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

#5: Heal Me

Poem number 5 in my quest for 1000 poems
in 365 days. I tagged it, #1KP22. That's 1,000
poems ín 2022.

Lord, heal me

And I will be healed

Reach into my weakness

And infuse wholeness

I will not be afraid

Cause You are my praise

I will not be ashamed

Cause I trust in Your name

Let me wash

Where Your healing fountains

Steadily flow and gush

Let me touch Your grace

I want to see Your face

Heal me

As Your springs wash over me

Lay me down

Where the waters are still

Lay Your hand on my brow

Shatter this crippling pain

Wracking my mortal frame

Touch my life

Fill me, Light of Life

Put darkness to flight

Make me a vessel of health

And supernatural healing

Filled with Your breath

And the touch of Your Spirit

Send Your word

And deliver me from my affliction

Lord, heal me

And I will be healed.

Akpan

#4: Conscious Syllables

Poem number 4 in my quest for 1000 poems
in 365 days. I tagged it, #1KP22. That's 1,000
poems ín 2022.

Spitting words
That leap off the page
In the wake of bombs
Verbs that raise the stakes
Legible, audible
Shrapnels of syllables
That erase the disease
Just when it thinks peace
In a time when plowshares
Are hammered into spears
My words will be there
Every iota
Down to the omega
Shaping lilts of the musical
With the functions of a miracle
Words
That topple wars
As snug as a slug
In the lungs of warlords
These are the words
That spoke the worlds
With concrete foundations
Into concrete manifestation
These words
Will defuse A-Bombs
I am a man of peace
And when I speak
My words declare war
On the enemies of peace
When I spit phrases
Things are no longer at ease
My words
Are mighty rushing winds
That create the miraculous
These words
Are weapons forged
Against cohorts of darkness
I'm spitting words
That have power to transform
Ain't no dime n' nickel words
My words
Move the world.

Akpan

#3: What A Friend

 

Poem number 3 in my quest for 1000 poems
in 365 days. I tagged it, #1KP22. That's 1,000
poems ín 2022.

What a Friend
Giving to the end
It's more than I'll fully comprehend
Yet it's more than enough knowing
That He is
A Friend indeed
No other Friend
Befriends like my Savior Friend
No other Friend
Took away the weight
Of my sin and shame
What a Friend
To have in time of pain
To hold my hand
When I walk on sinking sand
What a Friend
To provide and defend
To suffice and lend
His Everlasting Arms
As a shield against harm
Sticks closer than a brother
Bears me up on His shoulder
I have a Friend
Who abides forever
He is my Strength
A shelter and boulder
In the storm of the desert
Help of the helpless
What a Friend
In a friendless orb
He does not pretend
When He shows His love.

Akpan

When You Think It's Over

 

1KP22, means 1,000 poems ín 2022.

He'lll put you over
Just when you think it's over
He'll offset a shower
Trust the Great Provider
He'll bend you over
To make you surrender
So He can put you over.
He lifts up hands that hang down
And makes the feeble knee sound
He is the Great Jehovah
That means, the ‘I Am That I Am,
‘I Will Be Who I Will Be.’
And when He gets you over
Straight up, you're gon' see
That you are a testimony
He makes crooked paths straight
He'll make your mountain a plain
And split your Red Sea down the middle
He'll walk you thru
The eye of a needle
Your strength He'll renew
So you can mount up like the eagle
He walks on the wings of the wind
Nothing's too hard with Him
He'll put you over
Just when you think it's over
He'll offset a shower
Trust the Great Provider
He'll bend you over
To make you surrender
So He can put you over.
He'll give you cover
Under the shadow of His wings
He is the Giver
Of every good and perfect gift
Don't tryna be clever
He's only strong when you're weak
He'll never leave you
In your darkest hour
He'll not abandon you
In the midnight hour
If the storm brings the thunder
With one word He'll put it to rest
His peace is like a river
Relax and watch God manifest

Akpan

Abundantly Able

1KP22 Poem #2
I'm trying for 1000 poems ín about
365 days. So from now till December, I'm
flooding this blog with pure poetry.

He'll put you over
Just when you think it's over
He'll offset a shower
Trust the Great Provider
He'll bend you over
To make you surrender
So He can put you over.
He lifts up hands that hang down
And makes the feeble knee sound
He is the Great Jehovah
That means, the ‘I Am That I Am,
‘I Will Be Who I Will Be.’
And when He gets you over
Straight up, you're gon' see
That you are a testimony
He makes crooked paths straight
He'll make your mountain a plain
And split your Red Sea down the middle
He'll walk you thru
The eye of a needle
Your strength He'll renew
So you can mount up like the eagle
He walks on the wings of the wind
Nothing's too hard with Him
He'll put you over
Just when you think it's over
He'll offset a shower
Trust the Great Provider
He'll bend you over
To make you surrender
So He can put you over.
He'll give you cover
Under the shadow of His wings
He is the Giver
Of every good and perfect gift
Don't tryna be clever
He's only strong when you're weak
He'll never leave you
In your darkest hour
He'll not abandon you
In the midnight hour
If the storm brings the thunder
With one word He'll put it to rest
His peace is like a river
Relax and watch God manifest.

Akpan

Thanks A Million Times Only

Happy New Year
Happy New Beginnings!

I'm here

To say thank You

Thru the season of tears

If it had not been for You

I would not be here

I say thank You

For the Light of You

When things in the shadow

Were the spawn of evil.

To You alone

Lord, all praise is due

Still I thank You

For gifting me You

You're Lifter Of My Head

You're the Stone Of My Help

Father, I thank You

It's a great thing to serve You

And a good thing

To give thanks to the King,

A million times only.

I'm here to thank You

For the gift of life and friendship

For all the things that make You, You

You've been faithful and true

You've given me beauty for ashes

The garment of praise for distress

You are beautiful

And You've made beautiful

All things concerning this child

I offer You my life

To show I appreciate You

A million times only to

Humbly say, thank You.

Akpan

Absolute Emptiness

I will never

Go back to the world

Not ever

I've tasted His word

It's the taste of

Honey from the honeycomb

This world ain't my home

So I'll never

Not after a taste of forever

Turn again

To the substance of shame

Things are different now

He turned my life around

I am decided

As this world abideth

To maintain a closer walk

With nobody else

But my Lord Jesus

I'll give all and the best

Until there's nothing left

To give of myself

But absolute emptiness

That craves only the fullness

Of the Most High's presence.

Akpan

Myanmarssacre

The military junta in Myanmar forfeits the rule of law,
constantly abuses the human rights of citizens, kills with
 impunity, locked up elected officials without a fair trial,
and persistently, cracks down on protesters. There is
 no feasible plan for transition to civil rule.
Photo Courtesy: UNHCR

There are

Rats in the wall

Cats down the hall

Dealing whacks to the ball

There are

Gnats in a shawl

Bats sucking blood

Human sharks to a gull

There are

Scratch marks on the pall

Spinal cracks from a fall

Like slaps to the gall

There are

Mats on the floor

Shacks for the haul

Sights that wrack your skull

The cat sat on the mat

The patch set for the rat

The fact's tacked up the rack

And rattatat on the rat.

There are

Stacks in the hull

Mass for those shot

Fatal scars from a brawl

There are

Brats waging war

Masses on the run

Chased down by war dogs

There are

Blasts from a bomb

Tags for the lost

Rattatats from a gun

We are

Rats in the wall

The cats hunt for us

Like sharks to scent

Of blood

The new government's

Like boys with toys.

Akpan