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

Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
18 Nov 2020
🖨️ Print Article
Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance
Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance

Militarist Macarena all pomp and circumstance—
they’re baaaack with Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance…
First you cry, “Wolf!” in tune with corporate law
Then you bray, neigh, whinny and you he-haw!

Then you shimmy, shudder and bump and grind
Amerikkkan exceptionalism for all mankind…
green strings pulling you to war personhood
lewd, suggestive Chippendales chopping wood…

Then mime rubbing two sticks together for fire
but you bow and scrape in the name of empire
Crawling to Commander-in-Chief’s combat boots
givin’ ’em low-key lip service and tongue salutes
Now a quick little blue, purple, swing state step—
shouting, “Kiss my ass, constituents I ‘rep’!”

But yell and tell the world you’re moving left—
with every imperialist war move, lie and theft!
So you mime holding donkey hooves to the fire
in concentration camps behind concertina wire 
And every 2/4 years you get up again on your feet
for this Militarist Macarena you repeat and repeat…

© 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

 

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

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!”
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
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.
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Trigger Warning
22 November 2023
Trigger Warning Palestine’s the Answer— What was the Question?
Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Another June 1
07 June 2023
                                       
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
16 February 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who

More Stories


  • 21st Century Wire Global Affairs
    HARVARD REPORT: The Hidden Numbers Behind Gaza’s Real Death Toll
    25 Jun 2025
    A recent report prepared by Garb Yaakov, a Professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, and published on The President & Fellows of Harvard College Dataverse website, has…
  • Tamanisha John
    Resisting Dependency: U.S. Hegemony, China’s Rise, and the Geopolitical Stakes in the Caribbean
    25 Jun 2025
    The Caribbean has become an emerging battleground in the U.S.-China rivalry, as regional states strategically navigate between the demands of superpowers and their own development needs.
  • Nicholas Mwangi
    Ghana’s Support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan Undermines Western Sahara’s Push for Sovereignty
    25 Jun 2025
    Ghana endorsed Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, abandoning its long-held support for Sahrawi sovereignty. Now Ghana is aligned with Morocco’s expanding economic and diplomatic maneuver…
  • Progressive International
    "Their aim is silence — ours is truth"
    25 Jun 2025
    Statement from the Sovereign Media collective, a new coalition of anti-imperialist media organizations, on the Israeli regime's assault on journalists from Palestine to Iran.
  • Baraka on LSR
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Charisse Burden-Stelly, PhD , Layla Brown, PhD
    Ajamu Baraka Speaks on Israel, Iran, and Zionism
    25 Jun 2025
    Ajamu Baraka joins LSR to discuss BAP's June 13, 2025, statement, "The Middle East is On Fire Because Israeli and U.S. Imperialism Lit the Match". What is the current situation in the region? How…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us