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

I had a nightmare (For friend/fellow Poet Genny Lim)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
22 Apr 2020
🖨️ Print Article
I had a nightmare (For friend/fellow Poet Genny Lim)
I had a nightmare (For friend/fellow Poet Genny Lim)

I had a nightmare
that down in Mississippi,
its governor having his lips 
dripping with words of Social Darwinism,
Herd immunity and Mengele Medicine,
Defied COVID-19 and hosted his own
Houston-style “Howdy Modi” Rally—
A gathering of strongmen—
not wrong men 
A gathering of right men
for the white men 
in the white house

A gathering of asymptomatic 
autocrats from around the
World—Brazil, India, the Philippines,
Saudi Arabia and the UK lead
Neoliberal, anti-science, climate deniers; anti-
Abortion thugs; anti-Asian, anti-Muslim, anti-
Communist; homophobic, nazi, klansmen and
their war-profiteer, private prison paymasters

Their bright banners: bars, stars and swastikas
festooned the roaring SRO stadium punctuated 
by humongous signs: 
A NO MASK, GLOVES, HAND SANITIZER ZONE
ABSOLUTELY NO SOCIAL DISTANCING ALLOWED
NFL-sized men with earpieces enforced it
confiscating gloves, masks, hand sanitizer—
But allowing big bottles of booze, kegs of beer
and mammoth slabs of tailgate burnt beef and pork

Jumbotron shots of southern senators wind-
surfing on raw sewage drew double-decibel cheers 
And Kid Rock’s rousing rendition of “The Star
Spangled Banner” swept over the stadium like
Super Storm Sandy—detonating loud, raucous
““U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” and “We’re # 1!” chants!
Dr. Goebbels gas-lighting contests were the bomb; and
Big lie-1/2 truth-misinformation-disinformation cyphers rocked;
Waterboarding and confederate statue-climbing contests were hot!

I tried talking one ol’ varmint—prairie dog— 
out of the circular firing squad. He
spat tobacco and the N-word at me.
I tried warning a smug cowboy volunteering for
“some Saudi head” that it wasn’t what he thought 
it was. 
I avoided those lining up for
“Using Your 2nd Amendment Rights Defending the Right To Work”
“Racialized Medicine Good/Socialized Medicine Bad” TED Talks.

I also skipped the Semi-Main Event 
Razor Bladed Wrestling: 
Modi versus Bolsonaro 
and 
The Main Event: A Pistol Duel: 
Duterte versus Boss Tweet 
(A tie at the end of regulation would
go into Sudden Death Overtime…)

In this open-carry-stand your ground
gathering—good ol’ boys packed slave ship
Tight—looking for pots of gold, or white light
at the end of the tunnel; I feared for my life!
I quickly slipped from the stadium, walking
North—fast—through unlit, unfamiliar woods
And—whew— found my way back to Harlem…

Woke…

© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.                   

poetry

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Army of Artists (For My Friend Horace Silver)
17 December 2025
Harmony of a hug,Rhythm of a rose,Melody in the mirror
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
11 June 2025
“any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
12 June 2024
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR’s poet-in-residence, pays homage to San Francisco’s shipyard artist JoeSam who died peacefully on June 1, 2024, surroun
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Enemy of the Sun, Samih al-Qasim, 1970
29 May 2024
Read against the terrible incineration of Rafah today, this poem of resistance and refusal, by Pa
Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Dis-honest Broker
01 May 2024
"Dis-honest Broker" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence, recently performed at UpSurge!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
03 April 2024
 
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.

More Stories


  • Viewing Ukraine Through the Davos Lens
    Conor Gallagher
    Viewing Ukraine Through the Davos Lens
    25 Jan 2023
    Why have Europe's politicians followed U.S. dictates regarding Ukraine and undermined the wellbeing of their own nations? The influence wielded by the World Economic Forum's Young Global…
  • Women in Nicaragua: Power and Protagonism – Delegation Report-Back (January 2023)
    Alliance for Global Justice
    Women in Nicaragua: Power and Protagonism – Delegation Report-Back (January 2023)
    25 Jan 2023
    The United States has targeted Nicaragua ever since the days of Ronald Reagan. Members of a recent delegation made observations that are far different from hostile narratives presented by the U.S.…
  • EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says that calling Israel an apartheid state is anti-Semitic. 
    Ali Abunimah
    EU Says It’s Anti-Semitic to Call Israel an Apartheid State
    25 Jan 2023
    EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says that calling Israel an apartheid state is anti-Semitic.
  • Black Agenda Radio January 20, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio January 20, 2023
    20 Jan 2023
    The Biden administration provokes Russia in the Ukraine proxy war while simultaneously threatening China. Ken Roth was denied a Harvard fellowship due to mild criticism of Israel while he served as…
  • Biden's Dangerous Foreign Policy
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Biden's Dangerous Foreign Policy
    20 Jan 2023
    Dr. Gerald Horne joins us in a wide ranging discussion about the dangers of U.S. foreign policy. Joe Biden is waging a proxy war against Russia while also antagonizing China.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us