What, Then, Is Scholarship Crowned? Poem by Moses Kainwo

what, then, is scholarship crowned?

yes, yes, a voice –
a voice with limbs
of a full-grown man
impaired

when crowned by tongue,
he debits the world their right to speeches,
and their voices drown.

when crowned by limbs,
he debits the world their right to labour,
and their actions drown.

when crowned by head,
he debits the world their right to silence,
and their persons rise.

yet the critics fall together,
alaughing out their heads:
“i wish it were not written,
i wish it were not spoken”;
and the timid fall together,
aweeping out their heads:
“i wish I had not written,
i wish I had not spoken”.

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