Book Review: London, by Taylor Dibbert (Guatemala, 2006-08)

Bill Preston (Thailand, 1977-80) reviews Taylor Dibbert’s London. This book of poetry is available on Amazon.

Title: London

Author: Taylor Dibbert

Published: March 1, 2024 (Alien Buddha Press

Review by Bill Preston (Thailand, 1977-80)

Anyone who has lost a beloved pet can relate to the pain and emptiness that accompany such loss. The grieving process, immediate, intense, often overwhelming, continues to ebb and flow, triggered by memories, dreams, and past associations. It’s been said that though we may never completely get over a deep personal loss, we can–in time, and with support–get through it.

London is poet Taylor Dibbert’s collection of linked poems addressing the death of his eponymous canine companion. It is a chronicle of grieving, a meditation on navigating loss—in his words, through heartbreak, resilience, and enduring love.

Early in the collection, Dibbert’s poems confront the immediate pain. In Angel Wings, a particularly poignant flashback, he describes London’s last moments. (All excerpts presented in italics.)

She couldn’t

Have looked

Any sweeter

Or cuter

Enveloped in

His love,

An angel

Getting her

wings, Preparing

to

Scout out

The next

Big Adventure.

His image of London getting angel wings to scout her next adventure reminded me of how my local greyhound rescue group captures the moment when a beloved hound dies: We say that s/he crosses the rainbow bridge and runs free.

My favorite of the collection, Rainy Monday Afternoon, captures Dibbert’s melancholy and longing–and shifts midway through to reveal London’s feelings about rain, delivering a breathtaking double whammy:

He’s looking out

One of his windows

On a rainy

Monday afternoon,

London absolutely

Hated the rain,

That may be why

She hasn’t spoken

To him today.

By the end of the collection, Dibbert seems to have come full circle, putting a fine point on his journey from grieving to celebrating his companion’s life: a life well lived. In Now and Forever, Dibbert offers a touching summing up of his and London’s reciprocal relationship:

Teacher

And guide

And best

Friend, Both

Rescued

And rescuer,

His little London

Wore lots of hats

Perhaps the poet will never fully get over his loss of London, but in writing this collection and sharing it with us, I believe he has managed to get through it.

— Bill Preston was a community organizer in a VISTA project in Yonkers, NY. He worked with legal aid attorneys, government agencies, and community residents to improve housing conditions in a low-income neighborhood. In the Peace Corps, he taught English and trained Thai teachers of English. For many years, he edited English Language Teaching courses at several educational publishers. His multicultural ELT anthology, A Sense of Wonder: Reading and Writing through Literature, was published by Pearson Education (2003). After retiring, he volunteered in the New York City Civic Corps, engaging NYC public middle and high school students in service learning projects. His poetry collection, Strange Beauty of the World, was published by Peace Corps Writers (2019). The website for his photo journal, A Flash of the Mind, created in collaboration with his friend and fellow Thai Peace Corps volunteer Peter Ford (2025), can be found at: http://dailyweb.org/fom/