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
  • omnibus

Piece Process
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
23 May 2018
🖨️ Print Article
Israeli sniper prepares to implement the piece process.
Israeli sniper prepares to implement the piece process.

Breathe, Relax, Aim, Sight, Squeeze
it’s a joy-stick; a video game to him
He has orders to “light up” anything that moves;
“Mow the grass, one blade at a time…” “One shot,
one kill…”
So far, he’s bagged a man on crutches, 3 disabled, 2 children

Azriel stalks victims in the valley of death; studies
them through his scope; taking careful aim; punching
tight little holes in heads and torsos—distant targets—
They’re sudden spray, pink haze floating above spots
where they stood. No regret. No sorrow for families…

A plume of black smoke from flaming tires curls
into his crosshairs, his snake eyes nesting in sand—
a nano second too late—
Another child’s head ‘clashes’
with a butterfly bullet from a
football field away—
Crimson skull fragments
explode from the grapefruit-sized exit wound;
Spent cartridges, his ‘kill brass,’ pile up in the
sand…
Ah, the rules of engagement
What’s bone, arteries—another amputated leg—
got to do with it/the piece process: shoot one man,
Terrify a thousand? Don’t ‘our’ finest train there?

poerty

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


Related Stories

Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?
BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner
Ready for the Roaring ‘20s?
08 January 2020
This Orange Age outrage— Reich of the child’s cage Cancer at fourth stage— Rogue state’s rampage…

More Stories


  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The U.S. Continues Its Terror Campaign Against Cuba
    23 Oct 2024
    The ongoing U.S./Israeli genocide has diverted attention away from other crimes. The electricity crisis in Cuba is but one example of how the U.S. determination to dominate has created suffering…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    POEM: The Earth Is Closing On Us, Mahmoud Darwish, 1995
    23 Oct 2024
    “Where should we go after the last frontiers? Where should the birds fly after the last sky?”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    New York Times Attacks “Peace-peddling” Jill Stein as the Presidential Race Comes Down to the Wire
    23 Oct 2024
    The New York Times scapegoats Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein as polls indicate a dead heat between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
    United Nations Releases New Report on the Death of Former Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold in 1961
    23 Oct 2024
    Apparent assassination and cover-up occurred during a critical period in African history.
  • Jon Jeter
    John Mearsheimer’s Folly: How Whites Agree to Misinterpret the World to Fulfill Their Racial Contract
    23 Oct 2024
    Systemic racism and reactionary violence are embedded into the foundation of the US political and social system, despite false claims of any sort of progress. Denying this reality is an act of mere…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us