I’m no nuanced Negro, but…
I’m no nuanced Negro—never have
been—never will be. I’m a lower the
forks, pick up the pallet, put it on the
Truck, stack the boxes; scrub the toilet,
mop the floor—lunch bucket, gloves, steel
toe boot crowd—picket line lovin’ kind of fella.
But, lemme see if I may help you in my
crude, crass, class—black/white—My
wrong/right; 99%/1%—Binary,
bourgeois/proletarian terms. Lemme see
if my unvarnished, rough hewn style helps…
Would you dare trust Slick Willy and R. Kelly
chaperoning; Jell-low Puddin’ Man bartending
your daughters’, your granddaughters’, your
nieces’ Quinceañeras, Bat Mitzvahs, Sweet Six-
teen Parties? Would you trust Ms Maxwell with
supervising the sleepovers? Would you send pre-
teen sons and grandsons to the Sierras to play
War games with a platoon of priests?
Yet, you suspend suspicion for acts starring
Kentucky Turtle in Kabuki Theater—silly Sinema?
You suspend suspicion for theater featuring Schmo
Munchkin-Schmo Biden-Madame Speaker slapstick…
You suspend suspicion, finding yourselves bamboozled
by special effects; had by stuntmen—corporate stickup
artists…
You suspend suspicion, see yourselves suckered by hollow
Heists…By artificial intelligence of Lilliputian politicians
on Wall Street strings screaming, “Hands up—
to the debt ceiling—this is a stickup, stupid muthafukkkas!”
© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, 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: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-town-criers-big-tooth-fund
PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT
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