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

Slick Willy and the sandwiches
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
18 Sep 2019
🖨️ Print Article
Slick Willy and the sandwiches
Slick Willy and the sandwiches

Slick Willy swears he 
only took four flights
and gorged himself on
peanut butter and jelly 
Sandwiches—take off to 
landing…

Slick Willy says he flew
for the sandwiches—the 
sandwiches roused him—
Got him out of the house.
The sandwiches showed
him just how much he 
needed to 
Fly—breathe rarified air—
33,000 feet up in the wild
blue yonder, and clear his 
Head…bird of paradise had
the best peanut butter and
jelly sandwiches in the hemi-
sphere, if not the world! Slick 
Willy’s sandwicheswere served 
on white bread with crunchy 
Skippy’s, and Smuckers grape jelly, 
Always.
The green tea too was great—its
young, tender leaves, electric color
and robust flavor…but the sandwiches
rocked!

Slick Willy said the sandwiches
reminded him of simpler, innocent
times—Mickey Mouse Club, Mouseketeer
ears, cold war, drop drills after Hiroshima
and Nagasaki; and niggers knew their place—
black lives mattered: if the Sheriff said so…
He’s so sorry so many of our people are be-
hind bars—but someone had tobring super 
predators to heel,and be tough on crime…

Slick Willy said the sandwiches were worth
all the TSA (Theater Security Actors) screening, 
searching, patting him down—strike that!
That’s not his recollection. He did say the
sandwiches reminded him of how far he’d 
Come—white trash to First Black President—
Remember the saxophone and shades?
Fast foodto Foundation—Beltway outsider to
Viceroy of Haiti and Secret Service detail to 
Ditch

Slick Willy said he only flew four times—
As for manifests, memory refreshing flight
logs, etc.…Well, maybe he flew four x four +
four times—give or take a few? Hey, what’s
with all the hair-splitting?

Slick Willy said he recalls—
to the best of his recollection—
He recalls Tattoo shouting, “De plane, de plane!”
and correcting him harshly with the back of his 
hand,“Nah, nah, lil silly muthafucka—
it’s the sandwiches, the sandwiches!”

© 2019. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Neoliberals

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


Related Stories

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Graylan Hagler: Capitulation Masquerading as Political Thought
30 April 2025
Liberals continue to condemn anyone who didn’t support Kamala Harris and the latest iteration of neo-liberal treachery.

More Stories


  • Behind the Scenes at COP26: Developing Countries Fume Over U.S. Pressure to Alter Climate Finance Terms
    Rishika Pardikar
    Behind the Scenes at COP26: Developing Countries Fume Over U.S. Pressure to Alter Climate Finance Terms
    17 Nov 2021
    Rich capitalist nations use a variety of means to escape paying compensation to the Global South for climate change damage. The outcome at COP26 was no different in this regard.
  • Hurricane
    Steve D. Whitaker
    So Said, Not So Easily Done
    17 Nov 2021
    The island nations of the Caribbean are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
  • Let a Hundred Socialist Flowers Bloom: A Conversation with Issa Shivji
    Issa Shivji
    Let a Hundred Socialist Flowers Bloom: A Conversation with Issa Shivji
    17 Nov 2021
    In this extensive interview, socialist activist and writer Issa Shivji discusses the peasantry, capitalist development and socialism.
  • Photo Credit: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images
    Basav Sen
    We’re About to Pass Up a Generational Opportunity to Stem the Climate Crisis
    17 Nov 2021
    The Build Back Better program isn't just just inadequate on climate. It will have disastrous consequences if there is no active mass movement to counter its provisions.
  • U.S. Threatens Regime Change in Nicaragua
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    U.S. Threatens Regime Change in Nicaragua
    10 Nov 2021
    Nicaragua has been a target of U.S. aggressions since the 1850s. The Biden administration’s attack on the newly elected government is the latest chapter in a long and sordid history. Eyewitness…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us