April

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(so priketh hem nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

The jonquils scattered throughout my yard started to bloom today. Unfortunately it was too dark to take photos, so here is what's in the vase on the dining room table, purchased and placed there just because it's Spring.

April is National Poetry Month, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets. They offer 30 suggestions for how you can participate on their web site. You can receive a Poem-a-day email; today's poem is Secret History, by Charles Simic.

Another way to celebrate is to take up Kate's "modest" poetry challenge: post a commentary about a poem sometime during April. Though some would find Chaucer a worthy poet (as I do), the above poem & this post would not meet the requirements for Kate's challenge; read Kate's post for more details. I intend to participate in this at some other time this month.