot;
We live the dream and the hope
You stuck out your neck for.
Bringing in the sheaves on slave boats.
We believed what we was told.
Until you gave voice to stories of old.
Can't talk legacy,
Or browse the anals of chemistry.
One name dims the words on the pages.
Like a silhouette printed on rims of mystery.
The one woman haters couldn't decode.
The undisputed, veritable shero.

Akpan

Day 3: Be Seein' You Around

It won't be long,
I'll find my way home
Thro this dark tunnel haunted
By a specter of gray ghosts.

I reach out with a song,
To a end that knows me
Yet, defies the grits of my balls;
Ain't no mercy for the hypocrite.

I turn up the heat.
I'll ride this vibe into the ground
And come up strong indeed.
In time, I'll be seeing you around.

Akpan

Day 2: Shall I

Shall I go crippled to the gates of war?
If I cringe in fear, how shall I stand tall?
How shall I dance at the sound of gunshots?
Shall I go hard or go home when they go bust?

Shall I turn in my badge at the roll call?
If valor's genuine, shouldn't I be upfront
Dancing with wolves and busting Kalashnikovs?
Shall I compensate drama with A-Bombs?

Shall I tuck tail or set a date with terror?
If I'm a soulja must I not be a warrior?
Shall I go out with guns blazing or what?
Shall I, shan't I? Not if I want to rule the world.

Akpan

Day 1: Bomb

If I was a bomb
I'll work on a timer
And set it on repeat.
I'll floor my visual perimeter,
Spewing lethal shrapnel of prophecy.

If I was a bomb
The reaction would be total,
The repercussion confrontational.
I'll invade the mediocre mindset
And go boom at the threat of regret.

If I was a bomb
I'll obliterate a dare called impossible,
Pound a rubble out of obstacles.
I'll go nuclear only to turn the table.
Fools will bite the dust until they shrivel.

If I was a bomb
I'll disintegrate the toys of war.
I'll lend decibels to silent clouds.
I'll bring down the glass ceiling in a storm
Of shards the waking flood drowning the freaks out.

If I was a bomb
I know where I would touch down.

Akpan