Written piece
Untitled
Jerry David
Nigeria
About this piece
The "town crier" is more or less what we call the whistle blower in modern times. It functions as a call for equality irrespective of who the criminal is.
Town Crier
I heard you said
that the crown lifted
the blind hunter’s bush meat
from his storehouse.
I heard you; long before you said
that the crown decreed a thing
against pilfering.
Who holds the crown to book
when the books are with the crown?
Your gavel is heaviest
when the commons is a thief of trifles.
Shouldn’t we all cry out louder
whether crown or commons?
We all should ‘town-cry’
when the thief is an elite
or his subject.
Beat your gong across the streets.
No. The guilty don’t walk there.
They travel like birds in the air
over the heads of you and yours.
Beat your gong
against wrongs done
by crowns and commons.
I heard you said
that all are equal before you.
But why is your voice an echo
when you call the commons,
and whispers barely heard
when those in the air
need to hear your call?
You’ll die
either by the hands of the reaper
or by the voice of your own conscience—
choose ye whose hands
you’d prefer.
The crown may strangle her commons,
but you’ll also enjoy
the stench of death and decay.
Town Crier—
we are all town-crying.
Beat your gong over all who do wrong,
not in the name of some.
Beat your gongs across the streets,
over mountains,
and send messages by the birds,
that the stench of death and decay
fears no man—
crown or commons.
I heard you said:
“The birds will carry your messages to those in the air.”