The words of Peter Akinwunmi (Peter Ak'i)Hello there... I'm Pete Akinwunmi, aspiring poet, singer, harmonica player, saxophonist, sports psych & erstwhile rugby player. On this site you’ll find my writings in the form of poems and song lyrics (a few of both accompanied by video footage) expressing my love of words, word play and fun expressing personal psychological insights related to being the best you can be or at least as happy as possible with what you are.
I’D LIKE A WORD, PLEASE Words: meaning, expression and reception; each unique and intimate. Mere units with which to communicate? Lexical devices? Verbal instruments? Creative inventions? No! – Companions! Mates that are with me, ever ready to assist with my curiosities and relationships. Words to think, murmur, sing and holler, dimensions and features as distinct […]
NO MORE WANDERING LONELY AS A CLOUD. The valley’s kids play in the dirt, like daffodils, they grow from the earth. They’re fed on love and grounded truths. These are valley kids wrapped in earth and blues. Our grandads were slaves, same pain, same toll, Mine cuttin’ cane, theirs deep in the coal. Slavery blues […]
Two video poems recounting The County’s FA Cup exploits of 2019. ‘Port’n Proud… Pill boys do battle… The Legend of Dave Parade… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-66ga8nrM8
In 1968, under the spell of Beautiful Losers, LSD and the slow spin of an LP, (Songs of Leonard Cohen) I had a visceral seizure and something inside me was rearranged. Cohen’s voice entered not just my ears but my bloodstream—his words struck like voltage, forging the man and the maker I would become. What […]
Introduction Introduction: There are some truths I didn’t know how to speak for decades. Even now, I approach them with reverence and a bit of fear. They are too sharp for easy telling. Too close to the bone for polite memoir. But somewhere between memory and poetry, I found a voice that could say what […]
I am – distressed by people whose ideas are born from beyond the mess of intoxication. Their histories, lined with memory grease allow regrets to slip by, no longer grasping onto conscience; a white glare, pasted on past and future, disposes details, allowing only blurred and shadowy access. I am – repressed because people make […]
(Song lyric) TaffyWasAThief performing this song at Usk festival. APOLOGIES: THE VIDEO STOPS HALF WAY THRU BUT THE AUDIO CONTINUES TIL THE SONG’S END! The light of my life went out the other day. I thought maybe whiskey would clear the dark away. Something told me the bottle wouldn’t work, might take away the pain, but wouldn’t […]
What is the point of rugby? What does it mean to play? Is it war without the shooting or a poetic, artistic ballet? We can liken rugby to dancing without the music I’ll agree but I find it just as enchanting despite lacking choreography. A game is actually a wonderful show full of drama, wit […]
Two voices. One remembers the smoke. One names the fire. Together, they refuse to forget. ASH IN THE SHAPE OF FAITH I. The Smell of Smoke I was ten when a Sunday school teacher told me the dinosaurs were God’s mistake: too big, too strange, not mentioned in Genesis. We laughed, but quietly. Even as […]
One a.m. Stomach rumbling, driving home from a rocking gig. The message athunderin’ from my tum shouts a big,”No” to pie&chips. I feel too dizza for any kinda pizza, too loud for a shush kebab And that Southern fried Colonel’s chicken concoctions only make me gag. I just don’t fancy a biriani, or a burger […]
The words of Peter Akinwunmi (Peter Ak'i)