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Papa Cop
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
30 Mar 2022
🖨️ Print Article
Papa Cop
NYC mayor ordered that the unhoused be moved from public spaces. (Photo: Karla Ann Cote/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press)

                                                                                                         Papa Cop

                                                                            (and other intersectional servants of empire)

                                                                                 “Be realistic, demand the impossible!” 

                                                                                                —Che Guevara

I.

Moblutu logic of a Strongman—Unquestionable—

Never wrong man:

I wore a dick for decades—protected women

of the world…When you do that you have the

right to question me on patriarchy and feminism…

Moblutu logic of a Strongman—Unquestionable—

Never wrong man:

I have 0—ZEEERO—Tolerance for the unhoused, the unwashed

stinking vermin riding my trains all night/sleeping in my subway

stations!

They’ll take Manhattan—The Bronx and Staten—and be panhandling

on Wall Street, if I don’t crack down on their dirty black asses! If I

don’t deploy—if I don’t go Broken Windows—blu Ton-Ton Macoute-

style on ‘em!

Moblutu logic of a Strongman—Unquestionable—

Never wrong man:

Those bums don’t want roofs over their heads. They just wanna

ride my trains back and forth for free all night! They just wanna

stink and disturb good clean white folks buying up Blacks’ brown

stones located on Lenni Lenape land… It’s a thin blu line

between love and hate—and good white folks’ Real Estate…

Moblutu logic of a Strongman—Unquestionable—

Never wrong man:

Through the storm of pandemic price-gouging; tsunami of illegal

Evictions; In the face of raging flames I see no evil, hear no evil,

speak no evil of arsonist slumlords and their fire trap buildings—

Right down to the wire—even through the fire…

II.

A gentleman—who’s hittin’ triple digits in two weeks—shook his

head and said, “Maybe we wuz betta off wit Hi Jon de Conkur

Root, black cat dandur, goobur dus’ an’ rabbit foots den Dem

Lightfoots,

Papa Cop/Raytheon’s Raven/Ladee Blu an’ otha blu blood

backed-Negroz?”

He said, “You remembur, de ones wit all dat nappy-headed

foolishness—

whoopin’, an’ hollerin’, an’ happy-dancin’ on ice

durin’ dat Iceburg Slim boy’s War House comin’ in party?

He said, “You know, de Negroz dat knew dey bebbys wouldn’t

be struk by

boms, missuls an’ drones; Or choke-holt by de blu klux klan?”

He said, “Hell, look lak we wuz betta off wit ol’ spookisms lak:

If you seez a star, run, make a wish, an’ it’ll come true… An’, if

a dog howlin’ in de nite, turn up de soles ob yo’ shooz an’ he’ll

Stop!

Look lak we wuz betta off wit ol’ spookisms den believin’ in Dem

Negroz wit dey freezurs stuffed full ob’ cash—Dem Negroz beggin’

Kibbuls and Bits—for us–frum de Five Families…’tween dey

WARS?”

© 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: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-town-criers-big-tooth-fund PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT

Unhoused; Homeless; Eric Adams; New York City

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