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

October Surprise? (or President Pence pardon?)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
07 Oct 2020
🖨️ Print Article
October Surprise? (or President Pence pardon?)
October Surprise? (or President Pence pardon?)

They say he could use your thoughts 
and prayers; like he used your taxes 
Praying to big white Buddha bottles
of bleach…They say he never, ever,
ever wants to be seen with big daddy
Herman Cain’s black ass again—and 
F$%# 19,000 Amazon workers infected

They say it wasn’t his Super-Spreader
Double-Header—Olympics of Lying—it
was Hope! And Hope knows her place
below the bus—but she’s begging Jesse
to work his magic, his mumbo jumbo—
“Keep Hope alive! Keep Hope alive!”

They say Boss Tweet’s lethargic, 
feverish with flu-like symptoms…
“it is what it is”

They say it’s the China Virus—Kung Flu—
Chinese Hoax: “effects virtually nobody”
They say his “herd mentality” is strong
so the virus “will just go away—“ Poof—
“Like a miracle…” Yes, the Miracles are
All gone… just Smokey’s left…
They say this is serious—not some stunt
for spiking sales of Hydroxychloroquine
or making the wrong man a strong man— 
30 days left to $campaign; 30 days before 
$election!Why would he risk looking weak
in a suckers and losers hospital?
They say he must quarantine for 14 days—
Chained to his hospital bed—like a victim of 
police violence—nurses demanding he wear
a Hannibal Lecter mask; but rules and laws
of science don’t apply to him…

They say it’s his Boris moment of clarity—
Not just an obese Boer snorting news cycles…
They say they must trace his Deutsche Bank,
Five Family, world oligarch, war-profiteer con-
tacts; his Wall Street gang, bankster contacts;
his fracking, fossil fuel contacts; his embassy-
butchering, low Barr, right-wing racist, assault-
right, nazi, Hitler-loving contacts…
To see if there are “fine people on both sides…”

They say if marked cards; loaded dice;
tilted table; thumb on the scale
Fail; The Orange Age ain’t over! It’s “Over There:”
President Pence pardon—Off to Modi-land;
Bossa Nova with Bolsonaro; or getting down and dirty
with Duterte; or painting Red Square s#%@hole orange…

© 2020. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.       

BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com   .

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com

poetry

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


Related Stories

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Army of Artists (For My Friend Horace Silver)
17 December 2025
Harmony of a hug,Rhythm of a rose,Melody in the mirror
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
11 June 2025
“any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MrJoeSam’s Text Messages
12 June 2024
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR’s poet-in-residence, pays homage to San Francisco’s shipyard artist JoeSam who died peacefully on June 1, 2024, surroun
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Enemy of the Sun, Samih al-Qasim, 1970
29 May 2024
Read against the terrible incineration of Rafah today, this poem of resistance and refusal, by Pa
Raymond Nat Turner
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Dis-honest Broker
01 May 2024
"Dis-honest Broker" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence, recently performed at UpSurge!
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Raymond Nat Turner at the UpSurge Jazz Celebration
03 April 2024
 
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.

More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio October 24, 2025
    24 Oct 2025
    In this week’s segment, we focus on Africa. We hear about the Black Alliance for Peace Month of Action Against AFRICOM and about African governments that cooperate with the Trump administration's…
  • Protest in Africa
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    International Month of Action Against AFRICOM
    24 Oct 2025
    Netfa Freeman and Margaret Kimberley are among the Co-Coordinators of the Black Alliance for Peace Africa Team.
  • Deportation
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    African Governments Participate in Trump's Third Nation Deportations
    24 Oct 2025
    Our guest is Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of Pan African Newswire.
  • Jamarl Ajamu
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Jamarl Thomas
    Ajamu Baraka | "Very Dangerous Situation"
    22 Oct 2025
    Ajamu Baraka, BAR Editor and Columnist, joined Jamarl Thomas to discuss U.S. decline into overt fascism, the proxy war in Ukraine, and the regime change campaign against Venezuela.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    No Kings and the Lure of Spectacle
    22 Oct 2025
    The most recent No Kings march will hopefully be the last. A Democratic Party get out the vote effort is a show that obscures and obstructs the real work of organizing. 
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us