Hans Bohm: The Drummer of Niklashausen (1476 C.E)- a poem by Leo Hartshorn

Hans Bohm
played on his drum
to entertain the peasants
it was more pleasant
than shepherding sheep
which caused him to sleep
under the stars
until arousin'
from the sun coming up
over Niklashausen

it was a Saturday night in Lent
his energies spent
on the herd
then suddenly he heard
a voice in the night
from a light in the sky
wondering why
the Mother of God
would come to a drummer

She spoke of vanities
of the people under the steeple
and in the street
the heat in his heart
led Bohm to start a fire
a bonfire of the vanities
for all the insanities
of inequity and injustice
and the unpleasantness
of peasantness
he would soon preach against

upon the flame he tossed
his drum, a shame
and dumb, if you ask me
because, you see,
he could have beaten that skin
against the sin and inequality
and frivolity of pimping priests
and the naughtiness of nobles
before his drum fell silent
and peasants revolted
and heaven was jolted
by his execution
which is never a solution
for drummers who seek justice