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

Poem For Zigi
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
05 Jul 2017
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

This week's offering from BAR's poet in residence was also published this week at Dissident Voice.

 

Poem For Zigi

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

“…the greatest thing you’ll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return…”
‘Nature Boy’ by Eden Ahbez

Jet black gondola
2017-07-05 11:54:34 -0400glides across the resting lake
to Bata drumming dock,
African ritual;
Double rainbow of
Family and friends,
Connect like braided bread,
Waiting to share coconut,
white chocolate, lemon zest treat—
Our seven hour chat
“covering everything
from Ellington to
Engels…” earned Us…

Steamed tears stream on
Bent notes of
“The Nearness of You”
Blue glass explodes beneath
my white shoe;
Rich in Bandmates,

“…the greatest thing you’ll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return…”
‘Nature Boy’ by Eden Ahbez

Jet black gondola
glides across the resting lake
to Bata drumming dock,
African ritual;
Double rainbow of
Family and friends,
Connect like braided bread,
Waiting to share coconut,
white chocolate, lemon zest treat—
Our seven hour chat
“covering everything
from Ellington to
Engels…” earned Us…

Steamed tears stream on
Bent notes of
“The Nearness of You”
Blue glass explodes beneath
my white shoe;
Rich in Bandmates,
Best Man Son, Daughter,
Sistars; Ancestors bear
bouquets emblazoned,
“Mazel Tov!”
and crowd gold chuppah—
more beautiful than perfect

Reaching into Van Gogh
skies—plucking the
left-handed, curly-topped
Angel I’d asked for,
For a trek across
the heavens; After
decades daydreaming,
decades longing
for my Soulmate—a
Brother caught a break—
Flourishing in her
Galaxy of Love

’Twas Fathers Day too—
Papi growled, per usual,
“Take care of each other…”
Champagne whispering—
“Don’t fuck it up,”
Shooing us off to Tour Eiffel…

Best Man Son, Daughter,
Sistars; Ancestors bear
bouquets emblazoned,
“Mazel Tov!”
and crowd gold chuppah—
more beautiful than perfect

Reaching into Van Gogh
skies—plucking the
left-handed, curly-topped
Angel I’d asked for,
For a trek across
the heavens; After
decades daydreaming,
decades longing
for my Soulmate—a
Brother caught a break—
Flourishing in her
Galaxy of Love

’Twas Fathers Day too—
Papi growled, per usual,
“Take care of each other…”
Champagne whispering—
“Don’t fuck it up,”
Shooing us off to Tour Eiffel…

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


More Stories


  • Time of Plague and Meltdown: Mass Murder by Corporate Duopoly
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Time of Plague and Meltdown: Mass Murder by Corporate Duopoly
    26 Mar 2020
    The shrinking of the public health sector is a capitalist crime, abetted by the two corporate parties.
  • Freedom Rider: Revolutionary Change and COVID-19
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Revolutionary Change and COVID-19
    25 Mar 2020
    The genie has escaped from the bottle, revealing the deep injustices and cruelties that are embedded in US capitalism and its warped relationship to the peoples it rules, and the world.
  • The U.S. is a Failed State, and COVID-19 Proves it
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    The U.S. is a Failed State, and COVID-19 Proves it
    25 Mar 2020
    The United States’ capitalist and imperialist economy cannot provide a modicum of social welfare to its people and has been in perpetual war with Black Americans and Indigenous Peoples since its fo
  • Can COVID-19 Take Down NATO?
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Can COVID-19 Take Down NATO?
    25 Mar 2020
    The Pentagon insisted on going ahead with provocative NATO war games near Russia’s borders, despite the coronavirus epidemic, but Germany pulled its forces out and closed its roads to troop movemen
  • Chinese Disease?
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Chinese Disease?
    25 Mar 2020
    He didn’t say Chinese debt, did he? He didn’t say Chinese pharmaceuticals, did he? He didn’t say Chinese phone, did he? He didn’t say Chinese computer, did he?
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us