Painting the Yellow House Blue

Peter Baltensperger is the editor and publisher of Moonstone Press and
the author of Arcana.

Four lines from William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence, “To see a
World in a Grain of Sand, / And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, / Hold
Infinity in the palm of your hand, / And eternity in an hour,” best
describe Jay Ruzesky’s second book of poems. By looking at ordinary
people and everyday events, the poet paints a detailed picture of how he
perceives the world and interprets life. His topics range freely: Jesus
and Mary Magdalene, a single mother at a garage sale, Dorothy and the
Scarecrow, James Dean, Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day, a Stephen
Hawking lecture, a new neighbor, Australian aboriginals, a cosmonaut on
a space station, becoming an atheist, daydreaming in the bathtub, riding
a roller coaster with Dad, spending time with his friends as a young
boy. While some of the poems are written in assumed voices (e.g., Sergei
Krikalev, Dorothy, a father), most of them are from the poet’s point
of view, either in first- or third-person narrative. But they all carry
the stamp of an observant, compassionate poet with a wide-ranging eye
and mind.