Taylor Dibbert is a writer who defies easy categorization. He’s a poet, an NGO professional, a keen observer of human experience, and a restless traveler whose work spans continents and genres. He’s also someone who, despite a demanding day job and the obligations of everyday life, continues to carve out time for the quiet, often grueling, act of writing poetry.

I recently caught up with Dibbert to talk about his latest poetry collection, Takoma, which was released in January. The book is a meditation on love, loss, healing, and dogs — rendered in language that is both spare and emotionally precise.

Our conversation ranged from the deeply personal to the philosophical, exploring how poetry helps him make sense of the world and why, for him, writing is less a hobby than a necessary way of life.

John Lyman: You published Takoma earlier this year. Can you tell me a bit about the collection—what themes you’re exploring, and what inspired this particular book?

Taylor Dibbert: Sure. It’s a poetry collection that covers topics I tend to write about, including relationships, love, loss, trauma, and dog-related stuff. This is my fifth poetry book.

Lyman: That’s a significant body of work. When were the poems in Takoma written? Were they developed over time or created in a concentrated burst of inspiration?

Dibbert: The poems were written between 2021 and 2024. A few of them were previously published, but most of them are new.

Lyman: Balancing creative writing with the demands of a full-time job and other responsibilities can be a real challenge. How do you make space in your life to write regularly?

Dibbert: Yeah, I have a busy life, but creative writing, especially poetry, is an important part of my life and my identity. I realize I’m not going to become a full-time poet anytime soon, yet I write regularly. This sometimes includes scheduling time to do that, like on the weekend or during the morning before work.

Sometimes, writing is not a linear process, and I’ve long believed in the power of just showing up. Even on the writing days that aren’t that productive, I’m able to use that time to think through ideas, reread previous drafts of poems and think about other poetry-related things.

Lyman: What draws you to poetry specifically? With so many forms of writing available, why do you keep returning to this one?

Dibbert: I think art has this incredible way of helping people navigate the world, appreciate the little things, find beauty in the ordinary, process trauma, and heal. Poetry does all these things for me and more. A life without writing is not one that would interest me very much. Writing poetry has challenged and inspired me, stretching me in ways I didn’t think were possible.

These days, I see writing poetry more as a lifestyle choice than something I’m actively considering. It’s something that I need to do; my life would feel far less fulfilling without it.

Lyman: Some of the poems in Takoma are deeply personal—dealing with themes like grief, heartbreak, and the pain of losing a beloved pet. Is it ever difficult or emotionally uncomfortable to write about such intimate experiences?

Dibbert: Not really. To me, poetry is fiction, so I wouldn’t encourage anyone to read my poetry and necessarily come to the conclusion that they then know exactly what I think or feel about a particular topic. There is a reason that almost all my poems are written in the third person: to provide a degree of distance, letting a poetic speaker’s voice carry the day.

I don’t want to shy away from difficult topics. I’m actually afraid of doing that. I want to explore the darkness, the pain, the ugly stuff – because so much of that is universal to the human experience. And because without the darkness, without the trauma and the tears, there’s no light, no real hope, no celebration of life. It’s harder to appreciate the good stuff in life without understanding and contextualizing the bad.

Lyman: Looking ahead, are you currently working on another poetry collection—or any other long-form writing projects we should keep an eye out for?

Dibbert: Yeah, I have a couple of other poetry collections that I’m trying to get published. I also have a draft of a novel that I wrote a few years ago; it’s been through a few revisions, but I’m hoping to devote more time to it later this year. I’d rather not go into any specifics until I figure out how to publish these.