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


  • BAR Book Forum: Eric A. Stanley’s “Atmospheres of Violence”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Eric A. Stanley’s “Atmospheres of Violence”
    22 Sep 2021
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
  • Schmo Munchkin v. Ida
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Schmo Munchkin v. Ida
    22 Sep 2021
    Schmo Munchkin v. Ida   Ida: Hello, Schmo… Munchkin: 
  • Biden’s DOJ Sleight of Hand on Police Reform
    Netfa Freeman
    Biden’s DOJ Sleight of Hand on Police Reform
    22 Sep 2021
    DOJ "reforms" are a smoke screen covering up systemic complicity with law enforcement.
  • The late Michael Ratner is still under attack due to his work on behalf of prisoners held at Guantanamo.
    Marjorie Cohn
    Samuel Moyn’s Unprincipled Attack on Human Rights Giant Michael Ratner is Shameful
    22 Sep 2021
    Michael Ratner and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) were intimately connected to the Black Liberation Movement representing a number of activists in the crosshairs of state repression
  • Photo: Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom/ABr – CC BY 3.0 br
    Nick Estes
    Indigenous People of Brazil Fight for Their Future
    22 Sep 2021
    Brazil's indigenous people struggle against an entrenched oligarchy determined to drive them from their lands and a right wing president who is supported by the U.S.  
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us