Could've

By Akin Jeje

If we could’ve improved the past,

Robert Nesta Marley would still be singing

songs of freedom, an’

Zimbabwe would truly be free.

If we had disproved the past,

Gangs and drugs would have

zipped by, Fast,

All our youth gassed on graduate degrees.

We have not completely failed the

aspirations Of our parents, many

now deceased,

With professions, families and

properties, Yet beyond is the

Promised Land,

As we wander through

Nomadlands, Nomanslands,

Decades past our King’s prophetic decree.

We strive to be,

But what are we, but awash

In the acrid bitterness of

history? Our Passover

Is adorned by the bricks and

mortar We built for others.

Astringent herbs We savor,

milling miles through deserts

Falling prodigal to golden idols.

Will fatted calves still

await Our arrival?

I plead guilty to charges criminal

and uncivil That I have underserved

the people.

My selfishness and short

sight Has wreaked an

existential blight.

We were a generation borne into

frustration. Too many expired long

before retirement.

Even away from strife of the streets, we were rafters,

Rife with disease, fruits of overwork, leisure

without relief, Lesser idols than Whitney,

Prince and Michael

Fervent figures skating over a

bottomless grief. Turned back on

the TV,

Innocent lad, black, wrong

address, Blasted twice, bitter

relic, white,

In Kansas City, Missouri.

Further north,

Chi-Town last week,

Thousands of the

youth dem,

Burned, bashed, twerked, blazed

and blazed Most everything,

In desperate pursuit of release.

It could’ve been better,

It could’ve always been

more, Than this.

What is it

now, What

is it here,

That

We actually achieved?

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Kinsman Quarterly’s literature director Akin Jeje is a Nigerian-Canadian poet living in Hong Kong who has published internationally. His debut poetry collection, Smoked Pearl, was longlisted for the 2009 International Proverse Prize and published in 2010. His recent poem, "Ping Shan Heritage Trail," was featured in the WHERE ELSE: An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology (April 2023). Jeje has completed another poetry manuscript, write about here, and is working on a novel titled Maroon. He is also a regular contributor to Cha: An Asian Literary Journal.