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

I had a nightmare (For friend/fellow Poet Genny Lim)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
22 Apr 2020
I had a nightmare (For friend/fellow Poet Genny Lim)
I had a nightmare (For friend/fellow Poet Genny Lim)

I had a nightmare
that down in Mississippi,
its governor having his lips 
dripping with words of Social Darwinism,
Herd immunity and Mengele Medicine,
Defied COVID-19 and hosted his own
Houston-style “Howdy Modi” Rally—
A gathering of strongmen—
not wrong men 
A gathering of right men
for the white men 
in the white house

A gathering of asymptomatic 
autocrats from around the
World—Brazil, India, the Philippines,
Saudi Arabia and the UK lead
Neoliberal, anti-science, climate deniers; anti-
Abortion thugs; anti-Asian, anti-Muslim, anti-
Communist; homophobic, nazi, klansmen and
their war-profiteer, private prison paymasters

Their bright banners: bars, stars and swastikas
festooned the roaring SRO stadium punctuated 
by humongous signs: 
A NO MASK, GLOVES, HAND SANITIZER ZONE
ABSOLUTELY NO SOCIAL DISTANCING ALLOWED
NFL-sized men with earpieces enforced it
confiscating gloves, masks, hand sanitizer—
But allowing big bottles of booze, kegs of beer
and mammoth slabs of tailgate burnt beef and pork

Jumbotron shots of southern senators wind-
surfing on raw sewage drew double-decibel cheers 
And Kid Rock’s rousing rendition of “The Star
Spangled Banner” swept over the stadium like
Super Storm Sandy—detonating loud, raucous
““U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” and “We’re # 1!” chants!
Dr. Goebbels gas-lighting contests were the bomb; and
Big lie-1/2 truth-misinformation-disinformation cyphers rocked;
Waterboarding and confederate statue-climbing contests were hot!

I tried talking one ol’ varmint—prairie dog— 
out of the circular firing squad. He
spat tobacco and the N-word at me.
I tried warning a smug cowboy volunteering for
“some Saudi head” that it wasn’t what he thought 
it was. 
I avoided those lining up for
“Using Your 2nd Amendment Rights Defending the Right To Work”
“Racialized Medicine Good/Socialized Medicine Bad” TED Talks.

I also skipped the Semi-Main Event 
Razor Bladed Wrestling: 
Modi versus Bolsonaro 
and 
The Main Event: A Pistol Duel: 
Duterte versus Boss Tweet 
(A tie at the end of regulation would
go into Sudden Death Overtime…)

In this open-carry-stand your ground
gathering—good ol’ boys packed slave ship
Tight—looking for pots of gold, or white light
at the end of the tunnel; I feared for my life!
I quickly slipped from the stadium, walking
North—fast—through unlit, unfamiliar woods
And—whew— found my way back to Harlem…

Woke…

© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.                   

poetry

Trending

Elizabeth Warren Wants Green Bombs, not a Green New Deal
Parallels Between Black and Palestinian Struggles
Cory Booker Hates Public Schools
Bill Cosby Should Have Been Denounced by Black America Long Ago
The Black Wall Around Barack Obama: Who Does It Protect Him Against?
How Complacency, Complicity of Black Misleadership Class Led to Supreme Court Evisceration of the Voting Rights Act

Related Stories

This is what hypocrisy looks like…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
This is what hypocrisy looks like…
13 January 2021
“It's like writing history with lightning.“ — Woodrow Wilson on Birth of A Nation
Think…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Think…
06 January 2021
Think of peoples having the most tanks, the most drones, the most missiles, bombs, aircraft carriers, 
Imagine: The Town Crier’s Cabinet Selections
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Imagine: The Town Crier’s Cabinet Selections
16 December 2020
Cut plastic cuffs from imaginations— Dream larger in dire situations… IMAGINE every cook governing—
$election postmortem 
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
$election postmortem 
10 December 2020
It was the Latino Vote… No, it was the Latinix vote! No, it was Black Women! No, it was LGBTQ+ Black Women!
People Power (Or 30 min. men and women every 4 yrs?)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
People Power (Or 30 min. men and women every 4 yrs?)
02 December 2020
The People earned a dancing in the streets day, horn honking, slogan shouting day—collective sigh/exhale
Endangering species… 
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Endangering species… 
25 November 2020
Endangering species— First Negroz and wild Karens in power—members of the Strong- arm Williams-Thom-ass Clarence-led
Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance
18 November 2020
Militarist Macarena all pomp and circumstance— they’re baaaack with Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance…
My Wise Country Cousin on  Unca Jim Clyburn an de Sharp Rite Turn
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
My Wise Country Cousin on  Unca Jim Clyburn an de Sharp Rite Turn
11 November 2020
Son, it look lak Unca Jim say, “Las’ time I chek I’se de whip— an’ got no time fo’ young Negroz wit all dey Blak Life lip…”
That is not the Question
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
That is not the Question
04 November 2020
The question is not if teargas breath thugs weaponizing COVID; co-signing starvation; stage whispering, “Lock her up!” ripping
Bankrolling blu klux klans? 
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Bankrolling blu klux klans? 
28 October 2020
Rhythms of red, white, blue ‘party’ lights flashing beneath screaming sirens; The rush of warm crimson

More Stories


  • White Settler Uprising at the Capitol
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    White Settler Uprising at the Capitol
    14 Jan 2021
    Last week’s assault on the Capitol was essentially a race riot, the product of white racial grievance.
  • Max Blumenthal: Breach of Capitol Security Was Like a Military Operation
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Max Blumenthal: Breach of Capitol Security Was Like a Military Operation
    13 Jan 2021
    The Grayzone founder notes that “such a disproportionate percentage” of the Capitol building attackers were former military, former law enforcement, or current law enforcement that began rappelling
  • Freedom Rider: Capitol Riot Brings U.S. Foreign Policy Home
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Capitol Riot Brings U.S. Foreign Policy Home
    13 Jan 2021
    There needs to be soul searching and truth telling about invasions, interventions, coups and sanctions that are far more destructive than the Trump lovers could ever be.
  • Black Citizenship Forum: Black Intellectuals and the Violence of Citizenship
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    Black Citizenship Forum: Black Intellectuals and the Violence of Citizenship
    13 Jan 2021
    Not just in the White Settler States, but throughout the Black world the very possibility of Black citizenship has been gutted.
  • The other side of duopoly.
    Ben Passmore
    Ben Passmore's Latest for Black Agenda Report
    13 Jan 2021
    The other side of duopoly.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us