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

Olympics of Lying: Lipsticking a pig
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
09 Sep 2020
🖨️ Print Article
Olympics of Lying: Lipsticking a pig
Olympics of Lying: Lipsticking a pig

Red, white, blue burning crosses 
light up Capitalist Hill, War House, 
White Supreme Court sky. A 500 ft
phallic symbol middle fingers poor
People pinned down resisting crossfire:
Pandemic, Depression, Mengele Medicine…

It’s the Orange Age Olympics of Lying!
Let the games begin—again and again!
Gas-lighting, lipsticking a pig— the un-
wise wiseguy, simple-minded strong-
man, self-made wrong-man—Oh,what
fun to watch!

Boss Tweet—faux führer—leans a
Brooks Brothers skin alligator arm on
the bully pulpit lectern, then sticks 20
perfect 10 backflips,
summersaults, vaults, spiritual assaults—
Then sticks his dismount—turning truth 
On
its 
head 

It’s the Orange Age Olympics of Lying!
Let the games begin—again and again!
Let this COVID capitalism super spreader 
spectacle spit deadly droplets of Dog-eat-
Dog! Let it blast foghorns to deputies of
Death—Lawless L-Rad howls of “law and 
order…” to 1st Amendment assassins
on gaseous streets where
Dr. Goebbels and Leni Riefenstahl live—
Last Days of Pompeo—Where violent ghosts
live like crude translations from fluent Fascism:
“We Make the law as we Break the law!”

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

Utopian socialist’s socialist utopia

Comrade Joe—now I know—
I was slow…You tiptoe—Like 
sourdough 
Aikido…even though
Muhammad Ali is known as
The Greatest—your Rope-a-
Dope rises to another level!

“Nothing would fundamentally 
change,” you said. And I looked
into your glazed eyes and saw a
Politician—punch drunk from 
punching in and out on corporate 
Time clocks…
But, behind the fog
burned a wild-eyed Marxist—
Screaming at 1% paymasters:
“Get you hand out of my ass—
quit moving my mouth—44 
years is enough!”

Whew, now we can all
Breathe… a collective sigh
of relief… Alas, we will have
Space to organize—organize—
organize—organize—like our
Enslaved ancestors waiting to
break tools, slow down, go dumb,
feign illness, poison slavers and 
Escape…once Buchanan was out…
and Lincoln was in…

Comrade Joe—now I know—
I was slow…You tiptoe—Like 
sourdough 
Aikido…even though
All I saw was an old corporate
Clydesdale hauling water for fossil fools—
Hiding inside was a socialist Trojan Horse
of crimson hue, who will—1st 100 Days—trot
out closing Fort Hood and 100s of other rape
station/mass murder manufactories ringing our
Planet. Who will trot out 5-Year Plans bringing
young men and women home whole, honorable
For useful toil in home, hospital, clinic, windmill, 
solar panel, geothermal, electric vehicle building 
brigades
making Green New Dealers green with envy—
moving left with warp speed—like 
Michael Jackson Moonwalking to “Billie Jean!”

Comrade Joe—now I know—
I was slow…You tiptoe—Like 
sourdough 
Aikido…even though
Your Rope-a-Dope reminded me of that black
guy—Slutty Professor— ’08… Hippin’ us to the
Drone Ranger’s cool, coded Wink-Wink-Nod-
Nod, Black Folk-only language, going over
Heads of Wall Street, Pentagon and Banksters— 
“Too big to fail…” to nuanced Negroz centering,
drilling down, deep-diving, unpacking intersectionalities

Comrade Joe—now I know—
I was slow…You tiptoe—Like 
sourdough 
Aikido…even though
You said, “You ain’t Black,” to those cowering 
in corners—clothespin pinched noses—brains 
Deprived of oxygen; And you said the Black
community’s not as diverse as 
Mexican/Central American communities coming
from communist, socialist, labor, christian, green 
party populated countries…
You were really rallying us for November’s Nirvana—
some of us have
been trying to reach…All our adult lives…

© 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


  • AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #41
    Black Alliance For Peace
    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #41
    28 Sep 2022
    The Black Alliance for Peace AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #41 analyzes how white supremacy operates through the actions of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. As always the AFRICOM Watch…
  • Zambia’s Debt Crisis a Warning for What Looms Ahead for Global South
    Tanupriya Singh
    Zambia’s Debt Crisis a Warning for What Looms Ahead for Global South
    28 Sep 2022
    Zambia is heading toward critical negotiations to restructure its mounting debts. The IMF has approved a $1.3 billion bailout plan for the country, which will impose cruel austerity measures on the…
  • In Response to Antonio Guterres, Haitian Organizations Point to the Responsibility of the UN in the "Gangsterization of Haiti"
    AlterPresse
    In Response to Antonio Guterres, Haitian Organizations Point to the Responsibility of the UN in the "Gangsterization of Haiti"
    28 Sep 2022
    The United Nations is complicit in what is referred to as the "gangsterization" of Haiti. The existence of criminal gangs is the result of UN Core Group interference yet is now the pretext for…
  • What is Nkrumahism-Touréism?
    All African Peoples Revolutionary Party
    What is Nkrumahism-Touréism?
    28 Sep 2022
    The Pan-African revolutionary thought of Ahmed Sékou Touré and Kwame Nkrumah is an essential guide in seeking liberation for African people.
  • Black Agenda Radio September 23, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio September 23, 2022
    23 Sep 2022
    Laith Marouf and all defenders of Palestinian rights struggle against political and media erasure, Tracy McCarter and other abuse survivors face prosecution when defending themselves, and people with…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us