William Taylor, Jr. (http://www.sunnyoutside.com ) POBOX 441429 Somerville, Mass. 02144.


I know of William Taylor, Jr’s work through the bi-coastal literary journal Poesy Magazine. So when the publisher of the Somerville small press “sunny outside,” Dave McNamara, sent me a broadside of his poetry I dove right in. McNamara, a recent graduate of the Emerson College publishing program, is involved with a lot of different projects, and he likes to experiment with format, paper, etc... This broadside is really a thin chap, with ordinary gray cover stock, and waxy transparent paper inside. This paper makes for faded print. This may be for affect- but I find it a bit distracting. However... the poems are excellent. Taylor paints a well-studied portrait of a stoic old man, as well as a study of the arcane pleasures of an “old man’s bar.” The bar portrayed in “Like Winter,” captures the dark refuge that only a venue like this could provide:
“...inside these walls/ time moves slow/ and we have all/ the necessary things/ smoke, drink,/ and silence/ a little talk and some/ gentle laughter/ all of us hiding/ from something/ waiting for yesterday’s love/ and tomorrow’s unemployment/ checks”/ All I can say is : “Pour me another, Joe,” as I wrote this review in such a place; situated on an undistinguished stretch of Somerville Ave, far from the hip environs of Davis Square in our fair city. I advise you to go to http://www.sunnyoutside.com and keep up with their talented stable of writers.
Doug Holder