The bards they went from place to place
learning
Other
people’s stories
telling them to other people
in rhythms and tones,
tunes and pitches

that the rulers did not always comprehend

the bard had learned from all the
Others

s/he travelled far and wide
forgot
where s/he be-longed
no longer longing for any one
place

the bard did not recognize the emperor’s call
for the emperor had not called out in
hir
direction before
ever

not until the emperor heard that the bard was
singing
in too many tones and pitches and harmonies and dis-harmonies

once the emperor started to hear this
multiplicity
he sought to contain.

he proceeded to train bard-like people
in particular forms

told them not to sing many tones and pitches but to teach
all those Others
how to contain
in these particular forms

then he told them to empower them to
write

so no bard could sing with them ever again
because then they would be empowered individuals
writing
in these particular forms…

and the emperor would understand them all…