but it’s still a chair,
reads the sign taped
to one of the blue ones

at the poetry center,
the message a poem itself,
though maybe more a koan,

which I doubt someone
meant it to be, though
you never know—

poetry found everywhere,
after all, especially
during April

(Oh, to be in England
Now that April’s there),
a month dedicated

to the art form,
two lines of observation
taped to a most ordinary

blue chair atop four
sturdy, or not-so-sturdy,
legs in chrome—

and oh, look what
just appeared—
another poem.

•••

With thanks to Patrick Grizzell and the board members
of the Sacramento Poetry Center for their devotion
to the art form and for hosting so many marvelous events
during National Poetry Month. SPC supports all kinds
of writers around the greater Sacramento region.
Donations are always welcome by scrolling to the bottom
of the events page and clicking on the “donations” button.

•••

The lines “Oh, to be in England / Now that April’s there”
are by the English poet Robert Browning, the opening to
“Home-Thoughts From Abroad,” written in 1845 while
he was in Italy, shortly before his marriage to Elizabeth
Barrett, herself a fine poet (and nowadays better known
than her husband). It is a gem of a poem about spring,
which you can read here.