Five-hundred Widowers in a Field of Chamomile (Portlandia Group, 2002)

Poems by John Surowiecki

Surrealistic and sophisticated, Five-hundred Widowers in a Field of Chamomile explores the human condition with refreshing wit. While bowing to Wallace Stevens and other modernists, Surowiecki arrives on the post-modern scene with a charming, fully developed voice – elegant, seasoned, whimsical, yet always compassionate. A sheer pleasure to read.

    - Karen Braucher, author of Sending Messages Over Inconceivable Distances

Surowiecki's work brilliantly transforms personal grief and loss into universal expression. Each poem is tightly muscular, with energy to spare and no unexamined assumptions anywhere. Because the poems relate to each other so well, there is a surprising cumulative effect so much more is being said than what is on the page. This is a consummate achievement.

    - Pat Vivian, author of A Luminous Trail Through the Wilderness

Available from The Portlandia Group, $8.00

ISBN 0-9672881-3-4

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