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Communiqué: Poems From The Headlines
by Ed Werstein
82 Poems ~ 85 Pages
Format: 6” x 9” ~ Perfect Bound
Price: $15.00
Publisher: Water’s Edge Press LLC
ISBN: 978-1-952526-02-2
To Order: Amazon.com
ABOUT THE BOOK:
For those of us who, from time to time, feel alienated from the truth, even though
sources of “the truth” are hitting us from every direction, Communiqué: Poems
from the Headlines, will feel like fresh sea-salt air blown in through summer’s
open windows. Ed Werstein writes literally from the headlines of the day. The
book is organized by subject matter like the newspapers we read every day. He
draws his poems from “National and Local News,” “International News,” “Wea-
ther Report,” “Science and Religion,” and many more. As a poet, Werstein feels
no allegiance to anyone’s political agenda; he curries no favors. As readers we
may agree or disagree with Werstein’s “truth-telling”; making that decision is half
the fun and challenge posed by this unique collection of poems.
ADVANCE PRAISE:
“In Communiqué Ed Werstein steps behind the blur of headlines and pivots to the
heart core where life is dear. There with rhythms of resistance he sifts through rub-
ble for the light we need to imagine together a better world: ‘Could we yet write a
role for ourselves / that could turn this tragedy into an heroic epic?’ That question
and these poems are urgent.”
—Margaret Rozga, 2019-2020 Wisconsin Poet Laureate, author of Holding My
Selves Together
“Like clippings from a scrapbook of disgrace, Ed Werstein’s poems commemor-
ate our nation’s darkest moments. They remind us just how crazy our headlines
sound—and how crazy they can make us. From mass protests to mass shootings,
climate change to regime change, Communiqué covers every angle of our ailing
dystopia. But with scorching humor, humanity, and a clear call for principled
resistance, its author displays ‘the gumption / it might take / to change things.’ ”
—David Southward, author of Bachelor’s Buttons and Apocrypha
“Ed Werstein’s Communiqué is a cavalcade of response poems riding into town
looking for justice for crimes rendered. Each poem a response to news head-
lines the world over, from local Wisconsin floods to presidents, war, earthquakes,
sports news, police terrorism and the open, honest interrogation of who we are as
humans. Communiqué is one man standing on a street corner in middle of planet
earth, wielding a microphone of pen and paper, protesting a lifetime of sins com-
mitted against everyday people.”
—Dan Denton, author of $100-a-Week Motel, is UAW Chief Steward, Jeep As-
sembly, Toledo, OH
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ed Werstein, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a regional VP of the Wisconsin Fellowship
of Poets. He is a sustaining member of Blue Collar Review. His poems have ap-
peared in over 50 different journals and anthologies. Werstein’s poetry has been
nominated for a Pushcart Prize. In 2018 he received the Council of Wisconsin Wri-
ters Lorine Niedecker award. His book, A Tar Pit to Dye In, is available from Kelsay
books.
FROM THE BOOK:
Section 4: Sports Report
Aaron Rodgers Breaks Collarbone, Could Miss Season
—ESPN, October 15, 2017
Change of Seasons
by Ed Werstein
Oh My God! Our quarterback is down!
Look! They’re escorting him off the field.
It might be a broken collarbone.
All our cheering now turned to silent frowns.
Where has this replacement been concealed?
Good Lord! Our quarterback is down!
This sure win will surely now be blown.
And against these Vikings! Such a rotten deal!
It could be a broken collarbone.
It’s such a pain each time we lose to these clowns.
Now our victory is theirs to steal.
Lord help us! Our quarterback is down!
Simultaneously all bookmakers reach for their phones,
Asking what the X-rays have revealed.
A fractured clavicle? That’s the collarbone!
Oh, why couldn’t the back-up be a clone?
Brett Hundley?? How long till Aaron Rodgers heals?
Aaron Rodgers has broken his collarbone.
Sweet Jesus, no! Our Quarterback is down!
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