Henry Akuete: My Poems and some

My eyes have seen and my mouth is mum I cant summon words for what i've seen It scares the very life of me and i quiver I sweat salt water and blood as i stand Is it but a bad dream in which reality is cruel? My wish to wake never bears ripe fruit As i eat the raw and bitter seed of existence My skin is plagued and thick as i look Chastised by the long whip of what i behold I cried on the day of my birth as i realised  truth I tried desperate retreat into whence i came But my umbilical was severed by a midwife Conspiring to trap me in this dark cycle Now i hate two who summoned me without consent This soul came and went a while before Hoping never to come once again In limbo all was still and all was calm Now all i know is strife and all i see is fear Hate envy spite war greed terror and pain Give me a dagger to quench these here eyes For what i see not hurts me no further Give me wax to plug these here ears What i hear not is for myth and sailors My eyes hav...

When will i die this death when will it be done away with because the how is certain death will come on the battlefield shot or blown is how i go They send me out into the night to fight he with more metal he knows I'm on my way now he waits to pounce and devour me this i know and sure to go I am sent out naked and hungry this order i know to be my last i write a note to send back home I stop to pray and wipe my brow as i step into the waiting night All i know is the man by me brother to bleed and breathe our last a soldier i am my fate is sealed they sent me to die and die i will no coin, no gun, no boot no food

Wait, listen. Hush, listen Its in the wind. listen closely When the birds sing listen As the waves come crashing listen The owl hoots in the dark, listen Open your ears and listen a while Mystery comes undone in them The small and silent are books Read the sounds and understand Tap into the ether and learn For the birds are wiser than Solomon Listen to the songs they sing The songs of joy and songs of fear Watch for when they fly and whence For in that lies the key to survival Beg the little ant to give speech Beg him for the secrets to all The cockroach was at the beginning At the creation of matter and time The fish has been to the very depths He has seen the most unseen At the place where the sun cant shine Listen when the water is still The subtle ripples will take it to you Look to the east when the sun rises Follow its path across the sky west Look keenly and learn to live Listen, hush, listen my brother Eavesdrop into the raindrop as it falls Peek in...

Bring me a dog it is better than man Bring me a dog whom i wish to be Bring me a dog it sees the world Bring me a dog it hears and learns Bring me a dog its friend is a friend Bring me a dog it upholds loyalty Bring me a dog it walks by truth Bring me a dog it will not pretend. Bring me a dog its life is simple Bring me a dog it knows no creed Bring me dog for it sees no colour Bring me a dog its either right or wrong Bring me a dog for man is but a fool Bring me a dog it wont lie to itself Bring me a dog for man is a hypocrite Bring me a dog I've lost faith in men Bring me a dog it will not betray me Bring me a dog when you see one Bring me no man but bring me a dog

The youth in Benue state are still a long way from self liberation. Its high time they started realizing that the common good is far better than individual gains. I find it embarassing to hear that someone only wants to vote for a political candidate just because "he is from my LGA" or "he is my uncle's friend so me sef go chop" etc. At this age of enlightenment we should be concerned with the improvement of the benue economy and equitable distribution of the common wealth so that we are able to reap the bread of our endeavour. You dont need a politician to give you 10k , what you need is an environment to make your 'hustling' worth your while. That is the promise of a developed and industrialised economy. The basis for which a guber candidate should be voted for should only be his capacity to provide the prerequisite socio economic environment conducive for the individual or collective pursuit of happiness. Its not about how young or how old, neither is...

In the wake of the just concluded presidential plebiscite in Benue state, the law of causality has become evident in the machinations within the political sphere. Events are occurring and these events have remote and immediate causes. It is true that at the federal level, power has been unhinged and shifted from from the "ruling" PDP to the  opposition  in a surreal political Armageddon. Now the APC holds sway as the majority party by virtue of winning the presidential election and holding the majority of seats in the legislative chambers. What now becomes the fate of the gubernatorial aspirants in both the PDP and the APC in Benue state is akin to the unknown climax of a champions league final between two footballing titans. This is heightened most severely by the fact that the principal of the incumbent government Dr Gabriel Suswam, himself the de facto leader of the PDP in Benue state was defeated by a candidate of the opposition APC, Chief Senator Barnabas Gemade in the z...