Given the choice between something fabulous and shiny, a talisman of success and power,
Or, humbly,
The soft gesture of unbidden sublime,
I choose the gift of sweetness proffered by the few — the elite — the rare few,
Who have found a way, no matter how prickly,
To be my friend.
When the repetitive motion syndrome has subsided
And the chuckling references to Chinese prison labor
Has abated,
What’s left is the faint glow of goodness,
A penumbra of joy that lights the gloom.
An Open Letter to Councilmember Hugo Soto-MartinezDear Councilmember Soto-Martinez,
The man you replaced, Mitch O’Farrell, was perceived by many as a cynical politician who placed the desires of wealthy real-estate developers over the concerns of the people he was supposed to represent. Sensitive to any perception of impropriety, you’ve made it a point to not accept…
For more than forty years one of our favorite writers, Detroit-based Peter Werbe, has been publishing provocative essays about capitalism, technology, religion, politics, and popular culture in the anarchist journal The Fifth Estate, where he’s long been an indispensable member of the editorial collective. Some of his best work is now organized in a compulsively readable...
