The Blood of a Tourist
William
Taylor Jr. Sunnyoutside Press, $13 paperback (92p) ISBN: 978-1-934513-48-4
Taylor’s collection of poetry is
darkly beautiful in its portrayal of everyday life. The truth, Taylor believes,
is found in the weakest, saddest moments, but that’s also what makes it so wonderful.
In the simplest form, he dissects everyday existence line by line, metaphor by
metaphor. Whether it be sidewalks, alley ways, or studio apartments The Blood of a Tourist takes a view of the world from
the bottom up. Taylor depicts the lowest aspects of life within his lyrics in
an elegiac and aesthetic way: “As the luckless search, through garbage bins,
for some scraps to salvage, from the day. But the
sky’s still up there, and such a beautiful gray.”
The quickness of each poem keeps you
turning the page, hungry for more: “Wise men say, it’s good to know, when to
let go of things, but I bet they never saw you, in that dress.” Those who
choose to pick up The
Blood of a Tourist will
be pleasantly surprised by the gritty silhouettes of alcohol, sleep, dreams,
and love. Taylor deserves praise for simply bringing to the foreground the
not-so-pretty parts of life and making them alluring. Taking from the title of
one of the poems, there’s ‘A Certain Light’ in the darkness of the work.
(November 2014)
Purchase The Blood of a Tourist HERE.
Reviewer
bio: Meaghan Ayer, a lover of the ocean, yoga, and photography, is a senior at
the University of New Hampshire. She is hoping to pursue a career as an editor,
but for now is focusing on school and planning a trip back to her beloved city
of Florence after graduation.
