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.

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.

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.

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.

Smile or Cry Freedom

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

Summer rains in people’s faces
The innocent in search of grace
But the good hearts have been misplaced
Collectively we are in a state of disgrace

I saw the fear in an innocent man
Who fell victim to their game of mind
He knew nothing but what has been given
He expected a seat on the table, they told him be glad we allowed you to keep on living

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

Even a lonely wolf ends up in a pack
The pain you bottle in would always end up in a ‘pop’
When you tear up it’s a cry, collectively it’s a rain
When it rains it pours, I guess only then can we be pure

The hidden tears in our eyes
Do result to violence in disguise
How costly is the price of peace..(Sigh)
When was the last time you took away someone’s cry

Smile is one amongst the greatest of gifts
With the most minimal of efforts one could uplift
Emotions might be the strongest of feelings
But a smile remains the strongest of all emotions

When was the last time you made yourself smile
When was the last time you made your family smile
When was the last time you made your neighbors smile
When was the last time you made your country smile

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2021.

Political Scar

Politics of scars
We all bear the injuries to their lies
Falsehood of nobility, they won the nobel prize
Trips to London, they are always first in line

It’s been a sad journey from the dawn
My soul is depleting under the sun
The rays that should console are burning my lawn
Left to right it is fire burning from the ground

Politics of scars
We all bear the injuries to their lies
Falsehood of nobility, they won the nobel prize
Trips to London, they are always first in line

They say the lion’s heart will protect us when the storm comes
I guess we are doomed if the lions heart pilots the storm
It’s always raining under the sun but the tears does not fall from the sky
Soaked in the blood of the innocent, they enjoy their lives

We live through political scars
Chairs of responsibility are thrown outside the door
Our family tree is surviving on broken branches
While the roots are burning into ashes

We are growing apart, 60 years and counting
It puts me to tears watching my country die
Nigerians need a break, from all this political victimising
The political scars we bear continues to be horrifying

Too much silence is killing us from the inside
False news keep misinforming our conscience
To what crime have we committed to deserve such sentence
An overcrowded prison of mind for our nation’s citizens

Sight of belief, we live to only say goodbye
Rest in peace after peace–after peace, I wonder where is the peace
Prayer after prayers after prayers that the bloodshed should cease
Hopefully?! we blindly call on hope to get us off our knees

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2021.

The Isle of Growth

We look far but the next step is right in front
They say keep your head high, I say keep your head straight
Focus and vision are of two different constraint
The road you walk should not be a road to talk but rather a road to the top

The foundation to your success has been done
Five weeks of training with a little bit of fun
The experience has been worth it since day one
The sacrifices you made to continue along
Is all part of the journey to keep you strong

Success is a name but growth is the aim
Do not point your trigger at something you cannot claim
For when the fire burns you might not survive the flame
Needless to say stay firm and acclaim your name, build yourself so strong that even your shadow has a good name

A Positive attitude will never let you down
Obstacles are bound to come along your journey
They say “believe to achieve” and then you conceive
There is nothing wrong with taking a step back in order to make a leap

Today is tomorrow and yesterday you were prepared
If I can I will, then I should be willing today
For a delay today can reverse my preparations of yesterday
Thus, who I am now shall always remain the best of me each and every day

We look far but the next step is right in front
They say keep your head high, I say keep your head straight
Focus and vision are of two different constraint
The road you walk should not be a road to talk but rather a road to the top

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2021.

Hopeless Eyes

When hope is gone
The truth is lost
Innocence becomes victim to greed
At the end all we walk
Is the part to death

We call on hope
While using the wrong scope
We harm ourselves with our own antidote
We tell them not to hang us but we give them the ropes
What an irony of life, freedom bottled in a globe

I saw the pain in a child’s eye
A pain that could crumble all that is beneath the sky
A pain that would make a grown man cry
How could an infant be subjected to such a life
Where even death carries more peace than being alive

I see dark smokes in the near future
I fear we’ve lost the dreams of Martin Luther
I see red rivers flowing in the streets
The lack of peace could only break us to pieces
The pieces we have is being swept off its feet

If you think you are safe
Please do not be deceived
What you see might not be what it seem
I see cries in the hearts of the Youth
I fear for all, when they realise the truth

It is never too late to change
Be adviced not to provoke an outrage
What I saw in the eye of the child stroke my soul
I employ you to think of tomorrow
The joy you would derive from alleviating someone elses sorrow

A day lost cannot be found
A smile gone should not return with frawn
A life is to be lived not to be killed
A journey started today is planned yesterday
For a destination reached tomorrow shall not come forth with sorrow

COPYRIGHT © A-One Poetry, 2021.

Mr. Earnest

Mr. Earnest got entangled with dishonest
How ironic she was trying to earn a nest
They say life is bitch and she wears a dress
Before you fail her test, I suggest you listen to Mr. Earnest

She told me she was suffering from infertility
So I gave in to the cravings
Weekday afternoons at my place
Weekends at her place

It was so beautiful and simple
No emotions attached, like I was single
We do not go on dates but we do movie nights
We cuddle with a little bit of foreplay to stir up an appetite

I later found out she has a man
I was just a friend that could satisfy her romance
I did not care because I found out while deep in her trench
She always take me high up the mountain before releasing an avalanche

Funny it started up as a one night stand
The usual take care of business and scram
But this time around things didn’t go as planned
“They say when you go black you never go back”…I fell victim to my own card

We rehearsed a couple—many times to perfection
A faithful morning she woke me up to tell me she was pregnant
You must be kidding because that kid cannot be mine
We agreed, in fact you told me you could not conceive a child

Do not tell me to be responsible if what we have started off with a lie
I knew I should have ended it, the moment I knew you had a guy
But you trapped me in your box and seduced me with your charming eyes
I have told you once, I won’t again “I am not having a child”

You lied to me and cheated on him
You broke his heart and left him for me like it was nothing
Now you have the guts to say ‘you want us to start something’
There was never a thing to start, embrace this as our ending

Call me Mr. Earnest
I am never dishonest about being honest
Truth be told, despite the fun, I have been wanting to end this
We held a good friendship and you ruined it

Mr. Earnest got entangled with dishonest
How ironic she was trying to earn a nest
They say life is a bitch and she wears a dress
Before you fail her test, I suggest you take a lesson from Mr. Earnest

COPYRIGHT © AHMAD ABDUL-ONE, 2020.