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

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


Related Stories

Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
15 July 2021
Could the pigment of your imagination cause Black magic mascots, props, sops— Black faces in high places—
A known known…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A known known…
08 July 2021
“…there are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
01 July 2021
“History repeats itself,  first as tragedy, second as farce.” —Karl Marx
The Town Crier’s Big Tooth Fund (For Drs. Rosenthal, Sapir and Ferdowsi)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The Town Crier’s Big Tooth Fund (For Drs. Rosenthal, Sapir and Ferdowsi)
23 June 2021
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs…” —Karl Marx
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
16 June 2021
“Ain’t no power like the power of the people— ‘cause the power of the people don’t stop!” bouncing 
Ladee Blu: Another Monroe Doctrine delivery system 
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Ladee Blu: Another Monroe Doctrine delivery system 
09 June 2021
Raytheon’s craven raven Co-signing for mass murder: “Mowing the grass…” Now… Ladee Blu on a fool’s errand dis-
MOVE Tulsa to Gaza…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MOVE Tulsa to Gaza…
02 June 2021
The Mass Shooting Of The Day— this time was in San Jose… Do you know the way to San Jose?
Raymond Nat Turner , BAR poet-in-residence
Preachin’ to the Choir (for Joe, Linda, Tim…)
26 May 2021
2020’s hindsight—frost in the rearview mirror. Miles Ahead… I’m Sheltered in Solidarity with National Poetry Month and
Herd impunity?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Herd impunity?
19 May 2021
What if a colonial settler state accidentally vaccinated 61% of its population With a virulent variant of a vicious virus?

More Stories


  • Biden is No FDR  and Build Back Better Legislation Proves It
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Biden is No FDR and Build Back Better Legislation Proves It
    27 Oct 2021
    The idea that Joe Biden is the "most progressive president since FDR" is a propaganda device meant to quiet the Democratic Party left and force them to stand down.
  • ESSAY: The African Woman Today, Ama Ata Aidoo, 1992.
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: The African Woman Today, Ama Ata Aidoo, 1992.
    27 Oct 2021
    Ama Ata Aidoo has provided some of the most clear-eyed and materialist analyses of the social and political life of women on the African continent.
  • Taiwan Demonstrates that the American Empire is a Paper Tiger
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Taiwan Demonstrates that the American Empire is a Paper Tiger
    27 Oct 2021
    Taiwan has long been the rationale for meddling in China's affairs but the latest interference poses great danger for "paper tiger" nation.
  • Senators Bonnie and Clyde - 1% soldiers of fortune
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Senators Bonnie and Clyde - 1% soldiers of fortune
    27 Oct 2021
                                                                                                            Senators Bonnie and Clyde—
  • In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Anima Adjepong. Adjepong holds a position as Assistant Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexualities Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Their book is entitled Afropolitan Projects: Redefining Blackness, Sexualities, and Culture from Houston to Accra. 
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Anima Adjepong’s “Afropolitan Projects”
    27 Oct 2021
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us