{#npm’17: *tap, tap* is this thing on?}

It’s National Poetry Month! And April Fool’s Day. As I looked in complete bewilderment at the Google GNOME, I completely misplaced one of these bits of information… and yes, I was probably the only one who took that seriously and muttered, “What!?”

But, never mind. It’s late afternoon, and my brain has FINALLY caught up. It’s National Poetry Month, and for the past few years, I’ve been doing haiku – but I did that in December, with the theme of healing. I am going to continue to present poetry, but I think instead of sticking with one form, I am going to stick with a poetic theme: truth. Does that just mean things that are true, like facts? Or home truths? Conventional wisdom (or, is that always true)? Or…?

I don’t know yet. But, we’ll find out.

Spring

            By Edna St. Vincent Millay

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

Birch Aquarium 17

Beauty is not enough, no… but here’s some anyway.

3 Replies to “{#npm’17: *tap, tap* is this thing on?}”

  1. Happy April and Happy Poetry Month! Yes, TRUTH — definitely need large doses of it, in any form, whenever possible. Sobering that it may be at times, it beats the alternative . . .

  2. Just for today, I’m going to continue to be in love with the babbling idiot April. The reality and TRUTH of the maggoty-headed people and the empty cuppedness of life will just have to wait on the back burner while I glory in the daffodils, redbuds, weeping cherries, and forsythia. (Thanks for the dose of ocean and sky to add to the mix.)

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.