Literary expression

. Twelve local poets jumped into the frigid Green Lake in Seattle in December, just because they thought it would be a good way to publicize their art. "It's not enough to write," said one. "You need that audience."

. The Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the conviction of Antonio Batista in November, declaring that his "death threat" against a Missassauga city council member, in the form of a sonnet on long-neglected potholes, was more likely literary expression.

. Jose Gouveia, 45, recently published "Rubber Side Down," a book of poems by bikers about the open road (including 17-syllable "baiku"), some from the educationally upscale Highway Poets Motorcycle Club of Cambridge, Mass.