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

Piece Process
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
23 May 2018
🖨️ Print Article
Israeli sniper prepares to implement the piece process.
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.


Related Stories

Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?
08 January 2020
This Orange Age outrage— Reich of the child’s cage Cancer at fourth stage— Rogue state’s rampage…

More Stories


  • US Government Turns Somalia Into Failed State to Steal Its Oil 
    Nick Alexandrov
    US Government Turns Somalia Into Failed State to Steal Its Oil 
    24 Mar 2021
    “Bombing Somali civilians is one of AFRICOM’s main projects,” writes Mohamed Haji Ingiriis, a young Somali historian.
  • BAR Book Forum: Jean Casimir’s, “The Haitians: A Decolonial History”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Jean Casimir’s, “The Haitians: A Decolonial History”
    24 Mar 2021
    The worldview animating Haitian masses today is leading to a social context ungovernable within the framework of prevailing economic neo-liberalism.
  • BAR Book Forum: Koni Benson’s “Crossroads: I Live Where I Like”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Koni Benson’s “Crossroads: I Live Where I Like”
    24 Mar 2021
    This book challenges the myth that 1994 was the turning point in South Africa -- because the liberation process is unfinished.
  • Is Systemic Racism a True Indicator of Cowardice?
    Dr. Kweli Nzito
    Is Systemic Racism a True Indicator of Cowardice?
    24 Mar 2021
    The craven fear of truth in imperial zones, bordering on psychopathic dread, has sustained systemic racism and hegemonic power domestically and globally.
  • Sudan: the Second Wave of Revolt
    Sara Abbas
    Sudan: the Second Wave of Revolt
    24 Mar 2021
    The not-yet-triumphant Sudan popular uprising was both sophisticated and thorough; it tried to learn from past mistakes and internalize lessons from revolutions of the first wave and elsewhere.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us