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

October Surprise? (or President Pence pardon?)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
07 Oct 2020
🖨️ Print Article
October Surprise? (or President Pence pardon?)
October Surprise? (or President Pence pardon?)

They say he could use your thoughts 
and prayers; like he used your taxes 
Praying to big white Buddha bottles
of bleach…They say he never, ever,
ever wants to be seen with big daddy
Herman Cain’s black ass again—and 
F$%# 19,000 Amazon workers infected

They say it wasn’t his Super-Spreader
Double-Header—Olympics of Lying—it
was Hope! And Hope knows her place
below the bus—but she’s begging Jesse
to work his magic, his mumbo jumbo—
“Keep Hope alive! Keep Hope alive!”

They say Boss Tweet’s lethargic, 
feverish with flu-like symptoms…
“it is what it is”

They say it’s the China Virus—Kung Flu—
Chinese Hoax: “effects virtually nobody”
They say his “herd mentality” is strong
so the virus “will just go away—“ Poof—
“Like a miracle…” Yes, the Miracles are
All gone… just Smokey’s left…
They say this is serious—not some stunt
for spiking sales of Hydroxychloroquine
or making the wrong man a strong man— 
30 days left to $campaign; 30 days before 
$election!Why would he risk looking weak
in a suckers and losers hospital?
They say he must quarantine for 14 days—
Chained to his hospital bed—like a victim of 
police violence—nurses demanding he wear
a Hannibal Lecter mask; but rules and laws
of science don’t apply to him…

They say it’s his Boris moment of clarity—
Not just an obese Boer snorting news cycles…
They say they must trace his Deutsche Bank,
Five Family, world oligarch, war-profiteer con-
tacts; his Wall Street gang, bankster contacts;
his fracking, fossil fuel contacts; his embassy-
butchering, low Barr, right-wing racist, assault-
right, nazi, Hitler-loving contacts…
To see if there are “fine people on both sides…”

They say if marked cards; loaded dice;
tilted table; thumb on the scale
Fail; The Orange Age ain’t over! It’s “Over There:”
President Pence pardon—Off to Modi-land;
Bossa Nova with Bolsonaro; or getting down and dirty
with Duterte; or painting Red Square s#%@hole orange…

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

BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com   .

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com

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


  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Without Including Biden and Blinken and the Issue of Genocide, International Criminal Court Arrest Warrants Are a Sham
    27 Nov 2024
    The International Criminal Court finally indicted Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, but this action is merely performative. If arrest warrants do not include war criminals like Joe…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: The Prospects for Fascism, Manning Marable, 1981
    27 Nov 2024
    Manning Marable reminds us that US fascism is institutional and normalized. The parallels of his 1981 essay with the present are obvious – US fascism remains ascendant.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Washington Post Attacks Eritrean Americans for Organizing in their Own Defense
    27 Nov 2024
    The Washington Post’s latest anti-Eritrea propaganda demonizes Eritrean immigrants defending themselves in the West.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
    COP29 Summit Marked by Acrimonious Debate Over Emissions and Finance
    27 Nov 2024
    Annual climate gathering reflects divisions between the industrialized states and the Global South.
  • Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    The End of American Thanksgivings: A Cause for Universal Rejoicing
    27 Nov 2024
    Glen Ford wrote many powerful essays, but his unflinching analysis of the history of the holiday we call Thanksgiving endures 20 years after he wrote it.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us