National Poetry Month!

It's April, and you know what that means: NATIONAL POETRY MONTH! The month where the nation would pretend to care about poetry if enough people even cared enough to pretend. So, really, it's a month of poets psyching themselves out. But still. It's a nice gesture. And what poet doesn't appreciate a nice gesture?

I think of National Poetry Month kind of like National Coming Out Day (October 11, y'all). Do gays across the country really make that call to Mom? Put a picture of their ladyfriend on their desk at work? Tie a rainbow scarf on their dog? Probably not. And with coming out, it's really not the thought that counts.

But National Coming Out day, just like National Poetry Month, is a month for two marginalized groups to say, "Hey, we exist. Look at us. Notice us." In other words: We're here, we're queer and/or poets, get used to it.

So, as Madonna would say, "Celebrate. "It would be so nice."