What Can the Matter Be?

Enduring poems that distill hope from despair, love from sorrow, and courage from ambivalence.

In this spare and elegant collection, distinguished poet Keith Taylor demonstrates his finest power of observation, watching the natural and human world go by. What Can the Matter Be? considers aging and death--of the self, of animals, of the earth--as well as place, and how rootedness in place allows a sturdy vantage point from which to see and reflect on the wider world. In poems and prose both grave and gleeful, Taylor controls the line and the lyric with experience and care. His curiosity and admiration for nature shine through in poems such as ＂Under Their Mortal Glory＂ and ＂The Gleaners,＂ while ＂Responsibilities＂ and ＂That Room in Alberta＂ contrast the minutia of individually lived moments against the global, uncontrollable decay of nature and societies. And then there are moments of sheer delight, as in ＂Twenty-Three Nuns on Warren Road.＂ Together, these nuanced and often surprising works urge empathy and call out in sorrow, love, and hope for the world.

Keith Taylor worked as a bookseller for many years and taught in writing programs at the University of Michigan. His poems and prose have been published widely, including twenty poetry collections and chapbooks. Taylor retired from teaching in 2018, and in 2022, he was named A. L. Becker Collegiate Lecturer Emeritus and Lecturer IV Emeritus by the Regents of the University of Michigan.