Ocher shadow bearing sculls and crossbones,
ruby river draining from pyramid’s base
an endless death rattle of bombs and drones
Threatening to drown the whole human race
with its weaponized Ponzi Scheme plus pomp—
Nightmare rebranded, ‘American Dream’
Bad Hombre bubbling from the draining swamp:
Poster boy, 1%’s pyramid scheme!
Mussolini mascot—walking-war crime—
dumb warhead, with homicidal hard-on
Oozing up from rot of capitalist slime
pussy grabbin’, paper towel tossin’ pawn
Another useful idiot—warlord and moron—
Silly Putty handled by the Pentagon…
Blitzkrieg of thieves on a wild rampage,
wild Boers at the trough slurping up slop,
like cancer metastasizing to a fifth stage—
Blood-suckers below the pyramid’s top,
fathering still more wars for fossil fuels…
And “thoughts and prayers,” for shot-up schools
Peddling patented dog-eat-dog ‘cures:’
“I got mine— and now—I’m comin’ for yours!”
© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
BAR's poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed performing artist, You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.
This lecture was delivered on February 3, 2026, at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada) for the monthly series “Black History and the Project of Black Studies.”
Dan Kovalik and Jeremy Kuzmarov’s Syria: Anatomy of Regime Change was published on September 1, 2025. What can it teach us now that the empire has pulled the trigger on three more nations…
"Everything they touch turns to rubble" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
Tennessee's claim of being "tough on crime" means racialized policing and incarceration, and profit making off of marginalized people.
While Washington DC's political leadership changes, Pan-African Community Action (PACA) is organizing to ensure that Black communities are empowered in decision making processes.
