To a Friend

(in the style of Pablo Neruda)

Adrian Bleifuss Prados

In These Times is at a crossroads and we urgently need your support. Will you help us raise $50,000 by the end of the week?

You are the best American,
a child with obnoxious optimism.
You are loud and wonderfully impure.
You are a cook and a schemer.
I know the social ferment of your kitchen.
You have plans and programs and radical recipes

to fan the flames of discontent.

You live for the new city,
for its justice,
for the sunny freedom of its broad avenues.

And although we live in an age of smug generals
and rivers of snake oil,
I see your city shining in the distance.

In These Times is only able to publish the fierce, deeply-reported articles we do because of readers like you who contribute a few dollars each month to keep us independent.

If you donate just $5/month or more right now, you'll get a free annual subscription and your support will be felt throughout the newsroom.

Will you support us now? Our goal is to raise $50,000 by the end of the week.

Adrian Bleifuss Prados is a lawyer in Chicago.
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