April is the Cruelest Month
I have been thinking about the opening line of T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land” since early March. Perhaps because April is income tax season in the United States, where everyone other than the super wealthy is required to pay the government money, even if they made the least amount of money they have made in the last 40 years.
“April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.”
— An excerpt From “The Waste Land” by T. S. Eliot
“The Waste Land” is a poem by T. S. Eliot, widely regarded as one of the most important English-language poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. It was published in 1922.
April is the fourth month of the year. Some of the Roman months were named in honor of divinities, but it has been suggested that April may be associated with the Greek goddess Aphrodite (Aphros) or the Etruscan name Apru.
Lilacs are often considered to symbolize first love. Perhaps because their shape is simple and slightly heart-shaped.
I hope that April is not cruel to you and that you find love and life instead.
Be kind to yourself on your creative journey.
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You have reached the end of the newsletter. Hiroshi Yoshimura was a Japanese musician and composer that I only discovered recently. He is considered a pioneer of ambient music in Japan. His album Flora was heavily inspired by nature and his walks. It seems like the perfect music for the April theme.