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
  • omnibus

War Criminal Straw Spun to Fools Gold Hero
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
29 Aug 2018
John McCain, 1936-2018

Looking up at stars and stripes

flapping half staff over City College

my spirit sang, “Oh, me oh my…”

They’re honoring natural

Woman—singer of soul songs!

Celebrating gospel’s gift to the 

World—giving thanks to indigo 

Blues crossing borders, gathering tribes…

 

Instead, I find,“It’s a Barnum and

Bailey world, just as phony as it can be—”

Half staff flags—saluting somber war-

profiteers…

Warlords of Wall Street who lost their 

Hawk, their mythical maverick…

 

Their Satanic scribblers are spinning,

spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning

High fructose corn syrup sentiments—

Stinking solvent scrubbing blood up from

4 million Indochinese—lionizing their hawk 

Slurring heroic homeland defenders: “gooks!”

 

Our Silly Putty populace with Play

Dough politics—No flashbacks of

Body counts on evening news; No 

Smoke from smoldering draft cards; 

No dinner table blowups; No memory of

Militant chants keeping time for 

Millions of marching feet…is

Confused!  

Blitzkrieg bombards them hourly…

parroting Psy-Op big lie after big lie;

Toasting Jim Jones Juice to the heavens for a

War criminal crooner—would-be Beach Boy:

“Bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb Iran…”

 

A war criminal

who flew—

no Zinn moment—

who 

bombed 

who flew

who 

bombed 

who flew

who 

bombed

who flew 

who 

bombed

and 

bombed

and 

bombed

day after day

Bomb bay opening—not with rice, or roses

rechristening children ‘Collateral Damage’

22 missions—his 23rd shot down over Hanoi;

Left—no Zinn moment…with parachute and

flight suit for his 5yr stay

 

Today warheads mourn; forked tongues wagging 

feverishly…no Zinn moment…face-lifting the life—

So in love with death…

 

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Our poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished perforning artist of long and illustrious standing. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazs.com

 

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at [email protected]

poetry

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


Related Stories

Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
15 July 2021
Could the pigment of your imagination cause Black magic mascots, props, sops— Black faces in high places—
A known known…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A known known…
08 July 2021
“…there are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
01 July 2021
“History repeats itself,  first as tragedy, second as farce.” —Karl Marx
The Town Crier’s Big Tooth Fund (For Drs. Rosenthal, Sapir and Ferdowsi)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The Town Crier’s Big Tooth Fund (For Drs. Rosenthal, Sapir and Ferdowsi)
23 June 2021
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs…” —Karl Marx
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
16 June 2021
“Ain’t no power like the power of the people— ‘cause the power of the people don’t stop!” bouncing 
Ladee Blu: Another Monroe Doctrine delivery system 
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Ladee Blu: Another Monroe Doctrine delivery system 
09 June 2021
Raytheon’s craven raven Co-signing for mass murder: “Mowing the grass…” Now… Ladee Blu on a fool’s errand dis-
MOVE Tulsa to Gaza…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MOVE Tulsa to Gaza…
02 June 2021
The Mass Shooting Of The Day— this time was in San Jose… Do you know the way to San Jose?
Raymond Nat Turner , BAR poet-in-residence
Preachin’ to the Choir (for Joe, Linda, Tim…)
26 May 2021
2020’s hindsight—frost in the rearview mirror. Miles Ahead… I’m Sheltered in Solidarity with National Poetry Month and
Herd impunity?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Herd impunity?
19 May 2021
What if a colonial settler state accidentally vaccinated 61% of its population With a virulent variant of a vicious virus?

More Stories


  • Humanitarian Hawks Demand War on Ethiopia, National Guard Deploys to the Horn
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Humanitarian Hawks Demand War on Ethiopia, National Guard Deploys to the Horn
    14 Dec 2021
    News of the deployment of National Guard troops to an unspecified location in the Horn of Africa is an indication that US interference in the region will continue.
  • The Gerry-Mander
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Extinction
    14 Dec 2021
                                                                                                                         Extinction  
  • BAR Book Forum: William C. Anderson’s “The Nation on No Map”
    Roberto Sirvent
    BAR Book Forum: William C. Anderson’s “The Nation on No Map”
    14 Dec 2021
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is William C. Anderson.
  • U.S. Corporate Media Watch: An Interview with Richard Medhurst
    Richard Medhurst and Roberto Sirvent
    U.S. Corporate Media Watch: An Interview with Richard Medhurst
    14 Dec 2021
    Richard and Roberto would like to dedicate this feature to Glen Ford, one of the fiercest critics of U.S. corporate media the country has ever known.
  • How the Left Can Get Ethiopia Right: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly with #NoMore
    Filmon Zerai
    How the Left Can Get Ethiopia Right: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly with #NoMore
    14 Dec 2021
    The best way for leftist anti-imperialists to support Ethiopia is to not take a hardline position on the internal politics of the country.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us