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


  • After Bolsonaro, Can Brazil Move Beyond Neoliberalism and Toward Greater Global Cooperation?
    Richard Matousek
    After Bolsonaro, Can Brazil Move Beyond Neoliberalism and Toward Greater Global Cooperation?
    23 Nov 2022
    Lula da Silva's return to the Brazilian presidency is seen as a victory for the left. But he will have to struggle against forces who want to continue neo-liberal policies.
  • AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #43
    US Out of Africa Network
    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #43
    23 Nov 2022
    The Black Alliance for Peace AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #43 includes an interview with a representative of the Revolutionary Socialist League of Kenya and as always, the latest analysis and reporting on…
  • Medical Care as a Political Weapon: Reflections on Frantz Fanon’s Treatment and Death from Cancer in Amerika
    Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson
    Medical Care as a Political Weapon: Reflections on Frantz Fanon’s Treatment and Death from Cancer in Amerika
    23 Nov 2022
    Frantz Fanon was a fierce critic of the U.S., but he spent the last weeks of his life in Washington DC, where he hoped to be treated for leukemia. Medical care can be used as a political weapon. 
  • Black Agenda Radio November 18, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio November 18, 2022
    18 Nov 2022
    The electoral process furthers the interest of capital and subverts what the people want. A manufactured crime panic enhances the power of the police and perpetuates racist politics.
  • Electoral Politics Subvert the Peoples Needs
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Electoral Politics Subvert the Peoples Needs
    18 Nov 2022
    President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief plan has been declared unconstitutional by a federal judge.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us