Piece Process | Black Agenda Report

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence

23 May 2018

🖨️ Print Article

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.

More Stories

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Julian Assange Freed by the Prospect of Justice
03 Jul 2024
After seven years of asylum in Ecuador’s embassy in London and another five years imprisoned by the United Kingdom, Julian Assange is finally a free man. The prospect of justice, of Assange…
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: Assassinations at Home and Abroad, Jemima Pierre, 2012
03 Jul 2024
The US Supreme Court’s decision to grant the President of the United States “absolute immunity” merely codifies criminal behavior by all US presidents. Take, for example, Barack Obama’s assassination…
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
Democrats No Longer Have an Excuse for Holding a Virtual Convention
03 Jul 2024
Biden’s debate meltdown has Democrats scrambling, but they no longer have an excuse for holding a virtual convention.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Debate: What are elephant excrement/donkey dung ‘Double-Hater’ Millions to do?
03 Jul 2024
"Debate: What are elephant excrement/donkey dung ‘Double-Hater’ Millions to do?" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
Political Deadlock Continues in Efforts to Open Peace Talks in Sudan
03 Jul 2024
The SAF still accuses the United Arab Emirates of supporting the RSF and the crisis continues for the people of Sudan.

Related Stories

More Stories