We The People by Iruoje Emmanuel

Yesterday we cried Today we smile And lead our lives, afraid to die Our Bodies though toughened Yet our minds remain burdened Obsessed with survival, unfamiliar with redemption Inert to merit, at home with celebration We the ones they call 'The masses, the ordinary people' Terms so in sync with poverty Names not used to liberty We remain where we were though the high and mighty come from us And its easy to ride on us Because we like to play 'the bus' When we make little progress We the people, the life-blood The ones whose prayers are the tripod On which our fragile peace stands The most tenacious, most spiritual The Most industrious, the most unhappy the ones who own power But forgot so and handed it to the greedy We will rise again We the people who have toiled Who have bled, who have struggled for bread Victims of the black gold With countless tales of woe That are better left untold We will rise We the people will rise again