The Unfettered Critic – April 2024

“APRIL IS THE CRUELEST MONTH,” T.S. Elliot wrote in The Waste Land. He was right, at least about the month’s first day, abused as “April Fool’s Day.” We’re not big fans of the all-too-common practice of jokers attempting to draw attention to themselves by playing foolish pranks upon any and all in the vicinity. Honestly, from what unwarranted swamp did this boorish tradition spring?

Well, it may have come from another poet: Geoffrey Chaucer (the man responsible for Canterbury Tales.) Back in the 14th Century, he wrote the dirty ditty The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, in which Chanticleer the Rooster is tricked by a Fox on the date of—you guessed it—“Since March began, thirty days and two.”

Making it April 1st, thank you very much.

The upshot of the tale is that when clever Chanticleer drops his guard around the cleverer Fox, he gets “et.”

Other origin tales exist, but we kind of like that one.

Why? Because April is National Poetry Month, and if Chaucer wasn’t a poet, then God didn’t make little green apples—which just happen to begin fruiting in April. And that can’t possibly be a coincidence.

That ain’t all. A few days in, April 9th is honored as National Library Workers Day, which honors Library Workers (!) who preserve entire shelves of poetry for our use, including entries about Chanticleer and his Foxy foe.

Then as the calendar pages are flipped off… er, torn off, other special days arrive.

April 11, for example, is National Pet Day, when people are invited to reflect on the positive influence pets inject into our lives. A rooster could be a pet, perhaps even a fox. Plus, we know plenty of poems about other animals, one of our favorites being The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat, which doesn’t exactly end well for the two central characters, but it could provoke a chuckle.

Speaking of (spoiler alert—see above!) eating, there are other events for us to savor. April 12 is National Grilled Cheese Day. Yum! This simple toasted bread and cheese recipe has been served up since Ancient Roman civilization—long before Chaucer pitted his favorite Canidae and fowl against one another. We’re not aware of when the sandwich got paired with tomato soup, but we certainly approve.

April 17 is National Haiku Day. And while it fits perfectly within our theme,

a poem need not be

Haiku, yet if it be, hope

it’s better than this

Moving on.

April 26 brings National Pretzel Day. How twisted can you get, you may ask. This knotty pastry has been around since the seventh century, created to be eaten during Lent, which, this year at least, ended in March—almost as though the whole idea is an April Fool’s prank.

On a more straight-forward (ha!) note, April 27 is Independent Bookstore Day. And we happen to have a first-class one here in Jacksonville! We aren’t sure if Eileen at Rebel Heart Books has any special day-long activities planned, but after she sees this column (and we’ll darned-tootin’ make sure that she does), we expect she will. We even may press her to carry copies of Chanticleer and the Fox and other gems. Luckily for all of us, the date falls on a Saturday, a perfect day for visiting the marvelous shops in our fair city.

Finally, if you’re still reading at the far end of this rather Foolish column, we’d like to remind you of a favorite quote, from the esteemed Jedi Obi-wan Kenobi: “Who’s the more foolish, the Fool or the Fool who follows him?”

Seriously.