Blue Jay and Found Objects

On The Front Jacket Of This Volume Is A Photograph I Took At A Museum Ecology Exhibit Of A Blue Jay Sculpted By “Trash Artist” Artist Thomas Deininger From The Collected Flotsam And Jetsam Of The Sea: Pieces Of Iron Mesh Wood Plastic And Other Cast-Away Items From Many Water Ways — Items Which Appear Close-Up On The Back Cover. The Artist’S Work Is A Literal Reflection Of The Way The Ragtag Emotional And Physical Pieces Of A Life May Also Be Compiled And Wonderfully Transformed Through The Language Of Poetry: The Way In This Collection One’S Struggle With Religious Guilt Is Portrayed As An All-Night “Wrastle” With An Angel; The Way The Arc Of One’S Life Is Mirrored In The Bud And Blossom Of Potted Amaryllis Bulbs; The Way Heaven Might Be Traded In Another Poem For A Slice Of Pizza; The Way One’S Troubling Thoughts Need To Be Extracted On Another Page With The Help Of An Exorcist.