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

Buzzed In By Lewis
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
01 Feb 2018
🖨️ Print Article

5 in the morning, ‘The Lewis Sawyer Experience’
early morning Boys Club in Papa Sawyer’s Cave:
My lick for Lewis, “Lewis Sawyer, is my lawyer—”
his classic chuckle-comeback, “Well, you’re in bad shape then!”
Poets and last words, “Well, David McBurney is my attorney…”
But Lewis was a bullhorn, shouting names of our Political Prisoners,
Prisoners Of War, languishing forgotten in gulags across imprisoned
nation. He put 59,000 watts beneath their wings,without fanfare—
While reminding us: we’re just in Minimum Security…

Being buzzed in to the Mother Ship by Lewis
felt safe, welcome—presence appreciated—in
Good hands, a trillion times more reliable than Allstate
Lewis was the first face I’d see at the station—
unerring source for five-star information

Warmth was his uniform; his smile his badge,
reflecting respect back like a mirror from the
Mountaintop: all the authority a badass Angel,
sweet scientist, who could handle ‘situations…’
Required; I emerged from ‘Lewis Sawyer Experiences’
with double shot expresso optimism

A modest, minimalist, Monk life-stylist—
Count Basie of Kindness—
Not a whole lot of notes there
but his voicings sung and swung;
Duke Ellington of Passion:
Things he loved, he loved madly—
speaking of love—Lewis was LOVE
Not a mushy, gushy, sentimental bubblegum LOVE
But, an I believe in you, when no one else believes LOVE
I honor your light, anything I can do to amplify it LOVE
As you stand on stage, I’ll sit in the audience LOVE
Anything you need early in the morning LOVE
Release your worry beads, I got your back LOVE
Harness your hardships, “too big to fail” LOVE

Let’s suppose that place
preachers speak of Sundays
Exists; suppose I make the cut—
I bet Lewis will be there buzzing me in… Lewis Sawyer:
Presente!

poetry

More Stories


  • The Obama-fication of “The Squad” Strengthens the Right at the Expense of the Left
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Obama-fication of “The Squad” Strengthens the Right at the Expense of the Left
    13 Jan 2021
    The so-called ‘progressive” model would have us wait half a dozen election cycles before taking real action on the demand for Medicare for All and a Green New Deal.
  • This is what hypocrisy looks like…
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    This is what hypocrisy looks like…
    13 Jan 2021
    “It's like writing history with lightning.“ — Woodrow Wilson on Birth of A Nation
  • W.E.B. Du Bois and the Paths to Communism: A Review
    Anthony Monteiro, BAR editor and columnist
    W.E.B. Du Bois and the Paths to Communism: A Review
    13 Jan 2021
    Du Bois, the father of Pan Africanism and the towering theorist of race, was – just as importantly -- one of the great theorists of communism.
  • The Capitol Catastrophe and Trump’s Hijacked White Nationalism
    Mark P. Fancher
    The Capitol Catastrophe and Trump’s Hijacked White Nationalism
    13 Jan 2021
    Trump threw a monkey wrench into the capitalist system’s population management machine.
  • Letters from Our Readers
    Jason Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers
    13 Jan 2021
    “The Squad Won’t Fight Pelosi and Corporate Power” by Glen Ford 
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us