RECOMPENSE FOR DAMAGE, BY MICHAEL AKUCHIE |
I’ve never cared for the National Anthem. —Ada Limón What do I owe you who heaves against my voice? Somewhere between the gallop of my feet & destination boasts a policeman. Power in my country is an affliction. His rifle smacks against the crown of a civilian. Civilian whose rights are threaded with constitution. Justice is expensive shit. I can't afford it so why work my bones to pretend? Why serve you whose gratitude is waist-deep in carnage? I hum the anthem because a terror shadows me. Why worship with harmony this anthem? The terror is government with its several spikes of law-enforcement. My means to rebel is a shrill cry. A flare gun launched into an edition of night. O helm of predators, listen. I blossom into phoenix. My voice is a republic carved from the rib of rage, an honest light of day. |
Michael Akuchie is a poet proud of his Igbo-Esan heritage. His debut chapbook, Wreck (The Hellebore Press, 2020), selected by José Olivarez, received the 2019-2020 Hellebore Poetry Scholarship Award. He reads submissions for Frontier Poetry and Whale Road Review. He tweets @Michael_Akuchie.