Will you hear me now?

I have calloused my knees
On earth, rocks and Persian rugs
I have calloused my forehead
On walls, frescoes and marble

I have sang alleluiah
The birds echo the chorus
I have counted beads
From decade to decade

I have grown beards
And dreadlocks longer than my waist
I have chalked my eyes
And rouged my cheeks

I have stood on mountains
And beside the oceans
I have walked around the Iroko
And painted the caves

I have sacrificed the young
And decapitated the beautiful
I have split blood
And splattered entrails

I have banished thought
And woven legends
I have hanged heretics
And burned their books

I have sought the whirlwind
And the locust
I have smashed homes
And uprooted street lights

I have sought Ogun's wand
And set fire to Amadioha's shrine
I have allied with the desert
And laid waste the rivers in the land

I have laid across the track
And borne your footsteps
I have sat with the dogs
And eaten your scraps

I have stopped the sun
And stayed the night
I have seized the rain
And whipped the wind

I have wailed in the night
And cried in the day
I have called your name
And counted the curses

I have kidnapped your children
And held your ancestors for ransom
I have blocked the roads
And blown up your pipelines

I have empaneled committees
And formed factions
I have held conferences
And rewritten constitutions


Will you hear me now?



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