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

Avotcja’s Love…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
22 Mar 2023
🖨️ Print Article
Avotcja’s Love…

                                                                     

                                                                                            Avotcja’s Love…

                                                                      “…Your love…means everything to me…”  

                                                                     —Charles Wright, Watts 103rd Street Band

 

Used to fret, whine, twist worry beads

outta shape. Used to pout like a 6th grader

starting pre-school. Used to burden my

Wife-to-be with questions concealing

statements. And statements concealing

Questions: “I don’t think Avotcja likes me…”

Used to be bothered by unceremoniously

curt, gruff, brusque, businesslike behavior.

“The seasoned Sister’s in a New York state

of mind—she’ll be over it in a New York

Minute…” Asserted my NYC Wife-to-be…

Fast forwarding a few million minutes—I

Love the way Avotcja starts spreadin’ the

Blues-infused news…Slipping, sliding—

smoothly—Spanish to Spanglish to English

and back again—Bouncing it off walls and

elephant ears of satellite dishes

picking up maternal music frequency words…

Love her electric-throned—Super Shero—

defiant/reliant; No quit grit! Out organizing, out

Working, out fighting—Out

Loving our temporarily-abled…tired asses…

Once heard her weaponized words put a pimp

across her knee—spank his ass…Make him ask,

“Mother, may I…get outta the game…get a gig

Driving Ms Daisy? Ms Mary? Ms Matty? Any

Senior sisters needin’ to shop—get to the bank—

See the doctor?!”

Fast forwarding a few million minutes—I

Love hearing “Papi Was a Dancing Man”

of crackling, triumphant, Presto-log love—

Warmth for entering from frost… Warm shower,

Wool blanket, hot apple cider, home-cooked meal

Love

Love making arrows make u-turns

midair

Love making embarrassed bullets drop

to streets in supplication and apology…

And, yes, I’m grateful she calls me her

“Brother from another Mother—” And

has Papi-love left… for sharing with me…

© 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.

Music

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


Related Stories

Editors, The Black Agenda Review
LYRICS: Bicentennial Blues, Gil Scott-Heron, 1976
01 July 2026
“George Washington/Slave-owner general/Ironic that the father of this country/
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
SONNY
27 May 2026
Our wise Monk-guru, White winter mane and Douglass beard,Sonny's anOak tree growing outSugar Hill concrete—
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: In Our Hands: Thoughts on Black Music, Bernice Johnson Reagon, 1976
31 July 2024
For the late Dr.
For Larry Roland
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
For Larry Roland
08 March 2023
                                         
A lil’ homegoing homage to Brother Donald…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A lil’ homegoing homage to Brother Donald…
27 April 2022
Donald Smith always performe
Photo: Kevin W. Thorbourne
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)
08 September 2021
Bird, strings, Big Chief: 100: Harlem (For Charlie Parker/Donald Harrison/Harlem Symphony Orchestra)  

More Stories


  • The Response To Twitter Labeling NPR "State-Affiliated Media" Exposes The True Purpose Of The Labels All Along
    Jacqueline Luqman
    The Response To Twitter Labeling NPR "State-Affiliated Media" Exposes The True Purpose Of The Labels All Along
    12 Apr 2023
    Twitter CEO Elon Musk recently became the broken clock that is right twice a day when he correctly pointed out the NPR and the BBC are state affiliated outlets. Corporate media work hand in hand with…
  • Misleadership in the Bronx: AOC, the Fraud Squad, Military Recruiters and U.S. Imperialism
    Richie Merino , Danny Shaw
    Misleadership in the Bronx: AOC, the Fraud Squad, Military Recruiters and U.S. Imperialism
    12 Apr 2023
    Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the best known of the so-called progressives. Her leftist image is a pose which intentionally creates political confusion.
  • The “Powell Memo” and the Supreme Court: A Counteroffensive Against the Many
    Derek Ford
    The “Powell Memo” and the Supreme Court: A Counteroffensive Against the Many
    12 Apr 2023
    Written in 1971 by Lewis Powell before he joined the U.S. Supreme Court, the Powell Memo was a call to the U.S. capitalist class to construct a more intentional, coherent and focused…
  • ‘Zone of Peace’ Campaign Launched In 3 Countries to Build ‘People(s)-Centered Movement’ in the Americas
    Julie Varughese
    ‘Zone of Peace’ Campaign Launched In 3 Countries to Build ‘People(s)-Centered Movement’ in the Americas
    12 Apr 2023
    The Zone of Peace campaign is a "people(s) centered" grassroots effort to end imperialist domination throughout the Americas.
  • 87% of Service Workers in the US South Were Injured on the Job Last Year
    Peoples Dispatch
    87% of Service Workers in the US South Were Injured on the Job Last Year
    12 Apr 2023
    Southern service workers allege that South Carolina’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration discriminates against Black workers.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us