It's April

Editor:

It's April, an odd month of "maybe" and "if"

When you never know what to expect

But it always arrives just before winter ends

Though it's sometimes delayed, not direct.

It's a time when the Lord giveth springtime and hope

And more new signs of bounty each day ...

Time when Uncle in Washington holds out his hand

And the IRS taketh away.

April is National Poetry Month,

An exceptional time of the year

When it's legal to pester both strangers and friends

With our scribblings, without shame or fear.

It's a time when newspaper folks suspend good sense

With a promise to publish verse.

Just remember to credit the writer each time

And to keep it clean, honest and terse.

How about it Montana? Let's celebrate now ...

First Amendment, U.S. Constitution.

Send your verse in today! Don't be shy, don't delay!

Be the problem, if not the solution!

In an effort to encourage poetry writing (why not?), I would like to submit this effort and hope that others will follow suit.

D.W. Mailand

Harlem