Mr. Maybe I Can

Maybe I'll buy a rose

Hang it down by a hose

Maybe I'll play host

To so many ghosts

Maybe I'll raise a toast

To bodies burned to roast.

Maybe I'll walk a mile

It just might make you smile

Maybe I'll cross the line

And watch the shapes align

Maybe I'll bide my time

And thus confide my crime.

Maybe I'll make demands

See if it makes amends

Maybe I'll do the dance

And damn the consequence

Maybe I'll take a chance

With life and make big plans.

Akpan

Dreams Don't Lie

Our dreams are young
And tender like a rose bud,
Sensitive as the skin on a baby's butt.
Our imagination keen as a youngster's,
A solid refuge in disasters,
A hope that sticks like plaster.
Our dreams sculpt us
And sharpen our focus.
We must shelter its shoots
Build ridges to protect its roots.
We must tend our threatened garden
Raise a hedge before it is trodden.
Budding dreams
Are rare dreams,
They're hard to come by
Tho in time all things die,
True dreams do not lie.

Akpan

Need to Bleed

I feel the need to bleed
I kinda miss the thrill
Cause feeling has become luxury.
My heart timed out n' imploded,
The sketch is duly noted.
Hearts of stone have been molded
By license to kill freely given
To men with guns whose heart's frozen
Conscience was an open wound
Before it got tanned for leather.
Our beached love vessel is marooned
And man trusts not his own brother.
Our custom hearts beat a custom tom;
We sold compassion for a song.
I feel I'd feel if I bleed
Right now my spot is a weed.

Akpan

One is a Crowd

It's kinda crowded in here
But hey! You've been here before,
I remember your face, clear.
You used to fill me in on stuff
And we'd laugh when's nothing's funny.
Suddenly, this enmity
And we grope for this time love.
Someone cinched the 3-fold cord
A little too  tight for  comfort
And it snapped for want of fresh air
Does anyone even give a care?
We broke up like atoms and gone
Our separate routes of destruction,
Three is companion
Two is communion
And love is bound
For hate is crowned,
One is a crowd.

Akpan

Catermorphosis

Beauty is a monster

That mastered the art of change.

Ask that caterpillar

Munching on greens to explain.

That monster must be tamed

Through diligence in the game.

Beauty is an achievement

And not a spur-of-the-moment

Glitter that goes and comes.

Beauty comes uncut like diamond.

We delight in beauty

Yet ignore its cycle of life;

From monster to ugly

Beauty braves men's sneer n' spite.

Growing with grace and truth,

Beauty is the symbol of youth.

Beauty asks not questions

Nor does it require permission.

Beauty must grow or die

It must from the monster divide.

Thus we must admit that change

Is to beauty a unique trait.

For beauty is a monster

Who has change tamed and mastered.

Akpan

Epiphany's Glow

To pluck Caspar

As with trembling fingers

Like a chess piece

And seat you among kings.

Bring epiphany's

Glow like Orion's star

Down into this

Cloying badass manger.

Akpan

Hate

Don't think for a minute.

Now imagine

The world we live in

Is under siege by

Hate

A thief of life.

Hate

A trigger of war,

A healer of none.

Imagine one word

Turning us into monsters

Bringing out the beast in us

Killing off the child we was.

Hate

Degenerates us

Agape

Regenerates us.

But which one shall we choose?

We got so much to lose.

Akpan

Adage

Rage rips off the page

Age unplugs the gauge

Adage makes a sage.

A cage is my stage

My wage serves a page.

Gage will boost rampage

Engage like a mage.

Akpan

Winged Haste

If I had wings
I'll dance on guitar strings
I'll play a tune on the winds
And shape the clouds into rings.
If I had wings
I'll take what the day brings
And live my sweetest dreams
Up to my fantasies' brink.
If I had wings
My tasks will go bada bing.
But I do not have wings
Therefore I'll settle for ding.

Akpan

Grand Life

Life could sometimes be grand

Like the moon in the pool

You might trap in your palm,

You could rise if you stoop.

A friend may be waiting

At the lip of the cliff,

And the burden you bear

Just might be a bear hug

From somebody who cares

And dares to pick you up.

Life may give the answer

To questions you may have

And the puzzle may solve

Itself and give you pause.

But you will always have

A hand to hold your hand.

Akpan

Window to Yesterday

You are a window to yesterday
An easelful of loaded portraits,
A treasure that is all mine to keep
A secret undertow that runs deep.
You are a stranger's kiss in the dark,
A blanket of embrace from the back.
You color life like the hibiscus
All things purple a priceless resource,
You are ember that keeps up the heat
Long after age erased time's imprint.

Akpan

Sweet Music

When I hear sweet music
My mind's gear shifts to cruise.
When I hear sweet music
My mood swings sign a truce.
When I hear sweet music
Kiss nighty night to stress.
When I hear sweet music
My heart of heart is blessed.
When I hear sweet music
My chemistry throws logic.

Akpan

Rap Songs

Remember the time every rapsong

Featured the phrase, 'break o' dawn?'

Those days are so long gone

Reminds me I ain't so young no mo.

Back then school was so much fun

We thrummed our desks like wooden drums

And did our own rap sing-a-longs

World classroom blackboard hit songs.

We sang songs of a better world

All 'round school it was the same song;

Cruising the hood in our droptops

Taking walks smelling like big bucks,

The moments we shared was the bomb

And our bubble bust with that bomb.

School dreams are mere dreams that dissolved

The moment we stepped out the door;

That is what life and fate taught us

Experience witnessed to the dot.

It's the love of folks and dear God

And self that keep us keeping on.

Akpan

Abel's Blood

That foetus ain't a blob in humanity,

She's the entire humanity in a blob.

And now she's been made a casualty

To the last of the innocent drop.

So we offer up as our offering

A stolen goblet of virgin blood,

We do not live but exist solely

If all we really do is yield up

The mantle of control to war dogs.

It's us who live by our hearts feeling

The pangs of misery who keep bleeding;

Abel's blood still appeals for justice

Wherever innocence is victimized,

And so we bear the mark of Cain

Unless we make that sacrifice

And break off the fingers of blame.

There is no redemption otherwise.

Akpan

Terms

I will engage life on my terms
Cherish each new day like totems,
I'll paste my face on each moment
Carve a smile on the firmament.
Hard tackle troubles as they come
Rip off obstacles like a bomb
Ask questions cause I'm a genius
Take suggestions from amateurs.
I'll climb a peak against the wind
Spread my wings n' I'm gone with the wind.
I've heard it said, life's a bitch,
No bones I'll put it on a leash
And then I'll carve a niche
In the eye of the storm and relish.

Akpan

Smile

Let me see that curve
Like the crescent moon
With its back to the ground.
Ditch 'em on the curb
Throw away that gloom
And smack-dab knock 'em out.
When push comes to shove
You light up a room
Filled up with deadbeat crowd.
And you bring me love,
Add bounce to my mood
And then you clear my frown.
Like corn on the cob
It's natural with you;
A joy that goes around.
Like the sun above
You tone up men's attitude
Yes, you do it without a sound.
Yo! Show off that curve
Like a drop of honeydew,
Refresh hearts that are down.

Akpan

We, the World

We are the world
And you best keep us in touch
Next time you're saving our butt.

We are the world
We are the children no more
It's time you got off the wall.

We are the world
And we run into our billions
More than a handful for your lot.

We are the world
We got feelings and a voice
So quit trying to play our God.

We are the world
We are worth far more than oil
And our value whoops your net worth.

We are the world
We are the price of your war
We'll blow your cover like c4s.

Akpan

Annoyin' thin'

You got that annoyin' thin'
From the chameleon
And you run all things.
You bling bling like diamond
Holy oil tinged with cinnamon,
Full of prophecies
Of rare prosperitys
Speaking better things
Enriching the rich poor
Whose belly is their god
Bewitching the rag poor
Always asking for more.
Your annoyin' thin'
Makes you higher than I
And you flaunt it
Like you are the Most High;
To you it's all about power
To rule from your high tower,
Dominion over men
The demons can take ten.
It is written in your scripture
Ye are gods above all nature.
So we carry your cross
The modern-day Jesus.
Your idea of humility
Is men serving your vanity
I'm not forgetting the cash flow
You got the annoyin' thin' so you know
Our plans and purpose
Are what you propose.
Speak lord,
For your servants listen,
You rock
And your Lexus glisten,
Spit lord,
And we'll have our healing.
Your mistakes
Are perfection redefined
To complain
Shows I'm stepping out of line.
You're annoyin'ted to know no shame
You're perfect in all your ways;
Professor of religion,
Chief deity of the pantheon.
Everything you see is yours
And we must come on all fours.

Akpan

Gilt-Edged Invitation

I will take you down to where I live
All the way up to the nth degree
I will show you fear in the crannies
The tears on the pillow shed nightly.
I'll give you a blow-by-blow account
Of the kiss-kiss bang-bang downtown.
I will share the dreams I often dream
The waking dreams that's my reality.
I'll take your hope and break it slowly
Like Passover bread we'll eat and weep,
Show you hate in the eyes of a teen
I raise the skirts of a child n' you see
The bombs strapped to her waist set to kill
God's enemies who resist his will.
I will love to show you where I live
You'll want to bleed when you see me bleed.

Akpan

Smoke Up

You can have a cigarette
If you smoke
Like chimneys no regret
Get it tokin.
Have a seat, relax
Throw your feet n' max
Rewind n' unwind
You're fine git your shine.
But let me ask you
What's on the menu?
Do you keep wake to
Think over the blues
Half the world's going through?
News of grave kabooms?
Go on, smoke up
But who does the math?
Ever get hung up
On who bells the cat?
When they throw a war
Who gets the crumb?

Akpan

What the Thunder Said

Getting caught in the rain
Is just like getting brained,
You go against the grain
To pick up a new strain.
The harder you ball
The harder they come.
Tryna make it alone
And the world picks a bone
It only rains on you
When friends don't stay true.
You get a runaround in sludge,
All hell runs you off in smudge.
You are the antihero
Of a legend the world composed
And it rains and pours and rains
Until your heart unplugs the drains
Through a flood of all the pains
Then your eyes cloud and it rains.

Akpan

Rather

I’d rather have simple human dignity,

Than so much pretentious prosperity

I’d rather take death over dishonor

And a multi-billion dollar net worth.

I’d rather be weak and human

And live from my heart to my hand

Than be rich and superhuman

And make zombies of my fellowman.

I do not have the heart

To stab myself in the back

Nor would I play the part

Of a self-destructive Judas.

I keep a simple creed;

I will not feed on greed.

I’d rather have my dignity.

I’d rather have my presence of mind,

Than be the owner of a goldmine.

I’d rather construct a real life

Than color one with shades of lies.

I’d rather be somebody

Than be bought with snot money.

I’d rather have human dignity

Than the hypocrisy of riches.

Akpan

Connoisseur

In the voice of a refugee who's lost all.

I find refuge within myself

I must turn to nobody else

I got big promises to keep

And no one else will do for me

I harbor solace inside my heart

I must or quit before I start.

I must take this soul odyssey

I must proceed by what I see

And taste and touch, by what I bleed.

I must find refuge within me

I lost it all except for me.

I’ve come from a place of misery

I find refuge within no one,

There is no one who is someone

Who dares lift me outta this one;

I am the reason I go on.

I must seek no source of comfort

Besides the man in the mirror

I severed all ties with this world,

Now I’m a connoisseur in horrors.

Akpan

Visual Cancer

Source: twinkl.co.uk

For all displaced persons. 

I see dead people

Still breathing but like pimple

On the face of the earth

Cause we erased principle.

Like living substance of death,

They are situational zombies.

We call ‘em refugees

They go ahead of us

Straddling our vain conceit

To report our bloodlust

How we downgrade human dignity

And upgrade hateful wars.

I see displaced persons

Burnt twigs snatched from the fire

Our yet-to-be-learned lessons

Feels like I’m preaching to the choir.

If this situation is critical

Response ought to be reciprocal.

Akpan

Ratatatatatt

For all the students who were shot dead by Boko Haram

terrorists when they  raided their high school grounds

late at night some six years ago.

They came by tens and twenties

Armed with guns they were crazies

They mobbed the halls and hostels

Bad gone mad they went wholesale.

Ratatatatatt tactics

Chronic bombastics

The comeback was spontaneous,

The feedback bold hellacious.

The sound of gunshots

Broadcasted the onslaught.

It was not a drama club flick

This was a stone cold mass murder stint.

Every legend has its hero

hence this one's not a zero;

Some brave kid didn't wait around

They hauled butt and dashed for town.

But the monsters had the perimeter

And slugs cut down ‘em teenagers.

Teachers, non teachers, students all;

Prospects of a better life;

A genocide, a mismatched war,

And they lost paradise.

Akpan

                                                     

Rime of The Block

I'm a character with a unique talent,
I'm a scrivener of a special kind.
I script every writer's torment
On the tablet of their confused mind.

I stifle the musings of the muse;
I dehydrate the juice of its issues
I throw a wrench in the wheel
Mess up inspiration's reverie.

I wipe the walls of memory clean
Throw sand in the eye of creativity
I type trash on their laptop screen
Bleed bilge the length of their sheets.

I have a way with words they don't
I wring them out till cadence is lost.
I send them away on literary vacation
Yet prey on them with a restless condition.

I am the silence of the muse,
I am the pent-up flow of the juice,
I am the blank page on their manuscript,
The fixed cursor on their computer screen.

Akpan

Give Me Drama

Give me drama
A legit diller thriller
I gotta bust outta this monotone
Deal me a raw crisis zone.

Give me drama
A Stephen Kingish bone chiller
Get the hell outta my way
Hi time I ditch this stalemate.

Give me drama
Get me a grandmal
Stick a glock in my brain
I feel I'll ride the hell train.

Give me drama
Pitch me against the cheetah
I'll race through the Sahara
Better yet, I'll swim the Niger.

Give me drama
Give me Count Dracula
Hand me a rim of paper
I'll write the world's 8th wonder.

Akpan

Rape is the New Religion

Rape is the new religion
Spreading like a contagion.
Terror is the criterion,
Its disciples are a legion
To them y'all old feeble carrion
They play like the accordion.
Their converts bomb your reunion
And preach their culture like Gideon.
The rape of Chibok by minions;
Ruined orphans plundered and bludgeoned.
Then they demand a bullion
The nerve of these rapscallions;
Ravishing women in their dungeons
Planting their seeds of oblivion
The 'scuse? The girls get the empyrean.
Sex-Demons need a mental surgeon
To castrate their lower region
Hand 'em up to the dark son of Dione.

Akpan

This Freedom

Do not take at all
For granted this freedom
Which was bought for
You with dead men's blood.
You're charged to perform
A grand second coming.
Bring salvation
Back to your country;
You must not cry
Weak in our nighttime.
Be strong and take
Courage from your pain.
They gave their all
And cut off their balls
You were not saved
To breed fear again.
You're the reason
We engage treason.
Quit playing around
You can hold us down.
You were redeemed
So you'll produce seed.
Do take that bait
And we'll keep the faith.

Akpan