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


  • BAR Book Forum: Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin’s “Anarchism and the Black Revolution”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin’s “Anarchism and the Black Revolution”
    13 Oct 2021
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
  • Propaganda War against China Aims to Expand U.S. Hegemony and Eradicate Socialism
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Propaganda War against China Aims to Expand U.S. Hegemony and Eradicate Socialism
    13 Oct 2021
    Anti-China propaganda is intended to indoctrinate Americans with fear and hatred and gain support for war against that country and against socialism itself.
  • Grand Jury Refuse to Charge Police in the Murder of Kwamena Ocran
    Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, BAR editor and columnist
    Grand Jury Refuse to Charge Police in the Murder of Kwamena Ocran
    13 Oct 2021
    Police killings in Maryland go unpunished as they do in the rest of the country. Kwamena Ocran was just one of of many Black victims in his community.
  • Houria Bouteldja and Youssef Boussoumah, co-founders of the Parti des Indigènes de la République in France, detail the party's history, the French anti-racist and anti-imperialist movement, and their own experiences engaging in anti-racist politics over the last fifteen years.
    Houria Bouteldja, Youssef Boussoumah
    The Parti des Indigènes de la République - A Political Success and the Conspiracy Against It (2005 to 2020)
    13 Oct 2021
    Houria Bouteldja and Youssef Boussoumah, co-founders of the Parti des Indigènes de la République in France, detail the party's history, the French anti-racist and anti-imperialist movement
  • Thousands of Police Killings Are Unreported
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Thousands of Police Killings Are Unreported
    06 Oct 2021
    Police killings of Black people are a feature of American law enforcement and they are deliberately under counted.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us