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


  • We Say Quite Clearly: 'U.S. Out of Haiti!'  
    BAP Haiti Committee
    We Say Quite Clearly: 'U.S. Out of Haiti!'  
    31 Mar 2021
    While Biden is telling Haitians “Don’t come over,” Haiti and its allies have been saying “U.S. Out of Haiti.”
  • The author unpacks the tired trope of “poor rich Haiti,” highlighting the role of foreign capital and local elites in the destruction of life in the countryside.
    Lautaro Rivara
    “Poor Rich Haiti” or How Imperialists and Local Oligarchy Have Sought to Destroy Agriculture in Haiti
    31 Mar 2021
    The author unpacks the tired trope of “poor rich Haiti,” highlighting the role of foreign capital and local elites in the destruction of life in the countryside.
  • Oil Fuels Guyana’s Internecine Conflict 
    Arif Bulkan and Alissa Trotz
    Oil Fuels Guyana’s Internecine Conflict 
    31 Mar 2021
    Guyana’s historically oppressed peoples direct their hostility at each other while neo-imperial powers hide in plain sight and reap the country’s wealth.
  • Garment Workers Win $22 Billion in Historic Victory Against Wage Theft
    Loretta Graceffo
    Garment Workers Win $22 Billion in Historic Victory Against Wage Theft
    31 Mar 2021
    When the Covid-19 pandemic cut into corporate profits, the fashion industry simply stole billions from some of the world’s most exploited workers.
  • WHO Chief Blasts 'Grotesque' Vaccine Inequality as Rich Nations Block Speedy End of Global Pandemic
    Andrea Germanos
    WHO Chief Blasts 'Grotesque' Vaccine Inequality as Rich Nations Block Speedy End of Global Pandemic
    31 Mar 2021
    "As long as the virus continues to circulate anywhere, people will continue to die, trade and travel will continue to be disrupted, and the economic recovery will be further delayed."
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us