Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence

15 Jul 2021

Could the pigment of your imagination
cause Black magic mascots, props, sops—
Black faces in high places—
to short-circuit electrical gray spaces?

Are you bamboozled by black cat dander-
goober dust-rabbit foot-spook-ism—like
The Audacity of Dope?
Did you happy dance on ice twice—dangling
from the Drone Ranger’s dick for 8 yrs? Did
the deleterious effect on your mental health
Paralyze your politics?

You used to dream big—unleashing superstorm muses,
250 MPH winds that dashed aircraft carriers
of commonsense/supertankers of conventional wisdom;
You used to dream big—kindergarten big—seven
times the size of Africa, Asia, South America combined—
You used to demand the impossible while doin’ the difficult
Daily.

Now you wring your hands, shifting your weight side
to side; peering furtively into the future’s brown eyes.
And since Raytheon’s raven was crowned Warlord, you
go gaga over Super Bowl flyovers and argue there are
Five sides to every story. Worst, you imply bombing
Babies like my 4th grade student here from Yemen is OK…

Could the pigment of your imagination
cause Black magic mascots, props, sops—
Black faces in high places—to short-circuit electrical gray spaces?

So, are you still superstitious, believing in men you don’t
Understand—men urinating on your head from ‘fiscal cliffs’
and teaching your children it’s ‘trickle down?’ Men who go
Low when you get high off Black magic mascots, props and
sops?

Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished poet and performing artist, and an official of the National Writers Union. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com

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