Hoeless Hands, Hammered Hearts Poem by *Tony Cemaluk Egbuonu

They said 'get tools.'
We brought hearts.
They said 'get funding.'
We brought faith.

Monumental mounds rose
from hoeless hands
and hammered hearts.

No budget for the blueprint.
No praise for the process.
Just the furnace,
and the refusal to be cold.

Do not ask who was seen.
Ask what was raised.
Do not count the names on the list.
Count the lives on the ground.

Truth is this:
The work does not wait for perfect.
The work waits for present.
And we were present.

For the name of us all we carry together.
CEMALUK