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

A known known…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
08 Jul 2021
🖨️ Print Article
A known known…
A known known…

“…there are known knowns. There are things
we know that we know. There are known
unknowns—things we do not know we know…” -- 
an infamous War Criminal

We know “extraordinary rendition” wasn’t 
Gladys and Marvin dropping smash hit
versions of “Grapevine” the same year…
We know “enhanced interrogation” wasn’t 
probing philosophical conversations regarding 
Grand mysteries of life…

In a dark, damp, dank, demonic den of depleted
uranium shrouded in white phosphorus clouds 
belching fracking fluid; A devilish war criminal
WMD dances around gaslighting Dr. Goebbels and
Empire’s death rattle. The stench of sulfur swirls 
up into his flared nostrils. Alas, he’s home!

Bloodthirsty thug in Brooks Brothers suit; Architect 
of Terror on War; Walking war crime; he arrives on a 
Hellfire Missile—Fallujah, Bagram, Abu Ghraib tags
on his baggage. Unapologetic for The Hague leg of his
journey, he’s the latest ghost detainee housed in the
Hitler-Hoover wing for the worst of the worst.

War criminal crème de la crimson, his place is cemented
in the pantheon of war criminals. For continuity he leaves
behind warlocks like Ol’ Schmo, Raytheon’s Craven Raven,
The Drone Ranger and Warlike Rice Women, Ladee Blu, et. al.
Now he can devote himself full-time
to stress positions, 20-hour interrogations, weaponizing phobias

After the war criminal’s laid to rest—and off the news cycle;  
after boots are gone from the ground, Ol’ Schmo will keep on
sending and sending and sending shareholders drones “over
the rainbow” to Afghanistan/Pakistan. And Congressmembers
sporting red, white and blue Wehrmacht jackets will keep
Huffing and puffing hot air…floating war profiteer balloons…

And now…A Moment of Silence—wet, cold, Wikileak, foghorn loud—
for Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Pakistan millions slaughtered on the 
watch of a cunning sadist-torturer-mass murderer; devil of death…

© 2021. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished poet and performing artist, and an official of the National Writers Union. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com

poetry

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


Related Stories

Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Poem for Walter Rodney, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 1981  
11 June 2025
“any where or world where there is love there is the sky and its blue free
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A few lines for the Poet Ojenke...
21 May 2025
RIP: Rise In Poetics to Ra
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Reflections after the June 12th March of Disarmament, Sonia Sanchez, 1982
18 December 2024
“I have come to you tonite not just for the stoppage
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Love My Black Job
11 September 2024
Love my Black Job— Black Student Union Job! Hired at L.A. City College As “The Peoples Poet!”
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: Enemy of the Sun, Samih al-Qasim, 1970
29 May 2024
Read against the terrible incineration of Rafah today, this poem of resistance and refusal, by Pa
Image of Refaat Alareer sitting in a crowd of graduates
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
POEM: If I Must Die, Refaat Alareer, 2023
13 December 2023
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.
Protest for Palestine at the White House
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Trigger Warning
22 November 2023
Trigger Warning Palestine’s the Answer— What was the Question?
Another June 1
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Another June 1
07 June 2023
                                       
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Jon Jon Moore’s “The Calling: Poems”
16 February 2022
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
Our ‘democracy’
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Our ‘democracy’
23 July 2021
Shangri-La—untaxed, socially-distanced champagne- caviar, Cayman Island, yacht crowds who

More Stories


  • Carrie Zaremba
    U.S. Universities Spent the Summer Strategizing to Suppress Student Activism. Here is their Plan.
    11 Sep 2024
    Schools across the U.S. have altered policies and even landscapes in an attempt to make a repeat of last spring’s Palestine protests impossible. The result is a far-reaching war on free expression…
  • South Africa at the ICJ
    Palestine Chronicle Staff
    Israel Lobbying US Congress to Pressure South Africa to Drop ICJ Genocide Case – Report
    11 Sep 2024
    Israel once again is attempting to circumvent international law by appealing to the U.S.
  • Willow Naomi Curry
    Testifying at the Democratic National Convention
    11 Sep 2024
    60 years ago, the Mississippi Freedom Democrats took a stand at the Democratic National Convention, bodily challenging the racist party and the violent voter repression of Black people. Years…
  • CurbFest
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Curbfest for Political Prisoners
    06 Sep 2024
    We are joined by Jasiri Fahali Kiyamaa, an organizer of Curbfest, an event advocating for political prisoners. New York City's Curbfest will take place on Saturday, September 7, 2024 in Brooklyn.
  • Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley , Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Glen Ford: Say Political Prisoners Names While They Still Live
    06 Sep 2024
    In 2020 our late comrade Glen Ford spoke at a Black is Back Coalition video conference on political prisoners. In these excerpts of his remarks, he discussed the need to understand the political…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us