St. Cloud-area legislators today were announcing support for a measure that would combine Stearns, Benton and northern Sherburne counties and temporarily rename them Lake Wobegon County until a permanent name is chosen.

Garrison Keillor has quite a knack for making steam come out of the ears of conservatives, so it might seem a little unfair to name a big chunk of this purple state after the fictional world the writer and radio host created. But the move would ultimately lead to smaller government, which is supposedly poetry to conservative ears.

For those who want more poetry — and more Keillor — PBS is airing a series of 24 short films about poetry beginning April 1. “Poetry Everywhere” will feature poets reading their own work and films about poets featuring celebrity readers.

The series will be narrated by Keillor, who has made sure poetry remains a living part of modern American culture through his five-minute American Public Radio show “Writers Almanac,” which gets poetry on the air daily, and through two anthologies, “Good Poems” and “Good Poems for Hard Times.” Would that be now? The book actually came out in 2006, although great art is eternal, unlike the lines and names on maps.