Unseen Hands

                      

They say our faith is our crutch

What we use to excuse away our inabilities

Wish they knew

It’s much more than that

It is our spinal cord

We'd be 'vegetable' without it

In the place where I grew up

Solipsism is sham                                                                                                                     

Atheism, a luxury many cannot afford

For without warning

I could awake submerged in flood

I could get news that Uncle got blown away in church

Auntie could be in that last flight to Abuja

A drunken mob could stone junior to death in school

For what he didn't do

I need those Unseen hands

To keep the waters of river Niger

Confined in its banks

I need those Unseen hands

To thwart the machinery of the bomber

Let those hands bear up the plane Auntie’s in

Let them keep the angry mob away from junior’s school

When all things fail

I need belief in something higher than I

Let those hands bear up the bus I shall ride in to town

Keep Mama’s soup fresh when there’s power outage

Let them help me find a taxi fast enough

When granny has her fainting spells

I need them to remind government

That my school’s been shut for six months

Stop eyeing me

Because my ‘Amen’ is loudest in church

Listen, I need hope

My school’s been shut for six months!

(And preach on preacher!)

Tell me I am not statistics

Tell me success has no geographical location

Tell me greatness is no respecter of persons

That I am not empty-headed because I was born at

Such a time as this

Oh lead me to a rock higher than I

I need those hands to wield the affairs of my life

For those who promised me a bright future

Have snuffed out all the light and are having a field day in the dark

I won’t judge you

I can understand if you do not need them

Cause you've got 911 in your place

Even if we had 911 over here

Would the thick hold-up let them get to my destination timely?

I need those hands, men

Cause over

We  just have to live by faith