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

Breathe the Bern…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
20 Apr 2016
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Our poet in residence muses upon the collective madness engendered by the quadrennial presidential election.

Breathe the Bern…

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Right around this time ‘left’ pundits and
Pontificators hitch worn star-spangled
suspenders to an ol’ mule and pretend they’re
Alcoholics— invoking the serenity prayer:

“God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things that I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.”

They claim theirs is the highest form of self-
discipline; like a form of Yoga, a sacred set of
Breathing exercises in 4yr-cycles—foundation of
their practice is regulation of oxygen to brain cells…

But it looks like the Hokey-Pokey:

You clamp your left nostril down,
Until it feels like you’ll drown…
You clamp your right nostril down,
Until your ‘hood’s like Jonestown—

Then you do the shit again in 4 yrs
As the wily 1% stokes your fears…
Set yourself back another decade
With the practicing of this charade…

Raymond Nat Turner © 2016 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


  • Analyst Suffered 20 Years in US Prison for Helping Cuba, Still Condemns ‘Suffocating’ Blockade
    Ben Norton
    Analyst Suffered 20 Years in US Prison for Helping Cuba, Still Condemns ‘Suffocating’ Blockade
    18 Jan 2023
    Former DIA analyst Ana Belén Montes was imprisoned for 20 years for sharing intelligence with Cuba that helped it prevent US attacks and sabotage. Upon being released, she condemned the “suffocating…
  • Black Agenda Radio January 13, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio January 13, 2023
    13 Jan 2023
    This week we have an update on the FBI raid and impending indictments against members of the Uhuru Movement, discuss what Damar Hamlin teaches us about the business of football, and discover that…
  • Omali Yeshitela and the FBI Attack on the Uhuru Movement
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Omali Yeshitela and the FBI Attack on the Uhuru Movement
    13 Jan 2023
    Omali Yeshitela is chairman of the African Peoples Socialist Party, leader of the Uhuru Movement, and the Black is Back Coalition. The African Peoples Socialist Party’s Uhuru House was raided by FBI…
  • Damar Hamlin and the Business of Football
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Damar Hamlin and the Business of Football
    13 Jan 2023
    Garrett Bush is host of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, The Barbershop, and the Locked on Browns podcast. He joins us from Cleveland to discuss Damar Hamlin, the NFL player from the Buffalo Bills…
  • New York City Retirees Say No to Privatized Medicare
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    New York City Retirees Say No to Privatized Medicare
    13 Jan 2023
    New York City retirees resist the privatization of their Medicare benefits.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us