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

Peace Dividend
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
13 Feb 2013
🖨️ Print Article

by Raymond Nat Turner

General Dynamics, Northrup-
Grummond-Lockheed-Martin marionettes
Over-populating capitalist hill—
Pushing up shares on the NASDAQ?...

 

Peace Dividend
by Raymond Nat Turner

11/9: When the "Evil Empire"
Ended, warlords swore
There would be a
"Peace
Dividend," but

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...

Cold war with old war?

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...

Enemy of the month,

Threat of the week,
Operation of the day,
War around the world,
War around the clock—
War for evermore?

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...

Surges of war profiteers
Soliciting no-bid contracts,
Like packs of pedophile
Priests, volunteering for
Blacked-out Boys Clubs?

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...

Hearings to hear lies
Looped like capitalist
Politicians' promises, with
Pharmaceutical side effects—
Hearings asking questions
Answered already by bloody,
Broken, bodies of babies, their
Farmer fathers, mothers, their
Grandmothers, grandfathers and
Neighbors, all commodified as

Collateral damage?

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...

Eternal terms of Strom Thurmond and
Scoop Jackson—the Senator from Boeing—
Disguised as Di-Fi down to her New York
Stock Exchange ticker, wig concealing
Her warhead, fresh fragrance of death,
Plutonium breath, from a mouth moving
Like other GE, General Dynamics, Northrup-
Grummond-Lockheed-Martin marionettes
Over-populating capitalist hill—
Pushing up shares on the NASDAQ?...

11/9: When the "Evil Empire"
Ended, warlords swore
There would be a
"Peace
Dividend," but

Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end...
Did it end... Did it end?...

 

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at upsurgejazz.com.

Raymond Nat Turner (c) 2013 All Rights Reserved

 

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


More Stories


  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Pretty Boy Gavin Newsom, the Democrats' Rising Star
    12 Nov 2025
    California’s Governor is often referred to as Pretty Boy Gavin Newsom, and cameras do serve him well. What else do we know about him?
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Tuesday night’s tiny glimpse of what The People really want
    12 Nov 2025
    "Tuesday night’s tiny glimpse of what The People really want" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Interview with Tapji Garba
    12 Nov 2025
    In this series, we ask acclaimed writers about their work. This week’s featured author is Tapji Garba. Garba is a graduate student based in Toronto, focusing on Critical Black studies and political…
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    The Popular Steering Committee for a Zone of Peace in Our Americas Welcomes the Reaffirmation of Our Region as a Zone of Peace
    12 Nov 2025
    The Popular Steering Committee for the Zone of Peace in Our Americas calls on the masses of the peoples of Our America to unify struggles against the common enemy.
  • Marwa Yousuf K.
    Mamdani and The Liberal Repackaging of Power
    12 Nov 2025
    Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York City mayor's race was significant, but liberalism succeeds by presenting a veneer of change where it may not exist.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us