Say This Prayer into the Past

"When Paul Willis writes, 'the confused but steady luster of dawn, / clear skies born from gasp of night, / the breathless story,' he encapsulates the faith and beauty of his new collection. Here, we do not travel through time, as one might suppose, but hold it in abeyance, that prayer might reach each generational corner and poetry fulfill its call. And all the 'inarticulate occasions' are suddenly blessed by word."

--Sofia M. Starnes, Virginia Poet Laureate and Poetry Editor for The Anglican Theological Review



"A Paul Willis poem is a balm for the tired heart: the breath of a sleeping child, an FDNY hero climbing stairs, a walk through the Glacier Peak Wilderness with the healing 'sound of rivers in our ears.' With both reverence and wit, Willis finds the glint (and sometimes explosion) of joy in all of his travels, from a classroom window to Sawtooth Ridge. Say This Prayer Into the Past: your field guide to life and beauty."

--Tania Runyan, Editor, Every Day Poems



"Whatever Willis touches on these pages quickens under his wry, wise gaze, and becomes vividly 'green with life.' In both open and fixed forms, he follows his own dictate 'to make sure of the meanings of words, then to invest them with holiness.' His poems are a most welcome and needed gift--a balm he offers to 'this beautiful, suffering world.'"

--Paulann Petersen, Oregon Poet Laureate



"Judging by the poems in 'Antediluvian Baseball,' the final section of his astonishing new collection, one suspects Paul Willis could write brilliantly about anything--in heaven, or here on our 'beautiful, suffering world.' Above all, he is a poet with a keen eye and ear for the wonders of Nature's 'understory,' the layer of growth beneath a forest's canopy where 'There is / so much you will never see.' Fear not, reader: Paul Willis will show it to you."

--David Starkey, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate, Emeritus and Director, Creative Writing Program, Santa Barbara City College