Yes, April is the cruelest month

To The Eagle:

Since April is the poetry(est) month, as recently ordained by the federal government, I will respond to this decree as best I can. But then again I am trapped by a tickled silence. What is it to respond to a cultural decree by the government? In the contemporary lexicon, a ‘response’ is something someone does via e-mail; jabbed letter by letter while squinting into a glowing object the size of a pack of cigarettes.

Does musing on the nature of poetry in society break the Wahkiakum Eagle’s solemn editorial rule number 7? More importantly, does this government decree connote T.S. Eliot’s maddening claim that, “April is the cruelest month” is now a matter of law?

In the science of discussing precedent, Eliot set this standard. And as April is now ‘Poetry month’ can we either temporarily do away with rule number 7, or come together as a community and recognize the profound poetic implications of the existence of the seventh rule? What a tautology, “No poetry.” In space, none can hear you scream Eliot’s The Waste land":

“The river sweats

Oil and tar

The barges drift

With the turning tide

Red sails

Wide

To leeward, swing on the heavy spar.

The barges wash

Drifting logs

Down Greenwich reach

Past the Isle of Dogs.”

I rest my case.

P.L.Carrico

Wahkiakum resident

Editor's note: We at The Eagle have been for some time considering how to incorporate more coverage of arts, including poetry. With this nudge from Mr. Carrico, we've decided to dedicate a page to local poetry three or four times a year. Let's set the first page (or pages, if there is enough interest) for our May 2 edition and invite submissions from four age groups, adults, grades 9-12, grades 6-8, and grades 5 and under. Of course, submissions must be emailed or submitted, with name, address and phone number, on or before April 25. Let's try for a maximum length of 150 words. As for rule number 7, it has saved us from the grief of having to deal with some dreadful poetry that, unlike satire, doesn't deserve a place in the letters to the editor.