Friend Zone

How could you say we could still be friends
When we never shared the same emotional lens
Everytime you see me your heart gets intense
It’s obvious you love me but you keep hiding behind a pretense

I laid my heart out for you
And you walked all over it with your matching shoe
I crawled, asking “what you want me to do”
You looked me in my eye and gave me my heart to chew

They say the best things in life are not free
Because you were the best thing in my life, I refused to let you be
I became the friend you talk to when no one was there but me
The one you complain to on how your boyfriend cheats

I was heartbroken but delighted hearing your voice
I kept crying wondering when you would realize
I was the bestie in the friendzone that had to rejoice
Giving you advice on how to go about with your love life

I understood you never liked me like I loved you
You never saw me as the man who will take you beyond the moon
Wake up to my breakfast and visit the zoo
Whom before you go to sleep would say “Ï love you”

With time I got used to the pain
The headaches stopped affecting my brain
My tears no longer poured like rain
My heart began to turn sane

Yet we became closer friends
But that didn’t stop my painful trends
I always wonder to myself when this would end
But how I could I live in a world without my gem

He later cheated with your best friend
You came to me crying as the dependable friend
I cheered you up and made the situation less tense
Even convinced you to look at it in a lighter sense

weeks later you came back to me saying you’ve fallen in love
It’s been sudden but its like this person has you in his palm like gloves
How this time around you believe he is your true love
Only for me to ask who and you mention a name that wasn’t mine

They say better late than never
But I cannot be chasing after you forever
As much as I would wish you to be my lover
You’ve made your choice and I hope that choice would treat you better

How could you say we could still be friends
When we never shared the same emotional lens
Everytime you see me your heart gets intense
It’s obvious you love me but you keep hiding behind a pretense

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2023.

Smile

Pledge the badge of loyalty
Sing the songs of hypocrisy
Hiding under the name of democracy
While matching in the name of bureaucracy

When was the last time you saw your smile
When was the last time you saw your family smile
When was the last time you saw your neighbor smile
When was the last time you saw your country smile

Summer rains in people’s face
The innocent are in search of grace
The hearts of the good is on a verge of misplace
Collectively we are in a state of disgrace

I saw the fear in an innocent man
Who fell victim to the politics of scam
He knew nothing of their selfish plan
While expecting thy mail, thy became their mailman

When was the last time you saw your own tear
Despite knowing everyone around you survives under fear
Might you be so heartless that you do not even care
I suggest you look in the mirror before looking into others’ affair

They say’ even a lonely wolf ends up in a pack
To survive one needs to learn how to counter their attack
Take a wrong move and you might end up being their snack
Thus, one step at a time with your eyes behind your back

The hidden tears in our eyes
Do result to violence in disguise
Regardless of the storm brewing in the skies
It never hurts to wipe away someone else’s cries

Smiling is one amongst the greatest of gifts
With the most minimal of efforts one could uplift
No matter how strong, an emotion can succumb to a shift
With a smile on your face, one could never face defeat

Do your best to make yourself smile
Do your best to make your family smile
Do your best to make your neighbor smile
Do your best to make your country smile

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2023.

Out Cry

Take down the wall | Make it up to me
Do not let your pride stand between what we have built
Do not shy away from confessing your shortcomings
It’s simple, when you are wrong issue an apology
We build not destroy the branches of our family tree

Why end a caterpillar’s life because you fear butterfly
To what crime does the innocent deserve to die
No more political foolery, Unravel the myth to be free
Make way for me but first, make it up to me
Humble yourself and take a knee, Colin Kaepernick

Sixty-Two years and counting but I have nothing to show for it
Aside from banditry being my most lucrative industry
Corruption being my consistent and badge of identity
Lawlessness even laissez faire seem strict to me
Just discipline yourself and make it up to me

I can still forgive your shortcomings
Life is a book and we are all verses to it’s poetry
Every pencil has an eraser if you are willing to look for it
With a simple amendment we can make his story history
Don’t put your pride in the way just make it up to me

I do not care about my blood nor sweat I just want to be free
I was born in this land, why does it give me misery?
To think you could do me no more injury
Are you telling me the Vampires have taken over this country?
What happened to your magic, just make it up to me

What is there to fear just make it up to me
You have my mind chained and you hold the leash
I watched them kidnap and kill my brothers and you forced me to sheeh!
I kept my mouth closed while you eat off the leaves from our family tree
All I ask is for you to make it up to me, Capeesh!

Take down the wall | Make it up to me
Do not let your pride stand between national peace
Do not shy away from confessing your shortcomings
It’s simple, when you are wrong issue an apology
We build not destroy the branches of our family tree

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2023.

Play The Fool

There comes a time in life when you question the rules
Not every rhythm is supposed to sound cool
Not every motivation is meant to be your fuel
Not every information is stamped from school
Sometimes in life one has to play the fool

Talk is cheap in a world where everyone is broke
They hide behind their lies and wear it as a cloak
They will try to burn you and meditate with your smoke
They fear the greatness in you because it makes them choke
Talk is cheap, read the lines between their joke

When it rains it pours, when you cry it floats
Emotions are not weakness, wear them like a coat
Keep your head up but protect your throat
Why would they only give you milk when they know you are lactose ?
When it rains it pours, make sure you soak in the notes

Always remain loyal to your future and not your past
Whatever was should remain in contrast
Whatever is should not be bound by typecast
The past was once present, which of your gifts will last ?
Always remain loyal to your future for it holds the key to your craft

Never shy away from being different, always remain unique
Don’t let them look at you.., but make them value you as an antique
When you open your mouth let them feel the weight in what you speak
Humble yourself in silence and listen to what it means
Never shy away from being different, nor argue against critics

There comes a time in life when you question the rules
Not every information is stamped from school
Not every motivation is meant to be your fuel
Not every rhythm is supposed to sound cool
There comes a time in life when you just have to play the fool

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2022.

Love Tycoon

Who knew a casual stroll would end up changing of my life
That I would randomly meet this stranger that would blow my mind
That I could find a star shining at noon
That one person could take my heart out like a tycoon
And mentally incapacitate me with just a smile that strikes like a harpoon

They say love comes best when you are not looking
It creeps onto you with surprise and becomes the best feeling
It opens your heart to versions of joy you could never imagine
Takes your happiness up above every ceiling

I found myself at aww
My sight caught a girl with no flaw
Abundantly beautiful that a mere look dislocated my jaw
With an IQ of over 160 and I couldn’t understand what I saw

Could this be why they say love is blind
I tried to walk up to her but my confidence was nowhere to be found
It seemed she noticed me, so she put on a smile
I knew I was standing but all I felt was my soul drown

I attempted to take a step and found myself floating in thin air
As I gained consciousness I was falling to the ground
It was ironic that I felt no fear I just kept gazing at her smile
I felt the impact of the ground but I was too mesmerised to care

She had a reaction upon seeing my fall
She reached out her hands and said “let me help you up”
I look at her and said ”Yes, I will marry you’’
I might have just fallen but I already fell for you

Lost of words, she just giggled while shaking her head
I said to her “is that your way of celebrating our marriage”
She leaned over to my ear and gave me a breezy kiss
Then whispered to me “wake up you are daydreaming”

I opened my eyes and realised I was still on the floor
The angel like girl I saw taking pictures of squirrels
I quickly jumped up and dusted myself in disgrace
I caught a glimpse of her looking my way so I pretended to tie my lace

She began to walk towards me
I was literally shaking from the inside
She politely said “hi, I hope you didn’t hurt yourself”
I tried to act tough and said “nah, that fall was nothing”

I knew she saw through my lies, because my left elbow was bleeding
She reached into her bag and handed me a tissue
She asked if she could treat my wound ?
I gently whispered “Yes, I will marry you”

She asked me to repeat myself trying to understand what I just said
I said “yes please, that will be so kind of you.”
While she was cleaning my injury I told her she was really cute
She looked me in the eye and smiled then she said “You too”.

Who knew a casual stroll would end up changing of my life
That I would randomly meet this stranger that would blow my mind
That I could find a star shining at noon
That one person could take my heart out like a tycoon
And mentally incapacitate me with just a smile that strikes like a harpoon

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2022.

Paradox Of Diversity

We live in a nation of diversity
We survive through the paradox of diverse cities
In divide all we have is insurgency
In unity is how we overcome adversity
How difficult is it to achieve peace and tranquillity

They say we can only be independent as a unit
But our identity is what unifies us in spirit
Yet we allow divide to conquer us in public
We throw our humanity and suppress our ethics
All in the name of some ethnicity that we inherit

Before any identification came Adam and Eve
Before you typecast me I plead you see through my humanity
There is beauty beyond the eye in diversity
I am sure you all can tell from your experiences of daily activities
Or the joy derived from dressing in our natives for the Independence festivity

They say stability of unity comes from the spirit of equality and Oneness
I say the beauty of our unity comes from the strength in our diverseness
Only together can we achieve feets that are countless
What connects us are more than that which separates us, so do the maths
And you will find there is Unity in Diversity

Hate it or Love it we are all pieces to this puzzle called Nigeria
I do not have to know you for us to have the same criteria
We might be two sides of a coin but when you flip, I flip the same
So when I point at you in blame, I am only putting my name to shame
There is Unity in Diversity and this fact remains the same

They say what divides can also multiply
So when we unite, the result is something we cannot quantify
Sixty Two years later, it is time to ask ourselves why
Why am I frightened by the notion of adversity
Why am I blind to the fact that there is Unity in Diversity

We live in a nation of diversity
We survive through the paradox of diverse cities
In divide all we have is insurgency
In unity is how we overcome adversity
How difficult is it to achieve peace and tranquillity

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2022.

Be Strong

Please for once do not tell me ‘be strong
Just allow me to cry, Let me pour out my heart
There is just too much pain for me to hide
Do not look me in the eye and tell me you know what it is like
Just allow me to not be okay this time

I know we have to be strong to survive
But most of us just want to casually live our life
Travel the world and see the beauties beneath the sky
Go a little crazy, climb mountains, even sky dive
Fall in love, have a family, what better way to be alive

So, Please don’t tell me ‘be strong
Just let me cry and pour my heart out
There is just too much pain for me to hide
Don’t look at me and tell me you know my pain
It is okay to not be okay, so today I celebrate being humane

I know we have to be strong to survive
But for how long do we need to remain strong
They say too much of anything will bring harm
I guess I have been strong for so long that being strong don’t work
So just allow me to not be okay since we know pain always work

I have been bitten by snakes in the jungle
You asked me to walk it off
I walked my legs into the mouths of wolves
I escaped but got stung by a scorpion
Seeking for shelter I found myself in a den of hungry lions

Yet life moves on
I had to summon everything including my broken bones
The pain felt my pain and it apologised and moved on
Just when I thought I had hope, I was reborn
I found myself having a romantic hug with a python

Life just doesn’t wait for anybody to recover
They say life acknowledges your pain by making you suffer
So why be strong when your faith is in the hands of a butcher
What strength could one have to go against the alpha and omega
They say karma is a bitch and she is a painful lover

So, Please do not tell me ‘be strong
Just let me cry and pour my heart out
There is just too much pain for me to hide
Do not look at me and tell me you know what it is like
It is okay not to be okay, so today I celebrate being humane

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2022.

Delivery Note

It’s a Sunny weather under a winter storm
Frozen hearts govern the throne
A pack of dogs in need of bone
Magical hands that control the drone
Delivery note states “Carpe Noctum”

Crime celebrating its freedom
The innocent citizens are always the victim
These dogs are tearing us limb from limb
Ever seen a wolf scared of its sheep ?
Wolves in sheep’s clothing’ and they never fall asleep

Our life is in a crash course
A far cry for political divorce
We have been bleeding throughout the intercourse
This period we did not get the favours of our nurse
We have bleed so much, only a doctor can lift this curse

They told us less is more and we believed
They forced us to the sea just to watch them drink
They say practise what you preach, the power of thumb print
They gave an Aged-man instead of a Helmsman to man the wheel
They say fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me

It is a sunny weather under a winter storm
With frozen hearts that govern the throne
Then comes a pack of dogs in need of bone
With magical hands they control the drone
Delivery note states “Caveat Emptor”

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2022.

The Oppressed

My heart is filled with sorrow
I fear the pain today only gets worse tomorrow
A coalition of heartless pharaohs
That continues to narrow our road to freedom

We never called ourselves perfect
We are sinners like you seeking for our rights
Some of us have faced dark days their entire life
It is neither a dog fight but for some that is what it takes to survive

How heartless can one be in the pursuit for injustice
We claim to be our mothers child but with a heart of a devil
We have all been watered with the sins governing our jungle
Fertilised with its selfish pride while being ignorant to the life’s on cradle

To what level of dissatisfaction do we need to reach to achieve a sense
To what extent would ours need to be abducted for us to be intense
To what value will life need to be degenerated for us to switch from defence to offence
To what heartlessness do we attribute our current level of complacence

We understand to you we are like a nagging insect
With no idea of purpose we claim to be an intellect
We need this… we need that… ignoring reality and fact
Because we lack self respect, teach us not label us an insect

Life is but a game of irony
The most dirty of insects are alive to keep our planet clean
The sun has to fall in order for it to set
Even the tallest tree, one could find started from underground

It is heartless of a man who forgets from whence he came
Not just the physical but the spiritual elements of genesis
We as a people were never meant to be the cause of our pain
But we employed evil and now we watch them claim our rain

What goes around comes around, we oppress the littlest of living things
And now we complain of being oppressed by the powers-that-be
Our lives are always a reflection of that which we give
Simply as we expect we give and that shall be our way to live

We never called ourselves perfect
We are sinners like you seeking for our rights
Some of us have faced dark days their entire life
It is neither a dog fight but for some that is what it takes to survive

Our hearts shall be filled with joy
The pains of today shall be forgotten tomorrow
A coalition of compassionate pharaohs
That will widen our road to freedom

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2022.

Lovice

To all the ladies and gents
That are scared of commitments
That are always on self defense
Due to a little bit of scar from previous events

Do not shy away from heartbreak
By putting on the breaks on anything good that comes your way
Previous relationships’ is something like a snake
It is never the bite that puts you away but the venom coressing through your veins

You might have heard bad stories along the way
That have kept you in hiding from a mile away
It is like drinking acid while expecting not to decay
Do not fall victim to someone else yesterday’s fear and miss out on the opportunities of today

Cc everyone you see on the streets
To finally see the one that will set your heart free
What type of ink stains do you want on your sheets
Or have you never thought about the type of life you want to live?

Love is but beautiful
A synonym and acronym that can never be awful
More sweet than the Belgium waffle
And so elegant, there is nothing more lawful

There is nothing to fear but the paranoia of joy
A subtle reminder that loneliness is something to avoid
And Life is nothing but a void
With so much emptiness awaiting to be filled with your love

To all the ladies and gents
That are scared of commitments
That are always on self defense
Due to a little bit of scar from previous events

Do not shy away from heartbreak
By putting on the breaks on anything good that comes your way
Previous relationships’ is something like a snake
It is never the bite that puts you away but the venom coressing through your veins

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2022.