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.

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.

Victim Cry(s)

A goal achieved is a goal defined 

They turn a blind eye to our victim cry 

Our innocence has been violated a countless times

And they expect us to keep putting the past behind 

Say No, Yes I have said so 

Then what next, is that enough though ?

What else do I need to do to make them know 

But is it enough that they know ?

Before your title you were human

How difficult is it to maintain that union 

Aside from peace what did you hope to conceive 

How ironic, anti-robbery becomes freedom thieves

United we should be by the bond of nature 

Nigeria lands our home, gardens and structure

We are united by a bond that renders you my brother/sister

Rather than being my killer, what does it take from you to be my savior

I plead with the humanity that resides within you 

Listen to the victims cry, deja Vu

It happened, it is happening, it will continue until you change your attitude 

Ignorance never solved any mystery, just ask scooby doo

I plead on behalf of my fellow citizens 

The force is out of hand and needs sincere discipline 

Do not go out of line, in the name of putting us in line 

ENDSARS is not a motion, It is a race that is determined to reach its finish line

A race cannot be finished behind the finish line 

Do not turn a blind eye to the victims cry

Their citizenship has been betrayed a thousand times

How ironic that he who is to bring an end, starts a beginning that leads to his end.

COPYRIGHT © AHMAD ABDUL-ONE, 2020.

The golden Charmer

Knighted child in golden armor

Mattered not should ye be son to a farmer

A lawyer, doctor or even a Governor

The circle of life never existed in only one harbour

Yet this reality can be manipulated by a charmer

 

Knighted child in golden armor

Life seemed flexible from every angle in the mirror

Once away from the shadows of leisure

One would find the storm had never been heavier

Ye had only been sheltered under the family umbrella

 

A tradition of cosset

Shielded from all obstacles from birth

Ye’s Kindred meant no harm but good

Little did they forget the jungle is made of different woods

Some might be hard, and some soft

Ones Texture dictates the rationale behind his growth

 

A tradition of cosset

A facade to the feeble minded

A misplacement of value

Such tender a generation where trust weighs more than truth

A rooted foundation that warps our youth

 

Stories are told

Yet the truth remains to unfold

If the ultimate power is control

Then, a knighted child was only a means to a certain goal

How destructive a force yet attractive like gold

 

A knighted child in golden armor

Fell victim to the tradition of cosset

In plain sight is the absence of physical harm

While being ignorant to the notion of mental and emotional wants

To survive, the golden child needs to develop his personal charm

 

COPYRIGHT © AHMAD ABDUL-ONE, 2019.

Reverie

I came alive at a dinner table

I had Food for Thought

I was feed till my brain coughed

Intellects to my right and left

Heaven on earth knowledge at spread

A buzz session that buzzed my mind

I found my brain in a virtual gym

Shedding off ignorant muscles

And replacing them with a patriotic hope

In a jungle filled with predators

And aliens that try to exploit us

A round table was enough

Enough to rid our minds of arrogance

Enough to facilitate our road map

Enough to spark a revolution for a lifetime

We might find ourselves at odds ideologically

However, it is said “he that knows, is he who knows he doesn’t know”

If he knows not, why keep knowing ?

We might find ourselves at odds physically

However, it is said “I can, I will”

If you can, why only stop at willing ?

I smile

I smile

A feeling for life

That makes the heart go bright

I smile

Priceless like the wind

That allows the birds take flight

I smile

To caste aside my pains

I am not about to allow anything ruin my day

I smile

When I look up to the sun

It keeps telling me the future is bright

I smile

I call my brothers so we smile

I smile

Only together shall we survive

I smile

Knowing together we will live life