TS Eliot famously called April the "cruellest month," and on this snowy day in April, as we are all busily going about our lives, perhaps it can feel that way. However, April is also National Poetry Month and what better way to counteract cruelty than to connect to the human spirit through some brilliant and poignant poetry.

I offer three poems for consideration here, in the spirit of the month.

First, here is a link to Canadian-American poet Mark Strand's moving "The Seven Last Words." I had the opportunity to see this poem set to music at Augustana Lutheran Church on Good Friday. Whether you are religious or not, Christian or not, there is something very moving about the way Strand deals with the topic of Jesus' last reported words on the cross and universalizes the experience.

http://jacketmagazine.com/19/stra.html 

Second, I have included a sample from the Detroit poet Philip Levine, who died at the age of 87 this year. A contemporary poet tweeted out a link to this one in tribute to one of his greatest inspirations.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/182873 

Finally, something from a present-day living poet and Chicago-based teacher named Kristiana Rae Colon. Written "for her students," this poem certainly underscores why and how poetry is both relevant and potentially inspirational in our everyday lives.