Catheterization
Start with the thin wisp
of hope some stranger hocked
in a hospital room while you waited—
heart pressed to chest—for your father...
Prodigal bipolar
Rebellion’s a ribbon to wear in her bright, black hair
while she dances the jig with the neighbor’s squealing pigs
and three convict sons. No one ever shakes a head and says,...
Ash Wednesday: The morning after
All morning, I return
to the poem, to the word’s ash,
the self smoldering, and the slow burn
of mourning. I return
with sacred words that turn...
Poetry grounded in place
Paul Willis's poems reveals epiphanies in the midst of everyday life.