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 Poet's Proposal for DT's Inauguration
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
10 Jan 2017
šŸ–Øļø Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Word is that president-elect Donald Trump still has performance openings for next week's inaugural. In the selfless and noble spirit of public service, our poet kindly offers his own services, and anxiously awaits a response from Rump tower.

A Poet's Proposal for DT's Inauguration

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

Bet you wonderin’ how I knew

Few are willin’ to perform for you?

I heard it through the grapevine

Also on TV, radio and online…

I ain’t A-list—

F-list, maybe?

Not a seven-figga n**** or War House Hoet in the

Retinue the Drone Ranger plays like plastic kazoos—

Yet, I’m willing to serve, sir:

Call it Patriot Act III!

Willing to audition, practice, rehearse—gratis—

get on the back of a Greyhound bus, brown bag,

greasy fried chicken, like the good ol’ days…

Apply a plastic smile, applaud on cue, shuffle, shake hands with

Strong-arm Williams, Sheriff Stephen Judas Clarke, Thom-ass

Clarence, and other warlike Bassackwards Tribal leaders

I’m willing to get William Withers with you, sir:

It’s my appointed duty

To let you use me

Get me in a crowd of right-wing racists and act real rude to me—

ā€˜Cause I wanna spread the news:

That if it trends this good gettin’ used

Come on, use me ā€˜til you use me up—

My fifteen-minutes of FLAME!!

Raymond Nat Turner is an acclaimed poet and performance artist. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com.

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


More Stories


  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    SPEECH: Cuba, Nicaragua, Grenada Together We Shall Win, Maurice Bishop, 1980
    22 Oct 2025
    ā€œLong live the Grenadian revolution! Long live the militant unity and solidarity of workers internationally!ā€
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    A Tale of Two Ceasefires: Gaza and DRC
    22 Oct 2025
    The US has negotiated ceasefires in Gaza and the DRC’s eastern Kivu Provinces, but the killing, displacement, and devastation in both continue.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Did you see an infantile, juvenile flight of fancy?
    22 Oct 2025
    "Did you see an infantile, juvenile flight of fancy?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    Stuck in a Neutral Gear of Watered Down and Whitewashed Prefigurative Politics:Ā How ā€œNo Kingsā€Ā Takes the ā€œMoveā€ Out of Movements
    22 Oct 2025
    You cannot defeat a king with a parade. The failure of "No Kings" is the refusal to build real power beyond a single day of protest.
  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Firoze Manji’s, ā€œClaim No Easy Victories: The Legacy of Amilcar Cabralā€
    22 Oct 2025
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Firoze Manji. Manji, a Kenyan with more than 40 years’ experience in…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us