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

Poem For Zigi
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
05 Jul 2017
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

This week's offering from BAR's poet in residence was also published this week at Dissident Voice.

 

Poem For Zigi

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

“…the greatest thing you’ll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return…”
‘Nature Boy’ by Eden Ahbez

Jet black gondola
2017-07-05 11:54:34 -0400glides across the resting lake
to Bata drumming dock,
African ritual;
Double rainbow of
Family and friends,
Connect like braided bread,
Waiting to share coconut,
white chocolate, lemon zest treat—
Our seven hour chat
“covering everything
from Ellington to
Engels…” earned Us…

Steamed tears stream on
Bent notes of
“The Nearness of You”
Blue glass explodes beneath
my white shoe;
Rich in Bandmates,

“…the greatest thing you’ll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return…”
‘Nature Boy’ by Eden Ahbez

Jet black gondola
glides across the resting lake
to Bata drumming dock,
African ritual;
Double rainbow of
Family and friends,
Connect like braided bread,
Waiting to share coconut,
white chocolate, lemon zest treat—
Our seven hour chat
“covering everything
from Ellington to
Engels…” earned Us…

Steamed tears stream on
Bent notes of
“The Nearness of You”
Blue glass explodes beneath
my white shoe;
Rich in Bandmates,
Best Man Son, Daughter,
Sistars; Ancestors bear
bouquets emblazoned,
“Mazel Tov!”
and crowd gold chuppah—
more beautiful than perfect

Reaching into Van Gogh
skies—plucking the
left-handed, curly-topped
Angel I’d asked for,
For a trek across
the heavens; After
decades daydreaming,
decades longing
for my Soulmate—a
Brother caught a break—
Flourishing in her
Galaxy of Love

’Twas Fathers Day too—
Papi growled, per usual,
“Take care of each other…”
Champagne whispering—
“Don’t fuck it up,”
Shooing us off to Tour Eiffel…

Best Man Son, Daughter,
Sistars; Ancestors bear
bouquets emblazoned,
“Mazel Tov!”
and crowd gold chuppah—
more beautiful than perfect

Reaching into Van Gogh
skies—plucking the
left-handed, curly-topped
Angel I’d asked for,
For a trek across
the heavens; After
decades daydreaming,
decades longing
for my Soulmate—a
Brother caught a break—
Flourishing in her
Galaxy of Love

’Twas Fathers Day too—
Papi growled, per usual,
“Take care of each other…”
Champagne whispering—
“Don’t fuck it up,”
Shooing us off to Tour Eiffel…

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


More Stories


  • DEPLATFORMED
    Jacqueline Luqman
    Leftists Embracing Imperialist Narratives Laid The Groundwork For This Wave Of Censorship
    18 Oct 2023
    So-called leftists allowed themselves to be bamboozled by the Russiagate narrative. Great damage has been done to journalism, particularly that of the Black left, who are at great risk of being…
  • Child in a hospital in Gaza
    Haidar Eid
    From Gaza We Ask You to Stand Up Against Genocide!
    18 Oct 2023
    Depriving human beings of food, water, and electricity is a war crime. Exacting collective punishment of civilian populations is also a war cime. The U.S./Israeli attack on Gaza is a genocide by…
  • Nakba Day Commemoration
    Essam Elkorghli
    Genocide and Imperialism in Palestine: A Call for People’s Action!
    18 Oct 2023
    Genocide and Imperialism in Palestine: A Call for People’s Action!
  • Netanyahu holding up a map of the Middle East with occupied Palestine marked as "Israel"
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY The Creation of a Zionist State, African American Solidarity Committee, 1973
    18 Oct 2023
    The latest intensification of the attack on the Palestinian people demonstrates that Zionism is white supremacy’s last stand.
  • Palestinian flag
    The Editors
    Palestine 2023: Black Agenda Report Special Issue
    18 Oct 2023
    Black Agenda Report gives special attention to events in Palestine, as Israel continues its occupation of Gaza and practices the war crime of exacting collective punishment on a civilian population.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us