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Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
07 Jun 2023
Another June 1
(Photo: Twitter @EllenMBlalock)

                                                                                              Another June 1

 

Another June 1. And I’m
Here. Vertical. Grateful.
Thankful.
…Didn’t expect to see a score…

Another June 1. And I possess
Poetic License to
Try and Trane—Practice in Empire and
Golden States. Wow!
The poems are not perfect. Not precious.
Still TSA-ok. Still not worthy of banning
in Sunshine, Magnolia, or Lone Star States.

Another June 1. And I’m proud
that a Brooklynite now 99; former IBM—
Italian Business Men—employee christened me
“The Town Crier.” “The Peoples Poet” sobriquet
Garnered in L.A.

Another June 1. And I’m proud
The poems still have blistered feet. Are still lunch
bucket, hardhat, steel-toe. Are still for food chain folks—
Backs bent in fields.
Still for the sped-up, overworked crowd. Still for the
Shoe leather legislators—street heat senators—Good
Trouble-shooters of all hues/All seasons: Arab Spring;
George Floyd Summer; Strike-tober; Occupy/ones coming

Another June 1. And I’m proud
of metastasizing with Boss Tweet’s blitzkrieg—
‘His’140 character vowel movements. ‘His’ daily,
dirty bomb Psy-Op sorties ‘starting’ 2016.
Proud of resisting despair—dark migratory moods of
Family, friends, and community.
I’m proud the poems have short weaponized shelf lives!
Proud they are disposable. Proud they are urgent wound
Care poems. Use them! Toss them in the trash! Flush them
down your toilets! I promise they won’t clog drains or pipes…
 

© 2023. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet; BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at: GoFundMe and PayPal.

Black arts movement
poetry

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