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

War Criminal Straw Spun to Fools Gold Hero
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
29 Aug 2018
🖨️ Print Article
John McCain, 1936-2018

Looking up at stars and stripes

flapping half staff over City College

my spirit sang, “Oh, me oh my…”

They’re honoring natural

Woman—singer of soul songs!

Celebrating gospel’s gift to the 

World—giving thanks to indigo 

Blues crossing borders, gathering tribes…

 

Instead, I find,“It’s a Barnum and

Bailey world, just as phony as it can be—”

Half staff flags—saluting somber war-

profiteers…

Warlords of Wall Street who lost their 

Hawk, their mythical maverick…

 

Their Satanic scribblers are spinning,

spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning

High fructose corn syrup sentiments—

Stinking solvent scrubbing blood up from

4 million Indochinese—lionizing their hawk 

Slurring heroic homeland defenders: “gooks!”

 

Our Silly Putty populace with Play

Dough politics—No flashbacks of

Body counts on evening news; No 

Smoke from smoldering draft cards; 

No dinner table blowups; No memory of

Militant chants keeping time for 

Millions of marching feet…is

Confused!  

Blitzkrieg bombards them hourly…

parroting Psy-Op big lie after big lie;

Toasting Jim Jones Juice to the heavens for a

War criminal crooner—would-be Beach Boy:

“Bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb Iran…”

 

A war criminal

who flew—

no Zinn moment—

who 

bombed 

who flew

who 

bombed 

who flew

who 

bombed

who flew 

who 

bombed

and 

bombed

and 

bombed

day after day

Bomb bay opening—not with rice, or roses

rechristening children ‘Collateral Damage’

22 missions—his 23rd shot down over Hanoi;

Left—no Zinn moment…with parachute and

flight suit for his 5yr stay

 

Today warheads mourn; forked tongues wagging 

feverishly…no Zinn moment…face-lifting the life—

So in love with death…

 

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.

Our poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished perforning artist of long and illustrious standing. Find more of his work at http://upsurgejazs.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: 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
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?
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
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Pigment of your Imagination: Black magic mascots, props and sops?
15 July 2021
Could the pigment of your imagination cause Black magic mascots, props, sops— Black faces in high places—
A known known…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
A known known…
08 July 2021
“…there are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Twerkers of the World you might…(Or when they go low we get high?)
01 July 2021
“History repeats itself,  first as tragedy, second as farce.” —Karl Marx
The Town Crier’s Big Tooth Fund (For Drs. Rosenthal, Sapir and Ferdowsi)
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The Town Crier’s Big Tooth Fund (For Drs. Rosenthal, Sapir and Ferdowsi)
23 June 2021
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs…” —Karl Marx
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
The Town Crier’s List of Who’s Who in the capitalist state machine
16 June 2021
“Ain’t no power like the power of the people— ‘cause the power of the people don’t stop!” bouncing 
Ladee Blu: Another Monroe Doctrine delivery system 
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Ladee Blu: Another Monroe Doctrine delivery system 
09 June 2021
Raytheon’s craven raven Co-signing for mass murder: “Mowing the grass…” Now… Ladee Blu on a fool’s errand dis- seminating
MOVE Tulsa to Gaza…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
MOVE Tulsa to Gaza…
02 June 2021
The Mass Shooting Of The Day— this time was in San Jose… Do you know the way to San Jose?

More Stories


  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Bill Clinton and the “Dictators Club”
    06 Nov 2024
    Bill Clinton couldn’t be cozier, or more richly rewarded, in what he calls “the dictator’s club.”
  • Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
    United Nations Security Council Renews Mission for the Western Sahara as Independence Remains Elusive
    06 Nov 2024
    For more than five decades the Sahrawi people of Northeast Africa have been denied their rightful place in the international community.
  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Derek Silva’s Book, “The End of College Football”
    06 Nov 2024
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured authors are Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Derek Silva.
  • Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    APEC Summit Brings More US Troops to Perú Amid National Strike
    06 Nov 2024
    As the people of Peru continue to rise up against the illegitimate Boluarte regime, that state continues its collusion with the United States ahead of the APEC Summit.
  • Umar A Farooq
    US Elections 2024: Uncommitted Movement Splits After Taking Money From PAC Supporting Harris
    06 Nov 2024
    Volunteers started their own Uncommitted group after learning leadership took $400,000 from a PAC that doesn't support third-party presidential candidates.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us