Boy Scouts in Arlington, Virginia in 1953 (Image: Arlington public library)
Scouting
day dreaming, dreaming, anticipating
a Hollywood Bowl where some master
painter splashed stars
all over night’s navy blue canvas…
Wow! Were we in awe? So insignificant
in the grand scheme of the
painting; its sovereign clarity—
its status; its ultimate one-upmanship?
day dreaming, dreaming, anticipating
more navy blue pants, more navy blue shirts,
caps; and gold scarves of fledgling Cub Scouts…
Our yellow bus pulled
into the lower lot among
an armada of other yellow busses
day dreaming, dreaming, anticipating
crisp practice of white handbook pages;
of memorized rules—cherished code of
Conduct—One for all/All for one ways
of being in the world…
Our yellow bus pulled
into the lower lot among
an armada of other yellow busses
day dreaming, dreaming, anticipating
tent talk; talk of knots tied with wider,
with new navy blue crew…
Our yellow bus pulled up and parked
among the armada of yellow busses—
Unloading more blue pants, blue shirts,
caps; more gold scarves… Unloading expresso,
mocha, tan, paper bag brown, cinnamon, caramel cargo…
Before—without warning—awful reign of rocks fell from
Lot above—Fell with wild, weaponized cries:
“GO HOME CHOCOLATE DROPS!!!!”
“GO HOME CHOCOLATE DROPS!!!!”
“GO HOME CHOCOLATE DROPS!!!!”
© 2023. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet; BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC. You can Vote for his work at: GoFundMe and PayPal.
Defying Ecuador’s attempt to bar international monitors, election observers documented how Daniel Noboa’s contested victory, secured amid militarized polling stations and state violence, escalates…
DEI isn’t dead—it was never alive to begin with. A corporate pacification project dressed as progress, it launders Black rage into diversity statements while police budgets grow and material…
The Second National Black Radical Organizing Conference (NBROC) continues the legacy of Black radical resistance, uniting organizers to confront imperialism, capitalism, and white supremacy while…
Despite Ecuador's attempts to block international observers, the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and Movimiento Afrodescendiente Nacional Ecuatoriano (MANE) documented the violent realities of Daniel…
Haiti Action Committee is honored to share the keynote address given by Haiti’s former First Lady Mildred Aristide at the April 8th, 2025 Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights: Truth, Solidarity and…
