Ching-ching-ching-a-ling ā¦
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling ā¦
Ta-tah-ta-tah-ta-ta-tum ā¦
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling ā¦
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling ā¦
Ta-tah-ta-tah-ta-ta-tum ā¦
SOSsā frantic patterns pounded on
Pots and pans ā Counterpoint
Shattering surreal quiet ā¦
Tired hands trembled and cramped
White towels; white T-shirts; white sheets
Waved furiously. Invisible to the heart of
Dixie in confederate helicopters casually
Hovering above. Tired arms trembled and cramped
Tired voices, plaintive pleas for āHELP!ā faded.
Slipped into soup of sewage. Oil-gas-gumbo-slop.
Spewing from tanks and pipelines like some toxic
Spittle, rising to their throats from a trumpetās spit key
Katrina square-danced āround New Orleans.
Went easy on The Big Easy.
So, why was the city still swamped? Whyād
The London Avenue levee break in three places?
FEMA flew over and knew on Monday.
Wās War House knew by midnight. But
The Peopleāsalt of the earthā heard it through
The grapevineā or on TVā sometime Tuesday
Levee built 1 and 1/2 feet lower than specs. A capitalist
Disaster wrapped in an accident; Concealing a ticking time
Bomb. Set decades ago. Add Big Oilās hurricane highway. AKA, MIGOā
Mississippi Gulf Outlet ā 12 gauge shotgun pointing at NOLAās heart!
BOOM! Prayers of white nationalist worshippers answered. Prayers of
Hoods concealed beneath Mardi Gras masks answered! Prayers of those
Who preyed to their god; to their profits, āDo unto Lower 9th Ward N-
Words what white sheets behind spreadsheets wet dreamed for decades.ā
Theyād preyed for a chocolate city bleached beignet-white ā¦ Lower
9th Ward N-words out! By any means necessary. Theyād preyed to rid
Themselves of low-wealth ones. Elderly, ill ones. The non-swimmers
Who didnāt own cars.
Their privatized Emergency Evacuation Plan was always: NOYO
(Nigras On Your Own) Sink or swim. Water-swollen homesā āXsā
Spray-painted on their skins. Circled numbers. Circled 3 = 3 bloated
Black bodies pulled from bones of homes. Some pregnant. Some children.
White god was goodā weaponizing water! Water raged. Rose rapidly
Ethnic cleansing Land of Louis; second line; trumpet tree roots. Made
Martyrs of Big Chiefs, Brass band-juju Jazz conjurers. Ancestors of Blues babies
Whoād drown in their own tears with yellowed photos and decomposing dreams ā¦
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling ā¦
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling ā¦
Ta-tah-ta-tah-ta-ta-tum ā¦
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling ā¦
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling ā¦
Ta-tah-ta-tah-ta-ta-tum ā¦
Ā© 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.
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