As T.S. Elliot wrote in his epic poem The Wasteland, “April is the cruelest month of all.”
If you are a devote Christian, that poetic line could refer to the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, religiously estimated to be sometime in April between 30 and 33 CE. Or it could refer to a delusional President Trump posting images of himself as Dr. Jesus. If you are Canadian, the line definitely refers to the weather. If you are a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, it painfully refers to Monday, April 14, 2026. To honour that day, the following poems … starting with a Limerick …
There once was a Con named Pierre
Who was so puffed up with hot air
He floated away on Majority Day
“Unfair! Cons care” cried Pierre.
One by one the Cons crossed the floor
To sit down at Carney’s front door
In the Liberal tent, they could do more than vent
Those three word rhymes we abhor.
Puffy Pierre just floated away
And hasn’t been seen since that day
But his voice can be heard, still sounding absurd
“Axe the Tax”, “Jail not Bail”, Crime Don’t Pay!
And of course, every struggling English student’s favourite, the more sublime Haiku:
A bright flash of red
A song high from the tree top
The promise of spring.
And for the classicist, a Shakespearean Sonnet:
Is this the way the world will always turn?
From lightness to dark, from darkness to day.
After the ice time, the fire we yearn
After the war work, in peace will we play?
Who will we follow, the wise or the fools,
Who will inform us, humans or machines?
Will we home learn, or in corporate schools?
Will we have teachers or computer screens?
If the world needs changing it starts with “we”,
We need to rise up, and not break or bow,
“If not us, who; if not now, when?” we plea.
it must be us, and it must be us now!
The torch has been passed, we hold it up high
Hope in the darkness, a light to live by.
That’s all for now, but during International Womens’ Week I heard a song that stuck like an ear worm in my mind. The Celtic tune remains, and the lyrics ended something like this:
“You’ve tried to break me but I have a choice,
I’ll not bow my head, I’ll not bend my knee,
And I will not lower my voice.”
A noble torch to carry in these chaotic days. The way I see it.