Cockerel's Crow, by Tom Mukasa

Cockerel's Crow

The cockerel not only,

crows to tell time,

it crows,

to spite competition,

a hunter's horn,

a village crier,

passing on information,

this was revealed,

to the child of three mothers,

the cockerel says:

'you feed me,

to feed you,

fatten me,

for telling you time,

I was there,

when your mother,

carried you,

in her womb,

when you were young,

right,

from your baby-steps,

I over-heard you,

consult the spirits,

I was the token,

the sacrifice,

I am not the competition,

feed on me,

but not my children,'

the cockerel continues,

saying out loud.