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

Ra Was Right
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
24 May 2017
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Some artists write poems and novels.  Others paint and perform.  Some build imaginary worlds you can immerse and lose yourself in.  Some bring messages from the future, prophesying, fortelling the fates of this one.  Our poet recalls one of these...

Ra Was Right

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

like a flaming guitar
sprinkled with lighter fluid,
four alarm fires roar
through Dark Ages on
synthesizers,
saxophones, trumpets,
pianos, drums, basses—
bari on bottom of
Interstellar swing—
Bebop blessings of
High Priests of Black Music

Time’s one dimensional
flying forward—
Fly Me To The Moon
let me loiter in the
Universe beyond
historical blips:
Above smoke stacks
spewing mushroom clouds;
Above wingtip-wearing
idiots poisoning our planet’s water;
Above primitive
Tomahawk missiles,
‘Apache’ and ‘Blackhawk’
helicopters and drones;
Above true believers
babbling ‘bout ‘our democracy;’
Above multibillionaire
media disguised as ‘mainstream;’
Above 37% ‘approval’ ratings;
Above an orange meteorite
un-humbled by the stars!

Fly Me To The Moon
with a connecting
flight to Saturn—
Recalibrating
my mind ‘round icy rings,
low-riding unknown
regions, horizons—
Finding formulations,
Equations, for overthrowing
gray-suited, star-spangled
lapel pin patriots—
True believers in
Yes, we can—
Yes, we can and
Bottle Jim Jones Juice
and deliver regime
Change you can believe in…

They said Ra was out—
way, way too far out:
Now, out is in, and
In is out—and the
cosmos is cool,
Saturn’s home—
“Space is the place!”

Raymond Nat Turner © 2017 All Rights Reserved
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. Find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • What You Should Really Know About Ukraine
    Bryce Greene
    What You Should Really Know About Ukraine
    23 Feb 2022
    The history of U.S. involvement in Ukraine is rarely analyzed by corporate media. The desire to open Ukraine to finance capital, the 2014 U.S.
  • War in Europe and the Rise of Raw Propaganda
    John Pilger
    War in Europe and the Rise of Raw Propaganda
    22 Feb 2022
    Events in Ukraine have been stoked by US/UK war propaganda. Journalistic standards have been replaced with evidence free narratives meant to get public support for acts of aggression.
  • Documents Reveal US Gov’t Spent $22M Promoting Anti-Russia Narrative in Ukraine and Abroad
    Alan MacLeod
    Documents Reveal US Gov’t Spent $22M Promoting Anti-Russia Narrative in Ukraine and Abroad
    22 Feb 2022
    The National Endowment for Democracy can claim it is in the business of democracy promotion. In reality, it does anything but that, unless “democracy” is entirely synonymous with elite U.S.
  • Why the Russian Federation Recognized the Independence Movements in the Donbas
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Why the Russian Federation Recognized the Independence Movements in the Donbas
    22 Feb 2022
    Recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics is a direct result of U.S. efforts to contain Russian economically and militarily.
  • Terrell Starr and Black Support of Imperialism
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Terrell Starr and Black Support of Imperialism
    16 Feb 2022
    Black Agenda Report's analysis of the US instigated crisis in Ukraine makes clear that imperialism is the source of turmoil in that country.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us