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

Cranes and Tents
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
05 Dec 2018
šŸ–Øļø Print Article
Stable working class neighborhoods are the bane of speculators, developers and capitalist politicians.
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 ā€œPie in the
sky,ā€ 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 ā€œPie in the
sky,ā€ 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 …

 

Ā© 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.

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


More Stories


  • ā€˜Go back to the plantation’ – Curitiba, Brazil Moves to Impeach Black City Councilor
    Brian Mier
    ā€˜Go back to the plantation’ – Curitiba, Brazil Moves to Impeach Black City Councilor
    17 May 2022
    The first impeachment process against a city councilor in the 329-year history of Curitiba – the Brazilian city that most cherishes its ā€œEuropean heritageā€ – is underway, and it has nothing to do…
  • How Global McCarthyism Shaped the World
    Peter Hogart
    How Global McCarthyism Shaped the World
    17 May 2022
    Military coups are a CIA tool used to control the Global South and ensure U.S. hegemony in many parts of the world.
  • The Sun Never Sets: Why Is AFRICOM Expanding in Zambia?
    Jeremy Kuzmarov
    The Sun Never Sets: Why Is AFRICOM Expanding in Zambia?
    17 May 2022
    Why Is AFRICOM Expanding in Zambia? Because of Zambia’s Copper and to Thwart the Chinese.
  • Black Agenda Radio May 13, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 13, 2022
    13 May 2022
    Black and Palestinian solidarity, the Cuban revolution lives, and say political prisoners' names while they're still alive.
  • Black and Palestinian Solidarity
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black and Palestinian Solidarity
    13 May 2022
    Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture is an organizer and dues paying member of Black Alliance for Peace Philadelphia. She recently spoke at the Al Awda conference in New York, to discuss the history of Black and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us