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

A known known…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
08 Jul 2021
🖨️ Print Article
A known known…
A known known…

“…there are known knowns. There are things
we know that we know. There are known
unknowns—things we do not know we know…” -- 
an infamous War Criminal

We know “extraordinary rendition” wasn’t 
Gladys and Marvin dropping smash hit
versions of “Grapevine” the same year…
We know “enhanced interrogation” wasn’t 
probing philosophical conversations regarding 
Grand mysteries of life…

In a dark, damp, dank, demonic den of depleted
uranium shrouded in white phosphorus clouds 
belching fracking fluid; A devilish war criminal
WMD dances around gaslighting Dr. Goebbels and
Empire’s death rattle. The stench of sulfur swirls 
up into his flared nostrils. Alas, he’s home!

Bloodthirsty thug in Brooks Brothers suit; Architect 
of Terror on War; Walking war crime; he arrives on a 
Hellfire Missile—Fallujah, Bagram, Abu Ghraib tags
on his baggage. Unapologetic for The Hague leg of his
journey, he’s the latest ghost detainee housed in the
Hitler-Hoover wing for the worst of the worst.

War criminal crème de la crimson, his place is cemented
in the pantheon of war criminals. For continuity he leaves
behind warlocks like Ol’ Schmo, Raytheon’s Craven Raven,
The Drone Ranger and Warlike Rice Women, Ladee Blu, et. al.
Now he can devote himself full-time
to stress positions, 20-hour interrogations, weaponizing phobias

After the war criminal’s laid to rest—and off the news cycle;  
after boots are gone from the ground, Ol’ Schmo will keep on
sending and sending and sending shareholders drones “over
the rainbow” to Afghanistan/Pakistan. And Congressmembers
sporting red, white and blue Wehrmacht jackets will keep
Huffing and puffing hot air…floating war profiteer balloons…

And now…A Moment of Silence—wet, cold, Wikileak, foghorn loud—
for Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Pakistan millions slaughtered on the 
watch of a cunning sadist-torturer-mass murderer; devil of death…

© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished poet and performing artist, and an official of the National Writers Union. Find 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

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


  •  CIA to Blame for History of Congo Catastrophes
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    CIA to Blame for History of Congo Catastrophes
    07 Jul 2021
    After Patrice Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first elected leader, was assassinated in 1961, the country was essentially run by the CIA – a situation that prevailed for much of the nex
  •  “Black Liberals” are Aligned with the US Police State
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    “Black Liberals” are Aligned with the US Police State
    06 Jul 2021
    In a BAR article titled “Black Liberal, Your Time Is Up,” York College Africana Studies professor Yannick Marshall described much of the Black political class ensconced in the Demo
  • Freedom Rider: The Terrible Origins of July 4th
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: The Terrible Origins of July 4th
    01 Jul 2021
    The British crown and the colonists were both determined to seize lands from native peoples and to continue enslavement.”
  • Message to the Peace Movement: A Summary of the New Cold War on China
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Message to the Peace Movement: A Summary of the New Cold War on China
    01 Jul 2021
    The New Cold War is a tech war, a propaganda war, an economic war, and a war to maintain US political and economic supremacy.
  • DOCUMENT: Internal Security Act of 1950
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    DOCUMENT: Internal Security Act of 1950
    01 Jul 2021
    The terms of the McCarran Act strategy offer a wide catchment that has the potential to ensnare any progressive or radical movement.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us