Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian
Casualty-Collateral Damage,
Olâ Schmoâs sounding Sam and Dave-ishâ
âHold on, Iâm cominââŠ
Hold on, Iâm cominââŠâ
from high alert into harmâs way of your sidewalk
sleeper cellsâyour encampments, tarps and tents
sprung up like multi-colored mini-mushroom clouds
Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian
Casualty-Collateral Damage,
Olâ Schmoâs sounding Sam and Dave-ishâ
âHold on, Iâm cominââŠ
Hold on, Iâm cominââŠâ from high alert to coordinates
of borders between Berkeley and Oakland where youâre
Amassed.
Heâs comin' boots on the groundâSpecial Forcesâbrave
fighting men and women platoon/battalion, heavily-armedâ Amish-styleâready to raise roofs and grow foodâŠ
Capitalismâs putative leader knows the Golden Stateâs home to half his nationâs unhoused. And heâs hopping madâR2P: Responsibility To Protectâhumanitarian interventionâMAD! âWhat lousy dictator would do this to his own people?!â âOwn people!â he mumbles âWill gas be next?!â âGas?!â he babblesâŠ
Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian
Casualty-Collateral Damage,
Olâ Schmoâs sounding Sam and Dave-ishâ
âHold on, Iâm cominââŠ
Hold on, Iâm cominââŠâ from high alert, deploying good guys with nail-guns, hammers, saws, 2x4s, rebar, bricks and concreteâ Weapons of Mass ConstructionâBuild Back Better ainât bosh! Heâs cominâ âcause housingâs a human right;
Cominâ to get bogged down in Structural Adjustments;
Cominâ Slick Willy-ish: âI feel your painâitâs the economy stupid!â Cominâ Drone Ranger-ish: with spare âChange you can believe inâŠâ If your eyes well up when handed your keys itâs OK; OK if you burst into tears during your first shower in two years; OK to wake up in your warm laundry-fresh bed babbling: âSupport the troops!â âSupport the troops!â
Itâs OK to let good guys with Weapons of Mass Construction board planes before babysitters, teachers, midwifes, nurses, doctors and dentists as you chant, âThank you for your serviceâ over and overâŠ
Unhoused sisters and brothers, Civilian
Casualty-Collateral Damageâ
Spoiler alert:
Olâ Schmoâs changing his tune. Heâs saying he
Tolt you from da gitâfrom da jump: âNothing
would fundamentally changeâŠHeâs saying he
has a right to sing the Bluesâ a right to try to
sound more and more like Lady Day each day:
âHush now, donât explainâŠ
money waits in UkraineâŠâ
© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.
A mass attack of derision occurred when the facts about the Titan submersible were revealed. Laughter at the expense of an incompetent rich man is understandable but skirts the issue. TheâŠ
When Kwame Ture was still Stokely Carmichael he gave an extraordinary interview in Havana in 1967 on Black Power politics, Third World Solidarity, imperialism, and revolution.
A million more Congolese people have been displaced to satisfy the resource hunger of the industrialized world.
This weekâs featured author is Amanda Lock Swarr. Swarr is Associate Professor of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington.
