American Muslim chilren
Hey Ayat, we were an odd
couple, haunting the library
for magical books,
deciding how and where
we wanted to work…
Our symbiosis
Your linguistic ticket to
4th grade status—
and my meal ticket
Hey Aayat, forget that
you worked hard
raising your reading
from 1.4
to 4.
Forget how
You sweated in your
Hijab,Cali sun streaming
through the hallway where we worked
Your seat wet with sweat
when I insisted you break for water.
Forget how my eyes welled up when…
When you read the word “chlorophyll”
with
a li’l Arabic seasoning.
Forget our enchanted
moment, our turning point,
finding a book
on your birthplace, your
religion
Hey Ayat, I apologize—
It’s America first and
American Heroes must
Kill
Kids like you in Yemen—
But, “God will sort it out…”
When they get to Heaven.
And one day you’ll understand
Why
American heroes kill for pipe-
lines…
© 2016. Raymond Nat Turner,The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed performing artist and educator, and an official in the National Writers Union.
Find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com
Nicaragua has built a resilient economy against the odds. Now, that success is being met with escalating economic attacks from the U.S.
In this week’s segment, we analyze the first month of Zohran Mamdani’s administration as mayor of New York City. But we begin with discussion of a new book from an activist and writer about the…
We're joined by Arlene Eisen, author of the new book, In the Worldwide Family of Militant Women, published by Iskra Books. Arlene Eisen has been a militant in the struggle against imperialism since…
Lance Hawkins joins us from New York City to discuss the first month of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration. Lance Hawkins is a community, labor, and anti-war organizer, and a proud socialist born…
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist, joined Garland Nixon in a conversation about the coordination between the Democratic and Republican parties in the descent into an…
