Weekly Obsessions

In addition to National Autism Awareness Month, Landscape Architecture Month, Backpack Safety Month, Oral Health Month, and STD Awareness Month, April is also National Poetry Month. This year it begins somberly with the passing of Robert Creeley, a major voice of American poetry during the second half of the 20th century. Among the plethora of readings this month, we're looking forward to those honoring Creeley, who, in "Four Days in Vermont," wrote:

"Tell me the truth I want to say

Tell me all you know Will we live

or die As if the world were apart

and whatever tree seen were only here apparent

Answers, live and die. Believe." N.C.

Asparagus! The first asparagus! Beautiful thick green asparagus, fat creamy white spears of asparagus, artichokes, real red ripe tomatoes, tiny jewels of cherry tomatoes, peas, pea shoots, feathery dill, chives, spring onions, leeks, rhubarb. We must be nuts, we'll never eat all of this, maybe we'll make a frittata for dinner, or, even better, just the white asparagus with a sliver of ham beneath and a fried egg on top, it's just-spring, mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful, it must be, and we can hardly wait for apricots. (An involuntary poem, with apologies to e.e. cummings, upon unpacking after an excursion to the farmers' market.) M.B.

While trying to exit Walgreens the other day, we kept setting off the alarm, something we're always paranoid about doing while at finer retail establishments. So the Walgreens personnel decided to search our bag. It was awful; they pulled out our Ashlee Simpson CD and placed it on the counter for everyone in line to see. How embarrassing, and so unnecessary. As if we were trying to rip off a Zen rock fountain by shoving it into our expensive man purse. B.K.