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

Hooked On Hopium
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
13 Jun 2012
🖨️ Print Article

 

by Raymond Nat Turner

There will be no replay of 2008’s greatest hits, but the reflux is debilitating in the extreme – for those who got hooked on Hopium.

 

Hooked On Hopium

by Raymond Nat Turner

*Look at the people –

I know you’re wonderin’ what they’re doin’

Crawlin’ ‘round the marble

Floors lookin’ for his

Feet, and the fire be-

Longing to Boeing,

And the other Big

Boys, Negroz have hit

Rock bottom, powerless

To admit they are

Addicts who will lie,

Steal, leave their babies

And homes in hands of

The Hope Man— even

Act as accessories

To murder— ever

Since that first hit, ’08.

 

*“Look at the people—

I know you’re wonderin’ what they’re doin’

They’re just standin’ there…

Caught up in the rap-

Ture of Hopium’s

Side effects:

Stupor, paralysis,

Heart palpitations,

Ringing ears, dry mouths,

Slurred speech, confused thinking,

Hallucinations,

Delusional, schizophrenic,

Suicidal behavior…

If symptoms persist,

Longer than 4 years,

Negroz must consult

Mental health professionals

Immediately and avoid

Operating heavy equipment,

Like tanks, helicopters,

Aircraft carriers,

Armored personnel

Carriers, or drones…

 

(*Based on Bobby Blue Bland’s Blues classic “I Pity The Fool”)

Raymond Nat Turner @ 2012 All Rights Reserved

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


More Stories


  • NYPD Illegal Searches Target Communities of Color
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    NYPD Illegal Searches Target Communities of Color
    09 Jun 2023
    Samah Sisay is a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
  • State Repression Targets the Stop Cop City Movement
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    State Repression Targets the Stop Cop City Movement
    07 Jun 2023
    Cop City is an effort to ensure that state violence will bring the most draconian methods to bear against Black people. State violence is also being used proactively, in an effort to end opposition…
  • COMMENT: Story-telling in an African Village, Ama Ata Aidoo, 1966
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    COMMENT: Story-telling in an African Village, Ama Ata Aidoo, 1966
    07 Jun 2023
    Remembering the anti-imperialist and Pan-Africanist politics of the late Ghanaian writer, Ama Ata Aidoo.           
  • Is the UAE in Control in Somalia?
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Is the UAE in Control in Somalia?
    07 Jun 2023
    Many Somalis think that the United Arab Emirates is now as much or more in charge in Somalia than the Somali government.
  • Another June 1
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Another June 1
    07 Jun 2023
    Another June 1
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us