Not For The Common Man Poem by Tony Adah

I want to know what took us
To this part of the earth
Whether a mishap birth
Or the strong tectonics of geography,
What does it take to make a man
Whose country has forgotten?
He made mounds
He planted yams
He tapped palmwine
And for solace he drank it
He hewed wood
He fetched kindlings
He filled the earth
He got peppers
He got onions
And the earth itself yielded
Something crude that made him crooked
Not for the common man, oil
And he did all for his body and soul.
He passed them on
To those his wife and sisters
Bore nine months in their wombs
The new age will come up better
So the drums of hope beat
He will be no more to see the change
His children will get
He will die with an immortal hope
Because he got a country only in name
Death will come, pick those who
Will succumb
And the remainder will gaze
At the oceans and drink
Their raw waters,
Gaze at the mountains
And eat them uncooked
Who will cook anything for you?
When the chosen few will give
Commands only to drain his sweet
This earth, my brother
With all they have stolen
They will be broke, storm blown
And unable to take along any wares.