Poetry

There has to be more

By April Ford

These poems are part of big Small mountain town, a collection in development that explores the devastating consequences of bullying within “tight-knit” communities hungry for novelty but resistant to progress. The accompanying photos were taken in the Appalachian plateau.

Morning mist © April Ford

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The man who sings out his main street apartment window at you every morning on your walk to hot yoga

Ford building © April Ford — *Ford building* © April Ford

your patronage is welcome but your humanity is not

There has to be more

Morning mist © April Ford — *Morning mist* © April Ford

Cats curled at my kneecaps

April Ford

After more than 10 years as a creative writing lecturer in higher ed., and receiving State University of New York’s Simphiwe Hlatshwayo Award for outstanding service, April Ford returned to Montréal to set down roots and pursue her passion for helping at-risk populations find joy through writing. Now she’s an intervention specialist in adult education, alternative high-school and employment program settings, and a creative writing instructor within the youth protection system. Time permitting, she leads creative writing workshops for several non-profit organizations throughout the city.

April’s books include Carousel: A Novel, winner of the 2020 International Book Awards prize for LGBTQ Fiction; The Poor Children: Stories, winner of the 2013 Santa Fe Writer’s Project Program for Fiction; and Death Is a Side-Effect: Poems. April received a Pushcart Prize for her short story “Project Fumarase.” Her essay about losing her spouse to suicide, “I Will Tell You This Much, and Then We’ll Never Talk About It,” was a finalist for The Lascaux Review’s Prize in Creative Nonfiction. April’s fourth book, People Are Metaphors and Goodbyes, is forthcoming this December with Cactus Press Poetry.

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