Stable working class neighborhoods are the bane of speculators, developers and capitalist politicians.
Lording over the landscape like giant
Insects sucking soul, blood, chocolate
into multi-colored mushrooms
Metastasizing citywide.
Officers ordering vacant storefronts,
lined up like soldiers, to make money,
while brothers with cupped hands
platoon on plastic crates at entrances to
$4-a-cup coffee shops with belligerent baristas.
Beneath fiery crimson skies,
afternoon freeways are fuming parking lots.
Capitalism’s poisoning water and air,
and ignorant exploiters don’t care!
Pyramids and huts; tuxes and tails,
unwashed butts—tents and jails.
First come the cranes—then the
Tents, skyrocketing mortgages—then the
Rents… money, money, money for military
Bases in far off places—but, it’s “Pie in the
sky,” to demand affordable living spaces!
Basketball team’s outgrown The Town,
football team’s slipping off to Sin
City after slurping at the trough…
Capitalism’s poisoning water and air,
and ignorant exploiters don’t care!
Pyramids and huts; tuxes and tails,
unwashed butts—tents and jails.
First come the cranes—then the
Tents, skyrocketing mortgages—then the
Rents… money, money, money for military
Bases in far off places—but, it’s “Pie in the
sky,” to demand affordable living spaces!
And we play dress-up in grown folks’ clothes—
Tiny red, white and blue stickers— pretending
we’re fixing it in 20 minutes… every 2-4 years …
© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.
NYC's new congestion pricing program has grave environmental justice implications for poor, working class, and Black communities which will be subjected to increased pollution and poor air quality.
Trinidad is experiencing an unprecedented crime wave. The state has responded by militarizing the police and loosening restrictions on their actions. To understand these mechanisms, one must look at…
The murder of four Afro-Ecuadorian boys is another tragic example of the long history of racism in Latin America. The utter disregard for the lives of Black youth and the refusal to seek justice for…
On Dec 11, 2024, it was reported that the post-election audiences for the leading liberal media, MSNBC and CNN, continued to drop: 46% and 33%, respectively. Some of MSNBC’s biggest stars, including…
"F Train Lynching: Papa Cop’s wink and nod" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
