Title: THE CARELESS DAYS
Author: Christopher Hewitt
Publisher: The Groundwater Press, New York

Though these poems have been set for the signing voice, it is the voice implied by the printed sentences, louder than baritone or rustling page, that engages me. The brevity of Hewitt's tough, funny, and pointed commentary has more definition than many a long night of "love." In conflict, this poet is never despondent or subdued. Gardening essayist. Henry Mitchell claims that most people with firm predilections about colors are "awed by the complexity of the world." Christopher Hewitt stands opposite, opulent in colors, from rusting camellias around to the "bloodier than red," from the powerful, brief tones of eclipse to a threatening white. These poems are in pungent colors; like lemons they engage two senses at least. Plus, above all, good sense, strong poetics.

Sandra McPherson