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

2/4 Dance Don’t Cut It
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 Jan 2018
🖨️ Print Article
2/4 Dance Don’t Cut It
2/4 Dance Don’t Cut It

“Pay, or die…” the Death
Sentence Big Pharma-
Insurance Mob just issued
a neighbor; and a Frankenfood
experiment’s irritating my gut

The water smells swampy some days,
like bleach others; Tents grow in night
air like multi-colored mushrooms—crazy
cancer cells; Another school’s shuttered,
its teachers scattered in the wind, like
pencil sharpener shavings—Money for
Bombs, not for books—Wow, the wars
went from seven to nine this week…

Here they come again with Fear:
‘Freedom of Choice,’ binary bad
or worse options—hiking uphill
barefoot, in elephant excrement,
donkey dung to take one—with or
without Vaseline—from the1% again

I’m not sure I have another 8 yrs
for translating, deciphering slogans:
“Regime…change you can believe in!”
“Yes, we can…and bottle Jim Jones Juice!”
as silly spoils of celebrity-worship;
Isn’t it time for Adult Politics?

Isn’t it time to abandon Infantile
Exercises—searching for saviors
Every 2 to 4 yrs—and Nominate
Meeting More Than Four Corners;
Donate to Door-To-Door; Phone Bank
for Boycott; Campaign for Consciousness;
Support Shoe Leather-Street Heat running for
Raising roofs, planting food, curing cancer?

poetry

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


More Stories


  • Congolese burn an American flag
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Congolese Journalist: It’s Time to Stop Negotiating with Rwanda
    21 Feb 2024
    Rwanda’s M23 militia and Rwandan Special Forces have been advancing on Goma, the capital city of North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Ann Garrison speaks with Congolese…
  • Colin Kaepernick
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    The Karma of Kap or curse of capitalism??
    21 Feb 2024
    "The Karma of Kap or curse of capitalism??" is the latest from our Poet-in-Residence.
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    People Centered Human Rights and the Black Radical Tradition
    21 Feb 2024
    On this anniversary of the death of Malcolm X, it's important to reflect on his life and the true meaning of human rights. We are republishing this 2021 essay from our Editor and Columnist,…
  • Everyday Politics in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
    Essam Elkorghli
    Reconciling with Libya’s History on the 13th Anniversary of NATO’s Regime Change: Everyday Politics in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Matteo Capasso) - Book Review
    21 Feb 2024
    Essam Elkorghli reviews the book, "Everyday Politics in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" by Matteo Capasso, which discusses the history and politics of Libya in the decades leading up to the 2011 uprising…
  • US Israel flags
    Mark P. Fancher
    Israel – Imperialism’s MVP (Most Valuable Proxy)
    21 Feb 2024
    Joe Biden's unchanging support of Israel during the ongoing genocide in Palestine, despite massive resistance, reflects the U.S. empire's commitment to protecting its imperialist interests in the…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us