"Like Beethoven's Bagatelles, Simon Pettet's short poems have a great deal to say, and their seemingly modest dimensions help rather than hinder his saying it.  An unorthodox lucidity reminiscent of Schuyler, a certain English dappleness and an oriental concision blend in poetry whose sweet, complex fragrance is Pettet's secret." - John Ashbery

". . . poems like large beads with words deeply carved in them... and so the beads turn from wood to gem in this light: a New York light cast on English speech (English light cast on New York speech?) Perfect poems, unexpectedly." - Alice Notley

"The lyric poet takes it personally.  This I heard talk of jerky black-and-white pullovers.  Outside, every signpost said 'love.'  The I made a coat of language and chose west.  Lo! madrigals drift from a yellow cab on the Lower East Side.  Inside, Simon's I speaks elegantly to itself." - Tom Raworth

see also photgraph by Mick Shepherd in this issue of $lavery

Selected Poems by Simon Pettet is available from Talisman House, Publishers, P.O. Box 3157, Jersey City, New Jersey 07303-3157

ISBN: 1-883689-30-9 $9.95