April is the cruelest month

Yes yes yes, I know. April, for whatever reason, is poetry month. Check out this brilliant piece by New York poet/critic Charles Bernstein on what he thinks of that. On the other hand, the ottawa international writers festival spring schedule is finally up; watch for the fest itself from April 17-23; other events throughout the country hosted by The League of Canadian Poets can be found on their website; and other Ottawa-area lit events can always be found on Bywords.ca. & don't forget that Vancouver poet Meredith Quartermain (up for the BC Book Awards for her Vancouver Walking) is reading through span-o at mother tongue books (1067 Bank Street @ Sunnyside) on Sunday, April 9th at 2pm; an opening reading by our very own Jennifer Mulligan; & did you know I'm running another session of poetry workshops starting the beginning of May, at Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeebar? Either way, I'll see you at the writersfest…

Don't tell me anything about April; just let me read a few lines from John Newlove, from his last trade collection (before the final selected), The Night the Dog Smiled (Toronto ON: ECW Press, 1986):

CONCERNING STARS, FLOWERS, LOVE, ETC.

Make it easier, they say, make it easier. Tell
me something I already know, about stars or flowers or,
or happiness. I am happy sometimes, though
not right now, specially. Things are not going
too good right now. But you should try
to cheer people up, they say. There is
a good side to life, though
not right now, specially. Though the stars
continue to shine in some places and the flowers
continue to bloom in some places
and people do not starve in some places
and people are not killed in some places
and there are no wars in some places
and there are no slaves in some places
and in some places people love each other,
they say. Though I don't know where. They say,
I don't want to be sad. Help me not to know.