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


  • The Soul Will Find a Way
    Kevin Alexander Gray
    The Soul Will Find a Way
    15 Mar 2023
    Kevin Alexander Gray mixed the political and the cultural as he evoked life for Black people in the rural south and made connections with James Brown in one beautiful essay.
  • How to Help Haiti
    Jemima Pierre , Tanya Golash-Boza , Kevin Alexander Gray
    How to Help Haiti
    15 Mar 2023
    Kevin Alexander Gray co-wrote this article after a trip to post-earthquake Haiti.
  • Obama and Black America
    Kevin Alexander Gray
    Obama and Black America
    15 Mar 2023
    Kevin Alexander Gray analyzed Barack Obama's presidential election and its negative impact on Black people and their politics.
  • Captive Maternal Roundtable: Rebecca A. Wilcox
    Rebecca A. Wilcox
    Captive Maternal Roundtable: Rebecca A. Wilcox
    15 Mar 2023
    The following is part of the first installment of our “Captive Maternal Roundtable” on Joy James’ new book, In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love: Precarity, Power, Communities.
  • Captive Maternal Roundtable: Da'Shaun Harrison
    Da'Shaun Harrison
    Captive Maternal Roundtable: Da'Shaun Harrison
    15 Mar 2023
    The following is part of the first installment of our “Captive Maternal Roundtable” on Joy James’ new book, In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love: Precarity, Power, Communities.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us