by Bruce Bennett

“Putting pen to paper at the world’s first-ever silent town crier competition, Britain’s loudest citizens
[were] judged not on the volume and clarity of their shouted cries, but on the content of their
written words.”
—Atlas Obscura

Town criers in silence
With never a shout?
That seems simply dotty.
What is that about?

Well, Jolly Old England
Has just found a way
To judge how well criers
Cry silence today.

Don’t take it from me, folks.
Just read the report.
They’ve gone to extremes
In this “extreme sport.”

The lesson is one
That may serve us all well.
Just say what you have to.
You don’t have to yell.