A whistle and honk for our cities under siege

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence

11 Feb 2026

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Exploding eyeballs of children in chokeholds. Shivering
seniors drug out into teen temperatures in their underwear;
bloody faces of body-slammed elders, face prints in snow.
Packs of 250lb. fantasy football bettors/NFL-wannabes pile on.

Invasion of the body snatchers! Deputized traitors / MAGAt
magicians disappearing loved ones. Boss Tweet’s bounty hunters —
$50,000 bonuses — body-slamming, beating down, choking and
Redacting 1st , 4th, 14th and other amendments — on our dime!

Home doors busted open like piñatas by battering ram-wielding
thugs. Shards of car window glass shower city streets with freezing
chaos and terror.
Another US city’s under siege. Will the reign of ICE stall in snow?

Burrito shop hungry hardhats flooded for lunch;
for strategy sessions; for 30 minute escapes into
sports sections folded up in sturdy denim back
pockets: EMPTY.

Coffee shop where co-workers; old and new
neighbors and welcome visitors gathered to chat
over cappuccino, chai, mocha, Americano; or sat
journaling or answering messages: EMPTY.

Corner church swollen with Sunday harmonies
with communion; with fellowship: EMPTY.
Neighborhood school’s steady stream of shrieking drop-offs
and pickups ground to sudden halt.
Clinic’s steady stream of cold and flu sufferers: are missing
in action. Community life is strangled under brownshirt siege.

Recalling “No Kings” rally ‘eons ago.’ Signs reading: NO WAR BUT
CLASS WAR! Recalling contagious rage against grifting Judas. And
feeling hopeful as hell. Remembering solidarity’s our silver lining
in swastika infused clouds … almost filling battleship gray skies …

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.

ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

state violence

protests

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