Feet Won't Fail You Now: Vote With Them!

Feet Won’t Fail You Now:

Vote With Them!

by BAR poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner

I.

Presto! Abra-cadaver! Regime change!

And the wars played on…There’s a Ta-

Da List: Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria…

It’s more honest, less pretentious

having Haliburton and Boeing on

Ballots and Raytheon, Exxon and

General Dynamics nominating

Northrup-Grummond; Lockheed-Martin,

Monsanto and CCA chairing conventions…

It’s more honest, less pretentious

showing JFK, gaping hole in his

throat, brain oozing out the back

of his head; and Jackie’s blood-

splattered pink dress with all the

Pomp and circumstance…

It’s more honest, less pretentious

calling it corporatocracy, kleptocracy,

autocracy, plutocracy—anything but

Democracy—for the working-class

It’s more honest, less pretentious

To quit pretending it’s broken and

we can fix it. It’s emergency managed

magnificently, works perfectly—for the 1%

It’s more honest, less pretentious

shutting up about holding anyone’s

Combat boots to the fire!

You claim there’s an opening for socialism

In this anti-communist bastion of the world,

and your phones are smart…Is there an app

for socialism? Communism? If not, the real

Question in this forest of question marks is:

How quickly can we cram for the EXAM?

How rapidly can we build on baby steps?

How fast can we cut plastic cuffs from our

Dreams and snatch stars through orange netting?

How swiftly can we recycle shackles into Independent

Organizations? How quickly can we come together?

How fast can we cast illusions off and light lanterns

of theory guiding our steps?

How swiftly can we blend rivulets of revolt into a river of

Revolution?

Must we continue cowering before bloodthirsty Barnum&

Bailey, champagne-caviar spectacles, cycles of fear, before

Bogeymen, Bogey-Ladies and colored tokens granted rights

to do wrong: pulling nuts of The New Amerikkkkan Century

from class struggle’s campfire?

2008-2016

Black dyed-in-the wool corporate war criminal

2016-2024

Woman warmonger, Wall Street operative

2024—2032

“Latino” warlord, creature of the 1%

2032-2040

Asian exponent of the ‘pivot’

2040-2048

First Openly Gay Commander-in-Chief

2048-2056

First Disabled agent of war profiteers—then

Restart cycles, doubling up on identities…

II.

Your feet burn, legs ache, but ever

Notice how energized, invigorated,

Uplifted, militant marches make you?

Breathing’s not shallow—defeated like

aftermath of $campaigns & $elections

You’re revitalized as rubber and road meet

at your feet; street heat voting won’t fail you…

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