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Hurricane Harvey and His Siblings…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
06 Sep 2017
  Hurricane Harvey and His Siblings…
Hurricane Harvey and His Siblings…

“We are family…”
Harvey, Ike, Matthew,
sisters Sandy,
Rita, Katrina
Sing four part harmony
top of their lungs
Watching rivers rise, waist-deep water
climb above confederate flag license plates,
climate-denier bumper stickers;
Watching mocha broth
Disappear pickup
trucks and gun racks
They’re doubling over
with devilish laughter
Mocking an orange piece of
pyrite and1% it represents:
“Pulling out of Paris?
Where’s your wall?
All options on the table?
How ‘bout‘Mother Of All Boats?’
Hey, Boss Tweet, wanna
grab some 135mph pussy?”

“ Love flyovers at
football games—how ‘bout
Harvey’s—enough clear beer
to fill NFL
stadiums like Dixie
Cups, a thousand times over?”

“Lone Star State? Wasn’t it
Mexico?
Don’t dig refugees?
How ‘bout evacuees?
Oppose Sanctuary Cities?
How ‘bout sheltering in
Mega-churches of
prosperity-pimps?
Biblical proportions?
Once every thousand
year events—annually?”

“Comfortable with the
Bulldozing of ‘other’ peoples’
Homes and olive trees, and
Bombing babies of ‘others?’
Love lethal ‘cocktails’
in executions?” “What if Harvey said
his ‘surgical strikes’
were aimed at ‘bad guys—‘
Exxon-Mobil State—
ECO-TERRORIST RACKETEERS
and sacrifice zones:
asthma alleys, cancer cul-de-sacs—
Pre-existing conditions?”

“What if Harvey claimed
Children, Women, Elders, Pets
were wrong place, wrong time
‘collateral damage,’
‘civilian casualties?’
What if he boasted,
‘A sadist sheriff
Can’t stop me…
59 missiles and
chocolate cake
Can’t stop me…
Bloated budgets for
Snooping, spying;
For militarized police,
Nukes, aircraft carriers,
bombers, boots on the ground;
For ‘extraordinary rendition,’
‘enhanced interrogation’
and ‘black sites’
Can’t stop me…
Told you I was comin’—
Mr. Muthafukkka—am
I a Chinese hoax,
or Bad Hombre—or
can you hear me now?”

Raymond Nat Turner © 2017 All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist. Find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

poetry
post-Katrina

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