NightBallet Press is very pleased to announce the publication of
Out of Blue by Ohio's own Andy Roberts!
Out of Blue by Ohio's own Andy Roberts!
Out of Blue is the fifth title NightBallet Press has published for Andy Roberts, and this collection of poems is outstanding. Michael F. Latza, editor of Willow Review, writes
"Andy Roberts invites us in to a life, a world of memory. He gives us a withdrawal slip to cash in at his overflowing bank of images and story. Out of Blue is a montage of music, nature, a keepsake of rotten-framed buildings with borders of pink and white petunias, triggered by the smells and tastes of apple butter, beans and franks, juicy fruit kisses, ham and cheese sandwiches eaten in a cemetery, washed down with a combination of sugared half-coffee milk and cigar ash. Peopled with fathers, sons, girlfriends, a loving wife, and bound-for-jail schoolyard buddies, Andy rings the bell of recollection within each of us, inviting us to enter his world, and to ponder our own."
Printed on a warm, pale caramel cardstock, Out of Blue features another stunning piece of art by Kevin Eberhardt, "China 1." Kevin Eberhardt's art has been featured on sixteen NightBallet Press covers, and we are truly grateful that he's given us permission to use his wonderful pieces to grace our books.
The text of Out of Blue, twenty-four poems on thirty-two pages, is printed on thick ivory paper. Roberts expresses the title and theme of the collection in this poem:
Out of Blue
Working on a book of poems
8:00 on an April evening,
laptop on the table playing
"Kind of Blue" by Miles
and I say "Thank you, God,"
aloud. Apropos of nothing,
save I'm alive and "working."
Pure joy. Cigarette and a glass of
iced bourbon. Muted trumpet,
little bit of blue in the night sky
fading to black, drummer playing brushes.
I'm happy and I acknowledge it here
as a phosphorescent fingernail of moon
wanders east to west above the shingles,
my white plastic chair where I scratch down
notes about feeling good. Wonder where
the part about God comes in. But I'll take it,
I'll take it, and smile as I'm doing so.
Here on the patio with my computer,
glass of bourbon and the night sky growing
a little darker every minute, a little richer every minute.
Roberts is a master of story-telling and recollection. Enter his world of "Geezers," "Egg Rolls," and "Walking Stick," and find yourself aching to see what's around the next curve in the road.
Andy Roberts is a four-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and is the author of eight collections of poetry. His work has appeared in a wide array of literary journals and small press publications since the mid 1980s. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, where he handles finances for disabled veterans.
Out of Blue is available from NightBallet Press through PayPal--you don't have to be a member of PayPal to order; all you need is a credit or debit card. Order your copy today!
(USA customers only; for customers outside the USA, please email nightballetpress@gmail.com for details on postage payment)
