ALLEGORICAL: "THOUGH THIS ROAD IS LONELY BUT..." BY AKAN ESSIEN

Along the path  

whose breadth  

is not a Maths

that adds to mass  

but swells  

with wrath  

and lack 

we endured.

We trudged  

through nerves of sorrow

a labyrinth  

of labour  

without mirth  

marking

our journey.

At the city gates  

the keepers met us.  

Their welcome song  

of renewed helplessness  

drained the

last of our strength  

from the long walk  

into suffering 

Zombies  

starved of rest.

Then the light  

we sought  

ignited in our  

lonely core 

and then  

we believed.

Each of us  

brought  

his torment

wove it into  

a cylinder  

of timeless  

anguish

to light the gate.  

The keepers 

at the city gates

fled naked

into shadow  

that offered  

no refuge.  

And we

like a

hornets' flight

pursued them  

to a beggarly  

terminus.

I opened my eyes.  

It was a bad dream  

hungry  

to take flesh  

in the tide  

of twenty and twenty-seven.

© Akan Essien 

- Uyo

“Though This Road Is Lonely But…” by Akan Essien is a reflective and socio-political poem that portrays the painful journey of people through hardship, deprivation, helplessness, and oppression in search of hope and a better future. The poem presents life as a difficult road filled with sorrow and suffering, where the travellers endure labour without joy and continue their journey despite the overwhelming challenges they encounter.

At the city gates, the travellers are confronted by keepers whose presence represents the forces or authorities that deepen their helplessness. Already exhausted from their struggles, the travellers are further drained by their encounter with these gatekeepers. However, a light eventually emerges within them, giving them renewed hope and the courage to believe in the possibility of change. Their individual experiences of torment are then transformed into a collective source of strength, which enables them to confront the barriers before them.

The poem takes a more confrontational turn when the keepers flee from the city gates, while the travellers pursue them until they reach a miserable end. This suggests a moment of resistance in which oppressed people overcome their fear and challenge those who have contributed to their suffering. However, the speaker eventually awakens and realizes that the entire experience has been a disturbing dream, one that he fears may become reality in the approaching year, 2027.

In essence, the poem is a powerful reflection on suffering, oppression, hope, collective resistance, and the desire for social transformation. Through its journey imagery and symbolic characters, Akan Essien portrays a society struggling against forces that perpetuate helplessness while expressing both hope for change and anxiety about the future. The poem ultimately challenges readers to recognize the realities of their society and consider the possibility that today's dream of resistance and transformation may become tomorrow's reality.