by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner
Our poet in residence reflects upon the unique
and innovative skillsets deployed by those who
allegedly take their own lives in police custody
Mississippi stuntmen
by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner
THANKS
to
Nina
Everybody knows about
Mississippi goddamn, Mississippi goddamn!”
But who knew about Mississippi stuntmen?
Hey Hollywood, get hip, headhunt,
Hire stunt men from Mississippi jails,
Recruit from backseats of Arkansas
police cruisers, Boy Scout, Eagle Scout-
like men, prepared to off themselves—
wizards using everyday objects; hanging them-
selves
with
dental
floss
Hire Mississippi stuntmen, men with sick skill-
sets, leaping up in jail cells, NBA hops and hang-
time
men making Michael Jordan, Dr. J, LeBron look like
weekend-warrior/couch potatoes, defying physics,
gravity, logic, performing impossible physical feats!
Hire Mississippi stuntmen, superb actors, too—
acting normal, hiding severe depression, recurring
suicidal thoughts, until the scene shifts behind bars
Hire Mississippi stuntmen, made for mysteries,
thrillers, whodunits, horror flicks; Masters of the
suicide scene, hanging themselves with anything
on the set—gaffers tape, super hero’s cape, head-
phones, chicken bones, eagle feathers, trailer tethers—
Garbage bag geniuses!
Hire Mississippi stuntmen, …”everybody knows about
Mississippi goddamn,” but who knew about Mississippi
stuntmen? David Copperfields in orange jumpsuits making
Handguns appear out of thin air, making dash-cam video dis-
appear!
Hey Hollywood, get hip, headhunt,
Hire Mississippi stuntmen, one take wonders
who’ll bring your blockbuster in under budget!
Independent contractors in right to work states
of mind: No pensions, 401ks, no social security,
no
Insurance.
Mississippi stuntmen travel and teach in Texas,
Arkansas, in fact, all over the U.S…. Up south,
Down
south,
Out
south,
Anywhere south of the Canadian Border!
Mississippi stuntmen come certified by CWS:
Crackkkers With Stars!
Raymond Nat Turner © 2015 All Rights Reserved
"What would Glen Ford say?" That question is one which we often ask ourselves two years after his passing.
For the past 30 years, no matter which party has been in power, the US economy has produced more and more “bad” jobs – because the Race to the Bottom is ruling class policy.
It is true now just as when Glen Ford wrote these words in 2019. In any alliance with corporate oppression and militarism, Black America squanders reservoirs of respect among the Earth’s peoples.…
The U.S. has used its influence to steal another country’s oil revenues. Venezuela is in the crosshairs because it dares to be socialist in the hemisphere the U.S. claims as it’s “backyard.”
The late Glen Ford would probably refer to events in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and elsewhere as the “blowback” from France’s colonial past.
