“Fascism, by its very nature, must be
anti-rationale and anti-humane.”
—I.F. Stone
Not even semiautomatic “thoughts and prayers”
Fired, as black boxes, and burned bodies of
Beloveds are fished from icy waters of the
Potomac … And notification of next of kin trudges on …
Strong embraces … for bloodshot eyes?
Compassionate hugs leaning into shattered hearts?
Comforting words … soothing souls in shock?
Humble head bowed in prayer with parents?
None of this. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Bupkis.
From the reigning Champions of Cruelty. Nothing.
Nada. Zilch. Zero. Bupkis from moneyed men with
Empty, mustard seed-sized hatred-filled hearts …
Nothing, except an absurd salad of words served
Piping hot on high fructose corn syrup talking points;
And fermented elephant excrement. Nothing, except
Leftovers from tattered menus mimicking ancient agendas …
Evidence? Commonsense!
Had to be DEI—in the sky …
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion—
Oh, my!
Darkies flying Blackhawks in
Civilian sky!
Must’ve been the Blackhawk Helicopter—
Or, was it an Apache? Dumb-assed Indians!
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Must’ve been monkey-ass Soul Plane Snoop Dogg
Pilots flying civilian aircraft into military airspace?
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Must’ve been woke, chicken wing Tuskegee
Airmen? Never could fly like white pilots!
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Evidence? Commonsense!
Had to be DEI—in the sky …
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion—
Oh, my!
Darkies flying Blackhawks in
Civilian sky!
Must’ve been Mexican and Haitian pilots—
Eating the dogs instead of flying the plane?
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Must’ve been transgender air traffic controllers—
Switching off radar for Gay-dar?
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Reagan knew! Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Fired lazy-assed DEI air traffic controllers—
For the best and brightest—most and whitest!
Must’ve been Black flight attendants filing their nails,
Instead of calmly telling passengers, “We’re gonna die …”
Wasn’t colorblind—merit-based—
Best and brightest—most and whitest!
Evidence? Commonsense!
Had to be DEI—in the sky …
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion—
Oh, my!
Darkies flying Blackhawks in
Civilian sky!
Negroes blew up two very fine Boeing Max jets!
And blew the door off another over the Northwest—
Must’ve been a Black flight attendant opening the door
In flight?
© 2025. 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.
The impending occupation of Haiti is but a repeat of the brutal occupations that began in 1915.
As the United States and its allies push renewed foreign intervention, the uses and abuses of the first Black republic as a testing ground of imperialism offer stark warnings. Haiti still struggles…
"Dis-honest Broker (for my friend Farid)" is the latest work from BAR's poet-in-residence.
On October 18, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield raised her hand to veto even so much as a “humanitarian pause” to Israel’s war on Gaza.
In this eulogy for dub poet Michael “Mikey” Smith, Amiri Baraka asserts the need for Black and Third World mass organization against the ravages of neo-colonialism, imperialism, racism, and…
