Stable working class neighborhoods are the bane of speculators, developers and capitalist politicians.
Lording over the landscape like giant
Insects sucking soul, blood, chocolate
into multi-colored mushrooms
Metastasizing citywide.
Officers ordering vacant storefronts,
lined up like soldiers, to make money,
while brothers with cupped hands
platoon on plastic crates at entrances to
$4-a-cup coffee shops with belligerent baristas.
Beneath fiery crimson skies,
afternoon freeways are fuming parking lots.
Capitalism’s poisoning water and air,
and ignorant exploiters don’t care!
Pyramids and huts; tuxes and tails,
unwashed butts—tents and jails.
First come the cranes—then the
Tents, skyrocketing mortgages—then the
Rents… money, money, money for military
Bases in far off places—but, it’s “Pie in the
sky,” to demand affordable living spaces!
Basketball team’s outgrown The Town,
football team’s slipping off to Sin
City after slurping at the trough…
Capitalism’s poisoning water and air,
and ignorant exploiters don’t care!
Pyramids and huts; tuxes and tails,
unwashed butts—tents and jails.
First come the cranes—then the
Tents, skyrocketing mortgages—then the
Rents… money, money, money for military
Bases in far off places—but, it’s “Pie in the
sky,” to demand affordable living spaces!
And we play dress-up in grown folks’ clothes—
Tiny red, white and blue stickers— pretending
we’re fixing it in 20 minutes… every 2-4 years …
© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.
True dissent doesn't get a warm welcome from the powerful. When mainstream institutions suddenly embrace a voice from the left, it's worth asking what has been lost in translation.
A deep exploration of Cabral’s and Rodney’s thoughts on the petty bourgeoisie and class struggles in Africa.
In 2025, Françafrique didn’t die — it just booked a seat on a French military plane. Macron’s “Operation Rescue” proves that old habits still fly first-class.
A new film shows that Israeli troops were encouraged to exterminate Palestinians, including women and children, by their politicians and Jewish religious leaders.
In this week’s segment, we examine claims of a genocide against Christians in the African nation of Nigeria, and the geopolitical strategems behind the narrative. But first, we discuss the election…
