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
  • omnibus

Peace Dividend
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
13 Feb 2013

by Raymond Nat Turner

General Dynamics, Northrup-
Grummond-Lockheed-Martin marionettes
Over-populating capitalist hill—
Pushing up shares on the NASDAQ?...

 

Peace Dividend
by Raymond Nat Turner

11/9: When the "Evil Empire"
Ended, warlords swore
There would be a
"Peace
Dividend," but

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...

Cold war with old war?

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...

Enemy of the month,

Threat of the week,
Operation of the day,
War around the world,
War around the clock—
War for evermore?

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...

Surges of war profiteers
Soliciting no-bid contracts,
Like packs of pedophile
Priests, volunteering for
Blacked-out Boys Clubs?

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...

Hearings to hear lies
Looped like capitalist
Politicians' promises, with
Pharmaceutical side effects—
Hearings asking questions
Answered already by bloody,
Broken, bodies of babies, their
Farmer fathers, mothers, their
Grandmothers, grandfathers and
Neighbors, all commodified as

Collateral damage?

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...

Eternal terms of Strom Thurmond and
Scoop Jackson—the Senator from Boeing—
Disguised as Di-Fi down to her New York
Stock Exchange ticker, wig concealing
Her warhead, fresh fragrance of death,
Plutonium breath, from a mouth moving
Like other GE, General Dynamics, Northrup-
Grummond-Lockheed-Martin marionettes
Over-populating capitalist hill—
Pushing up shares on the NASDAQ?...

11/9: When the "Evil Empire"
Ended, warlords swore
There would be a
"Peace
Dividend," but

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end?...

 

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at upsurgejazz.com.

Raymond Nat Turner (c) 2013 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


  • EDITORIAL: Poor Women: Pawns in the Abortion Controversy, The Black Panther, 1980
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EDITORIAL: Poor Women: Pawns in the Abortion Controversy, The Black Panther, 1980
    07 Dec 2021
    A 1980 editorial in The Black Panther argues that the war against abortion is a bi-partisan war against poor women.
  •  Enes Kanter’s Name Change and the Pathology of American Exceptionalism
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Enes Kanter’s Name Change and the Pathology of American Exceptionalism
    07 Dec 2021
    NBA star Enes Kanter embodies the dangers of American exceptionalism rhetoric. Support for oppression around the world is always the end result of this pernicious belief system.
  • US Still Strong Arming “Democracy” Onto Libya
    Netfa Freeman
    US Still Strong Arming “Democracy” Onto Libya
    07 Dec 2021
    The Western imperialist forces responsible for the overthrow and assassination of Muammar Gaddafi, as well as the destruction of Libya, are now trying to force elections and so-called “democrac
  • BAR Book Forum: Jennifer S. Ponce de León’s “Another Aesthetics Is Possible”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Jennifer S. Ponce de León’s “Another Aesthetics Is Possible”
    07 Dec 2021
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
  • Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Trial of Black Activist Dedan Waciuri as a Violation of Human Rights
    Black Alliance For Peace
    Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Trial of Black Activist Dedan Waciuri as a Violation of Human Rights
    07 Dec 2021
    The state targets Black activists who exercise their right to speak and assemble freely.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us