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


  •  Black Agenda Radio for Week of Monday, July 12, 2021
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio for Week of Monday, July 12, 2021
    13 Jul 2021
    CRT Origins “Radical Liberal,” Not Marxist
  •  Slain Haitian President Was Washington’s Choice
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Slain Haitian President Was Washington’s Choice
    13 Jul 2021
    “Jovenel Moise’s path to president was paved with US, Canadian and French funding and support,” said Dr Jemima Pierre, a Haitian American anthropologist and political analyst at UC
  •  CRT Origins “Radical Liberal,” Not Marxist
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    CRT Origins “Radical Liberal,” Not Marxist
    13 Jul 2021
    Harvard professor “Derrick Bell, himself, one of the founders of Critical Race Theory, said he had no use for Marxism,” said writer and political analyst Pascal Robert, countering
  • Predatory capitalism has driven down wages and created a dystopia for workers.
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: How the Billionaires Rule
    08 Jul 2021
    Predatory Capitalism Has Driven Down Wages and Created a Dystopia for Workers.
  •  Critical Race Theory Debacle Signals the Collapse of the American Empire
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Critical Race Theory Debacle Signals the Collapse of the American Empire
    08 Jul 2021
    Whatever the strengths and limitations of Critical Race Theory, the debate over its usefulness to establishment circles is indicative of the American Empire’s rapid decline
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us