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

Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 Nov 2020
🖨️ Print Article
Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance
Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance

Militarist Macarena all pomp and circumstance—
they’re baaaack with Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance…
First you cry, “Wolf!” in tune with corporate law
Then you bray, neigh, whinny and you he-haw!

Then you shimmy, shudder and bump and grind
Amerikkkan exceptionalism for all mankind…
green strings pulling you to war personhood
lewd, suggestive Chippendales chopping wood…

Then mime rubbing two sticks together for fire
but you bow and scrape in the name of empire
Crawling to Commander-in-Chief’s combat boots
givin’ ’em low-key lip service and tongue salutes
Now a quick little blue, purple, swing state step—
shouting, “Kiss my ass, constituents I ‘rep’!”

But yell and tell the world you’re moving left—
with every imperialist war move, lie and theft!
So you mime holding donkey hooves to the fire
in concentration camps behind concertina wire 
And every 2/4 years you get up again on your feet
for this Militarist Macarena you repeat and repeat…

© 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

 

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

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!”
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
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.
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Trigger Warning
22 November 2023
Trigger Warning Palestine’s the Answer— What was the Question?
Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Another June 1
07 June 2023
                                       
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
16 February 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who

More Stories


  • Demilitarizing the NFL
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Demilitarizing the NFL
    23 Sep 2020
    Nation Magazine sportswriter Dave Zirin, speaking to Ann Garrison, says that militarism is a founding feature of American football, not just a bug, but we don’t have to accept it in f
  • OK to say the F-word?
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    OK to say the F-word?
    23 Sep 2020
    P.O.E.T. are the only letters behind my name— So you scowl; scold; spank my hands with rulers and switches worn smooth from serial beatdowns, dare I use the F-word…
  • Isabel Wilkerson’s Book "Caste" and the Discontent of a Ruling Class in Crisis
    Anthony Monteiro
    Isabel Wilkerson’s Book "Caste" and the Discontent of a Ruling Class in Crisis
    23 Sep 2020
    Oprah gushes that this book by the latest darling of the ruling classes might “save us,” but all it’s really trying to save is capitalism.
  • Still Missing and Murdered: Atlanta’s Lost Children Address Today’s Plague of Police Violence
    Tryon P. Woods
    Still Missing and Murdered: Atlanta’s Lost Children Address Today’s Plague of Police Violence
    23 Sep 2020
    The docu-series reveals not only the ongoing predation against the Black community, but that policing is about social control, not crime control.  
  • Letters from Our Readers
    Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers
    23 Sep 2020
    This week climate change, US foreign policy, and Mexico’s new government were on your minds.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us