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

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
12 Apr 2022
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky CBS 60 Minutes Interview (Photo: Eric Kerchner CBS)

                                                                                       Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……,

                                                                                 “If you don’t have a broken heart—

                                                                                                  get one…”

                                                                                     —Poet Jack Hirschman

 

QUIET ON THE SET. ROLL SOUND. Sound Rolling.  ROLL CAMERA. Camera Speed. MARKER. ACTION:

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…
Quit crying… What, are you stupid? Haven’t you heard of
stuntmen—special effects? These are actors. Great actors!
Studied under Stanislavsky. This is staged. A cast of
thousands. Why, this mass evacuation’s straight outta
Eisenstein! Actors were instructed to flashback on family
photos in their back packs. Think about tricycles, toys, stuffed
animals left be hind with baby books, keepsakes, clothes and
favorite foods…

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…
Quit crying…This ain’t no Amos & Andy operation
like Libya, Ethiopia, The Congo, or Aleppo. This is major—
Armorers; Grips; Gaffers; Casting Directors; Script Supervisors;
Catering Crew—special effects alone cost more than most films!
Surround sound’s realism’s off the chain… The bomb, huh? How
cool’s all the air conditioners hanging from blown out windows?
Almost got you believin’ the buildings are really damaged?
Almost got you believin' that’s really rubble, huh? Almost got
you believin’ rust’s real on those perforated cars; and crying and
moaning you’re hearing’s real? These are actors— Brilliant
actors—studied Shakespeare!

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…
Quit crying… Your dogs ain’t dead. They trained with Cesar Millan.
They’ll rise up running like Lassie, barking like Toto—partying Spuds
McKenzie-style—at the stentorian command, “Cut!”
Your photographer friend and the young journalist who frequented
the coffee shop ain’t dead. They’ll rise, hearing, “Cut!” and shooting
will Stop… Your loved ones ain’t dead. They’re professional. They’ll leap up for
Lunch; stuff bloody brain tissue back into their skulls; stuff guts
back in their bodies, scurry over to the Catering Crew, grab bites
between
Lunch and dinner with cast and crew—when the Director shouts: “Cut!”
Wow, isn’t this staged shit cool?

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…Quiet on the set…
Quit crying… Dig the dancing stormtroopers, the combat
Chippendales rootin’ rebels; dancin’ the De-nazify—must
be a musical? Springtime anyone?
Wait, watch Ringling Brothers of Rhetoric riding dragons, donkeys,
elephants, pandas and bears from history, while rattling off hat sizes of
czars and other minutiae! Watch Ringling Brothers of Rhetoric dangling
from dicks of dictators; sucking off oligarchs,strongmen, kleptocrats/state
capitalist clowns at the speed of sound— As a shirtless horseman gallops
into the sunset with bulging saddle bags for himself and The Nationalist
International…Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

© 2022. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved

Former forklift driver/warehouse worker/janitor, Raymond Nat Turner is a NYC poet;
BAR's Poet-in-Residence; and founder/co-leader of the jazz-poetry ensemble UpSurge!NYC.
You can Vote for his work at: GoFundMe PayPal: paypal.me/towncrierRNT

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


More Stories


  • Black Agenda Radio June 27, 2025
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio June 27, 2025
    27 Jun 2025
    In this week’s segment we hear about a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
  • Gerald Horne
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Gerald Horne Discusses His Book "The Capital of Slavery: Washington DC 1800 - 1865"
    27 Jun 2025
    Dr. Gerald Horne is an author and historian who currently holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. Dr. Horne is a prolific…
  • Peace treaty signing
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Congo and Rwanda Agreement Will Benefit the West at the Expense of the Congolese People
    27 Jun 2025
    Maurice Carney is the Executive Director of Friends of the Congo. He joins us from Washington to discuss the ongoing crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda’s continued intervention…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    War Propaganda, State Controlled Media, and the End of African Stream
    25 Jun 2025
    African Stream's Pan-African, anti-imperialist journalistic perspectives made it the target of a state that colludes with corporate media to spread war propaganda.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    POEM: The Beirut Jokebook, June Jordan, 1982
    25 Jun 2025
    “What did the Arab lady say to the Israeli tank?”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us