I heard them say

I heard them say, I heard the villagers say, that your nose always finds its way into other people’s businesses. I heard them say that your mouth is quick to report what your eyes are yet to see and ears yet to hear. The villagers, they say you know everybody’s friend and enemy, that you know how every pot boils and every soup thickens, dear village rumour mill, why should you go through all the trouble, of knowing why the newest bride in the village cannot give birth? Or why the chief and his neighbour had a war of words yesterday? I heard them say, that you leave your house unattended and your children unwashed. I heard them say yesterday’s utensils are still outside caked with leftovers and mould. They say your husband was sent away from the council of elders because he was spreading lice to the old men. Why do you come to my house and help my wife wash my clothes, then walk to the shamba and dig by her side till late in the day then walk back to your home and cook from a dirty pan and serve your children on dirty plates? I heard them say your youngest child almost died of cholera, and the younger one, she burnt her hand when you were listening in on the quarrel between the elderly man and his sons? Dear village rumour mill, till when will you focus on the rain drops in your neighbour’s house, don’t you see the flood in your own? How long will you focus on the match flame on other people’s roofs, do you not see the inferno eating up your own? I heard them say that your head is half-full, or was it half-empty, that when you shake it, the porridge contained ferments. They say your tongue was stung by scorpions and your ears, they were ‘bitten’ by bees and that is why they are too big. I heard them say your eyes can see beyond the curtains in people’s bedrooms but never the dust behind your filthy cupboard. Maybe, just maybe you will grow with age. Maybe your children shall, when they grow up and show you the way. And oh, I heard them say, the women, that when they find you, they are going to teach you a lesson you will never forget. So run, village rumour mill, if you can’t, then keep running your mouth and plying your trade.