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

Breathe the Bern…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
20 Apr 2016
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Our poet in residence muses upon the collective madness engendered by the quadrennial presidential election.

Breathe the Bern…

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Right around this time ‘left’ pundits and
Pontificators hitch worn star-spangled
suspenders to an ol’ mule and pretend they’re
Alcoholics— invoking the serenity prayer:

“God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things that I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.”

They claim theirs is the highest form of self-
discipline; like a form of Yoga, a sacred set of
Breathing exercises in 4yr-cycles—foundation of
their practice is regulation of oxygen to brain cells…

But it looks like the Hokey-Pokey:

You clamp your left nostril down,
Until it feels like you’ll drown…
You clamp your right nostril down,
Until your ‘hood’s like Jonestown—

Then you do the shit again in 4 yrs
As the wily 1% stokes your fears…
Set yourself back another decade
With the practicing of this charade…

Raymond Nat Turner © 2016 All Rights Reserved

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


More Stories


  • The Editors
    Iran 2026: Black Agenda Report Special Issue
    04 Mar 2026
    Iran 2026: Black Agenda Report Special Issue
  • Ajamu Baraka and Gerald Horne
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Dr. Gerald Horne , BettBeat
    Epstein Class vs. Iran: "They’ll Blow Up the World"
    04 Mar 2026
    BAR Editor and Columnist Ajamu Baraka joined BettBeat Media, alongside Dr. Gerald Horne, to discuss the US imperialist campaign against Iran amid the ongoing genocide of Palestinians and how the same…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Iran and the Psychopathology of White Supremacy
    04 Mar 2026
    Western threats against Iran and other nations reveal the persistence of white supremacist ideology.
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    How Liberals Support Trump's War Against Iran
    04 Mar 2026
    “I don’t like Trump but Iran is bad,” is the siren song of feckless liberals. This moment calls for condemnation of the U.S. and unreserved support for the Iranian people and for their state.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EDITORIAL: Iran, Third World People and U.S. Foreign Policy, Palestine Perspectives, 1979
    04 Mar 2026
    “The events in Iran are a symptom—of a 20th century disease called imperialism.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us