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


  • UAW picket line
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Kamala Harris and the Failure of Black Political Imagination
    16 Aug 2024
    Jon Jeter joins us to talk about the state of US politics and his soon-to-be-published book, Class War in America: How the Elites Divide the Nation By Asking Are You a Worker or Are You White?
  • Palestine Football Association
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Palestine and International Sports Double Standards
    16 Aug 2024
    Katarina Pijetlovic joins us to discuss international sports federations, such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, their choice to let Israel compete in the Olympics, and other double…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Kamala Harris in Her Own Words
    14 Aug 2024
    Kamala Harris stands with the corporate democrats who are committed to austerity and imperialism. No one needs to wonder what she will do should she become president. What did Bill Clinton, Barack…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    SPEECH: Address to the AIPAC Policy Conference, Kamala Harris, 2017
    14 Aug 2024
    Kamala Harris: Your Auntie, AIPAC’s servant.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Federal Judge Rules Against Coalition to March on the DNC 2024
    14 Aug 2024
    A federal judge has ruled that the Coalition to March on the DNC must remain two blocks away from the convention.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us