Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

2/4 Dance Don’t Cut It
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 Jan 2018
🖨️ Print Article
2/4 Dance Don’t Cut It
2/4 Dance Don’t Cut It

“Pay, or die…” the Death
Sentence Big Pharma-
Insurance Mob just issued
a neighbor; and a Frankenfood
experiment’s irritating my gut

The water smells swampy some days,
like bleach others; Tents grow in night
air like multi-colored mushrooms—crazy
cancer cells; Another school’s shuttered,
its teachers scattered in the wind, like
pencil sharpener shavings—Money for
Bombs, not for books—Wow, the wars
went from seven to nine this week…

Here they come again with Fear:
‘Freedom of Choice,’ binary bad
or worse options—hiking uphill
barefoot, in elephant excrement,
donkey dung to take one—with or
without Vaseline—from the1% again

I’m not sure I have another 8 yrs
for translating, deciphering slogans:
“Regime…change you can believe in!”
“Yes, we can…and bottle Jim Jones Juice!”
as silly spoils of celebrity-worship;
Isn’t it time for Adult Politics?

Isn’t it time to abandon Infantile
Exercises—searching for saviors
Every 2 to 4 yrs—and Nominate
Meeting More Than Four Corners;
Donate to Door-To-Door; Phone Bank
for Boycott; Campaign for Consciousness;
Support Shoe Leather-Street Heat running for
Raising roofs, planting food, curing cancer?

poetry

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Black Agenda Radio April 1, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio April 1, 2022
    01 Apr 2022
    Left Voices are Censored, The U.S. Crisis Plays Out in Ukraine, Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson Nomination Brings Drama but No Substance
  • The American Crisis and Ukraine
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The American Crisis and Ukraine
    01 Apr 2022
    Joe Biden travelled to Europe for NATO and G7 meetings one month after Russian troops entered Ukraine. Biden predictably condemned Russia but also suggested he was seeking regime change against…
  • Ketanji Brown Jackson and Political Spectacle
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Ketanji Brown Jackson and Political Spectacle
    01 Apr 2022
    Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson is the first black woman nominated for a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States. Her confirmation hearings provided many opportunities for political performance.…
  • Black Left Media Under Assault from Big Tech/State Censorship
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Left Media Under Assault from Big Tech/State Censorship
    01 Apr 2022
    Censorship is supposed to happen in other places, not in the U.S. But big tech, in alliance with the state, is silencing Black and other left voices in the media. The war in Ukraine is bringing this…
  • Biden Means What He Says
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Biden Means What He Says
    30 Mar 2022
    Joe Biden may appear to be a confused old man when he blurts out whatever comes to mind.  But his outbursts shouldn't be ignored. They always reveal his plans.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us