How So Fortunate You Are Poem by Chidiebere Ekere

have you ever lain face up
in the dead of a dawdling night
spurned by sleep
and starving
with your eyes and stomach
intent upon the otherwise invisible heaven?

then you would have understood
how so fortunate you are
that man shall not live by bread alone

for didn’t God in his infinite wisdom
and foresight
see how vile and greedy
men innately are
in this irrational world –

nigeria for instance
where the fittest have exclusive right
over every loaf of bread
and would ever make sure that no scrap
slips off their table
for any scuttling Lazaruses –

that out of his abiding love
for the hungry
He has secured that wholesome Word
from his holy mouth, abundant,
for them: away from the savage claws
of the rich

that upon such nights
when your stomach churns
fervidly
for more and more
of the Word
you may rejoice
in anticipation of your reward
pending the coming dawn
and scorn the rich
for the good sense they lack?

sometimes, as this night,
one may even manage
a sanctimonious smile.