Piece Process | Black Agenda Report

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence

23 May 2018

🖨️ Print Article

Israeli sniper prepares to implement the piece process.

Breathe, Relax, Aim, Sight, Squeeze
it’s a joy-stick; a video game to him
He has orders to “light up” anything that moves;
“Mow the grass, one blade at a time…” “One shot,
one kill…”
So far, he’s bagged a man on crutches, 3 disabled, 2 children

Azriel stalks victims in the valley of death; studies
them through his scope; taking careful aim; punching
tight little holes in heads and torsos—distant targets—
They’re sudden spray, pink haze floating above spots
where they stood. No regret. No sorrow for families…

A plume of black smoke from flaming tires curls
into his crosshairs, his snake eyes nesting in sand—
a nano second too late—
Another child’s head ‘clashes’
with a butterfly bullet from a
football field away—
Crimson skull fragments
explode from the grapefruit-sized exit wound;
Spent cartridges, his ‘kill brass,’ pile up in the
sand…
Ah, the rules of engagement
What’s bone, arteries—another amputated leg—
got to do with it/the piece process: shoot one man,
Terrify a thousand? Don’t ‘our’ finest train there?

poerty

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

More Stories

Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
The Coroner's Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence
20 Feb 2026
In his book, "The Coroner’s Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence," Dr. Terence Keel investigates how coroners and medical examiners omit key information about police…
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Nothing But Great Things: LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Israel
20 Feb 2026
Margaret Kimberley was recently a guest on the Revolutionary Change podcast with co-hosts Jen Perelman and Peter Hager. In these excerpts of their conversation, they discussed the intersection…
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Marco Rubio Reveals the White Supremacy at the Heart of Western Foreign Policy
18 Feb 2026
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in public what is usually unspoken but accepted around the world. Western foreign policy is controlled by the doctrine of white supremacy.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: Resurrection City: The Dream…The Accomplishments, Jesse Jackson, 1968
18 Feb 2026
“The Poor People’s Campaign is the greatest single challenge ever unleashed upon our colonial system.”
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist , Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Ajamu Baraka Remembers Rev. Jesse Jackson
18 Feb 2026
What is Jesse Jackson’s legacy? Ajamu Baraka, Black Agenda Report editor and columnist, provides his reflections.

Related Stories

More Stories