The Flying Change

Henry Taylor's poems in The Flying Change embrace a wide range of subjects and tones. Taylor's concern with the rural anecdote, demonstrated in his two earlier books of poetry, The Horse Show at Midnight and An Afternoon of Pocket Billiards, is here broadened to include not only funny stories called "snapshots" but also extended meditations on change and death. Throughout, Taylor combines everyday speech with careful control of traditional forms to produce poems of unusual power.