The Cruelest Month

T.S. Eliot once famously wrote that “April is the cruelest month,” but if that old ragged set of claws scuttling across the floor of silent seas were alive today, he might not be so damn depressing about it. These days, besides mixing memory and desire, April is also National Poetry...

By Jef Otte

April 21, 2011

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T.S. Eliot once famously wrote that “April is the cruelest month,” but if that old ragged set of claws scuttling across the floor of silent seas were alive today, he might not be so damn depressing about it. These days, besides mixing memory and desire, April is also National Poetry Month. On second thought, that might just depress the late poet even more.

Even so, there are some cool events going on around town that are sure to get you into the spirit of brooding and increasing alienation.

In an effort to celebrate both Poetry Month and National Historic Preservation Month (in May), the Loveland Museum/Gallery has rounded up three Colorado poets to write three poems apiece about, well, the museum. “We’re an art gallery and a history museum, so the idea was to have local poets come in and write poems based on their interpretation of objects in the gallery,” explains Jenny Dobson, the museum’s curator of education. The poets – M.D. Friedman, Jared Smith and SETH – will appear at the museum, 503 North Lincoln Avenue in Loveland, tonight from 6 to 9 p.m. for a reading and reception, and their poems will live on in the form of cell-phone tours of the museum throughout April and May. For information, call 970-962-2410 or go to www.ci.loveland.co.us/cultural.

Meanwhile, in Denver, spoken-word artist Adrian Molina appears tonight at 5:30 p.m. to kick off Metropolitan State College’s Poetry Month celebrations; for more information on that, call 303-893-8214.
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: April 8. Continues through April 30, 2011

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