Is cruelty Governor Woke Smoke’s superpower?
Hey, amigo, this ain’t Gitmo… We won’t waterboard you.
We won’t force feed you—Hop on this shiny white bus to
a better life! Catch this sleek private plane to food, clothing
and shelter! Hey, señora, one plush seat’s left for you and yours!
We swear this ain’t Sunshine State slapstick! We swear
it ain’t Lone Star State Abbot and Costello—comedy of
Cruelty! …Why… we’d never score $election points with
Corporate paymasters…by using you as $campaign props…
Why, we’d never ever move men, women, children across
this confederate chessboard like bipartisan pawns—Swear we
Wouldn’t! We’re not the same bloodthirsty Europeans who gun-
smoked plains, prairies, and wetlands, creating crimson clouds.
Hey, amigo, this ain’t Gitmo… We won’t waterboard you.
We won’t force feed you—Hop on this shiny white bus to
a better life! Catch this sleek private plane to food, clothing
and shelter! Hey, señora, one plush seat’s left for you and yours!
We swear this ain’t Sunshine State slapstick! We swear
it ain’t Lone Star State Abbot and Costello—comedy of
Cruelty! We’re not the ones who blood-soaked this soil—
leaving Indigenous ones with stand stolen ground nightmares…
Why, we wouldn’t lie—just ask the Seminoles! We’ve changed.
We’re simply not the same predatory Europeans exploring Africa,
Promising, “Jobs! Jobs! Longterm Employment Opportunities!”
Trust us, “Voluntary Relocation” can live “Where woke goes to die.”
Trust us… We’ re… “like a good neighbor.” Like Allstate following
fires in California—or floods in Florida…We’d never use pandemic
Recovery Funds (earmarked for relief ) to ship you people to woke
‘Sanctuary Cities!’ Oh—no—Never!
Hey, amigo, this ain’t Gitmo… We won’t waterboard you.
We won’t force feed you. This is a melting pot! You and your family
just jump right in! Trust us… we aren’t the AI-driven, rightwing, robotic,
Brooks Brothers’ suited barbarians your growling gut’s saying we are…
© 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.
In the 1960s LA communities of color prioritized a radical tradition of care and the transformative power of art and politics.
Through a loophole in the 13th Amendment, governments and corporations profit from cheap, incarcerated labor.
This week corporate funded NGOs, liberal sympathy for Trump, and Russophobia in progressive organizations were on your minds.
The standard version of rock and roll history does not allot much space at all to the discussion of African American women.
We can disentangle care from capitalism by increasing community-generated and community-led models of caring.
