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

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
12 Apr 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky CBS 60 Minutes Interview (Photo: Eric Kerchner CBS)

                                                                                       Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……,

                                                                                 “If you don’t have a broken heart—

                                                                                                  get one…”

                                                                                     —Poet Jack Hirschman

 

QUIET ON THE SET. ROLL SOUND. Sound Rolling.  ROLL CAMERA. Camera Speed. MARKER. ACTION:

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…

Quit crying… What, are you stupid? Haven’t you heard of

stuntmen—special effects? These are actors. Great actors!

Studied under Stanislavsky. This is staged. A cast of

thousands. Why, this mass evacuation’s straight outta

Eisenstein! Actors were instructed to flashback on family

photos in their back packs. Think about tricycles, toys, stuffed

animals left be hind with baby books, keepsakes, clothes and

favorite foods…

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…

Quit crying…This ain’t no Amos & Andy operation

like Libya, Ethiopia, The Congo, or Aleppo. This is major—

Armorers; Grips; Gaffers; Casting Directors; Script Supervisors;

Catering Crew—special effects alone cost more than most films!

Surround sound’s realism’s off the chain… The bomb, huh? How

cool’s all the air conditioners hanging from blown out windows?

Almost got you believin’ the buildings are really damaged?

Almost got you believin' that’s really rubble, huh? Almost got

you believin’ rust’s real on those perforated cars; and crying and

moaning you’re hearing’s real? These are actors— Brilliant

actors—studied Shakespeare!

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…

Quit crying… Your dogs ain’t dead. They trained with Cesar Millan.

They’ll rise up running like Lassie, barking like Toto—partying Spuds

McKenzie-style—at the stentorian command, “Cut!”

Your photographer friend and the young journalist who frequented

the coffee shop ain’t dead. They’ll rise, hearing, “Cut!” and shooting

will Stop… Your loved ones ain’t dead. They’re professional. They’ll leap up for

Lunch; stuff bloody brain tissue back into their skulls; stuff guts

back in their bodies, scurry over to the Catering Crew, grab bites

between

Lunch and dinner with cast and crew—when the Director shouts: “Cut!”

Wow, isn’t this staged shit cool?

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…

Quit crying… Dig the dancing stormtroopers, the combat

Chippendales rootin’ rebels; dancin’ the De-nazify—must

be a musical? Springtime anyone?

Wait, watch Ringling Brothers of Rhetoric riding dragons, donkeys,

elephants, pandas and bears from history, while rattling off hat sizes of

czars and other minutiae! Watch Ringling Brothers of Rhetoric dangling

from dicks of dictators; sucking off oligarchs,strongmen, kleptocrats/state

capitalist clowns at the speed of sound— As a shirtless horseman gallops

into the sunset with bulging saddle bags for himself and The Nationalist

International…Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved

Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet;

BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC.

You can Vote for his work at: GoFundMe PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT

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


More Stories


  • Statement: #AFRICANSFROMUA on Equal Treatment
    Black Community Hamburg
    Statement: #AFRICANSFROMUA on Equal Treatment
    20 Apr 2022
    Germany and other EU member states granted immediate temporary protection status to citizens of Ukraine, but Black refugees who also fled the war are experiencing unequal treatment.
  • Our Case Against NATO: Africans and the Struggle Against Imperialism
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Our Case Against NATO: Africans and the Struggle Against Imperialism
    19 Apr 2022
    The Pentagon led political and military alliance continues to serve as major impediment to peace, liberation and a just world system.
  • AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #39
    US Out of Africa Network
    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #39
    19 Apr 2022
    The latest AFRICOM Watch Bulletin provides analysis of coups in Africa and an nterview with journalist and activist Owei Lakemfa.
  • The Ouster Of Imran Khan: How Much Involvement Did the US Have in Pakistan’s Coup?
    Alan MacLeod
    The Ouster Of Imran Khan: How Much Involvement Did the US Have in Pakistan’s Coup?
    19 Apr 2022
    Imran Khan joins the long list of deposed prime ministers and underscores the reality that, in Pakistan, whoever the people elect, the U.S.-backed military is always in charge.
  • Black Agenda Radio April 15, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio April 15, 2022
    15 Apr 2022
    The Ujima People's Progress Party Conference, Eritrea continues its fight for sovereignty, and the book Manufacturing Hate: How Africa was Demonized in Western Media.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us