Ching-ching-ching-a-ling âŠ
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling âŠ
Ta-tah-ta-tah-ta-ta-tum âŠ
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling âŠ
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling âŠ
Ta-tah-ta-tah-ta-ta-tum âŠ
SOSsâ frantic patterns pounded on
Pots and pans â Counterpoint
Shattering surreal quiet âŠ
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 âHELP!â 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 trumpetâs spit key
Katrina square-danced âround New Orleans.
Went easy on The Big Easy.
So, why was the city still swamped? Whyâd
The London Avenue levee break in three places?
FEMA flew over and knew on Monday.
Wâs War House knew by midnight. But
The Peopleâsalt of the earthâ heard it through
The grapevineâ or on TVâ 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 Oilâs hurricane highway. AKA, MIGOâ
Mississippi Gulf Outlet â 12 gauge shotgun pointing at NOLAâs 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, âDo unto Lower 9th Ward N-
Words what white sheets behind spreadsheets wet dreamed for decades.â
Theyâd preyed for a chocolate city bleached beignet-white ⊠Lower
9th Ward N-words out! By any means necessary. Theyâd preyed to rid
Themselves of low-wealth ones. Elderly, ill ones. The non-swimmers
Who didnât own cars.
Their privatized Emergency Evacuation Plan was always: NOYO
(Nigras On Your Own) Sink or swim. Water-swollen homesâ âXsâ
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 goodâ 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
Whoâd drown in their own tears with yellowed photos and decomposing dreams âŠ
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling âŠ
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling âŠ
Ta-tah-ta-tah-ta-ta-tum âŠ
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling âŠ
Ching-ching-ching-a-ling âŠ
Ta-tah-ta-tah-ta-ta-tum âŠ
© 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.
Islam should be understood as a religion of enslaved African Muslims and contemporary Black Muslims in the Americasânot simply as a religion of 20th and 21st century Arab, African, and As
With Black is King, BeyoncĂ© and Disney have combined to sell audiences a lavishly fabricated Africaâone that is entirely devoid of class conflict.
White folks at the university decided to set things right on race â without consulting Africana Studies.
The East African country is a former German colony and lived under Belgian rule until gaining independence almost 60 years ago.
The NYPD has regularly failed to turn over key records and videos to police abuse investigators at New Yorkâs Civilian Complaint Review Board. â
