Class Outside by Paul Willis

Evening light in the sycamore trees,
the tilting pines, the sandstone
boulders across the lawn. Crows call,
dogs bark, soccer players on a distant field
shout and plead with one another.

But here, the quiet urgency
of a circle of students at their desks
on a patio, each eye pausing
over the path of a wandering pen,
taking direction from the wind.



Paul Willis has published eight collections of poetry, the most recent of which are Somewhere to Follow (Slant Books, 2021) and Losing Streak (Kelsay Books, 2024). Individual poems have appeared in Poetry, Christian Century, Southern Poetry Review, and the Best American Poetry series. He is an emeritus professor of English at Westmont College and a former poet laureate of Santa Barbara, California, where he lives with his wife, Sharon, near the Old Mission.