So Busy

© by Gerald So | 7:00 p.m.

In April, National Poetry Month, the normally weekly Five-Two becomes daily featuring prose reactions to poetry. This year, I've picked poems from across the Web to expand visitors' horizons.

Meanwhile, the Short Mystery Fiction Society announced its 2017 Derringer finalists April 1. I haven't held Society office in three years, but I'm still asked to advise, which is tricky because, though I have no current authority, my voice carries the weight of my 2008–10 presidency and 2012–2014 vice presidency.

Since leaving office, I've tried to speak for those not being heard. At any given time, those may be the current officers, members, or bystanders' views of the group. Yet I tend to be misheard as speaking from self-interest.

I take a wider view of the Society, as teammates helping each other win ever-greater respect for our craft. My latest way of doing that is interviewing Derringer finalists ahead of the May 1 winners announcement.