[Paul Lake]

For those who haven't visited the thread on his condition, Wilmer Mils died yesterday. Many of you may know him from West Chester. Here's a poem by Wil that captures the man as well as anything I've seen. It was published in First Things last year.



Near Starbucks

A homeless woman sleeps outside the door.
She smells of urine so the customers
Who eat brioche and talk about the poor
Step wide of her in winter and in summer.
But she has noticed them in their retreat
Of tea and café latte ambiance.
Oh, yes, she sees their pious nonchalance.
They give her quarters on the holidays
And she would give them stories with her gaze:
A childhood served on white enamel plates;
A father's drunk abuse; teen runaway;
The search for something--love, or merely dates--;
A candy-wrapper life in lingerie.
But eye contact is precious on the street.
She takes their pocket change and falls asleep.

And I'm no better in my arrogance
And its complacent little cubicle.
If I could be like Jesus, just for once,
I'd wake her up and make her beautiful.

[David Rosenthal]

Wow. Beautiful and devastating. Thanks for posting it, Paul.

David R.

[Andrew Frisardi]

Yes, disarming and beautiful. Thanks, Paul.

This has probably come up on some thread having to do with Wilmer Mills, but what's the book of his one should get first? I really want to read more.

[Tim Murphy]

Wil has one book, Light for the Orphans, Story Line Press, 2002. Story Line is long gone, I think Wil's was their last distinguished title, but West Chester has taken over the inventory of their best books. Contact them. It is devoutly to be hoped that a Collected will now be issued, for in my view, Will got substantially better in the last decade.

[Jennifer Reeser]

Andrew, try this link, right here at the Sphere, where Mike Juster posted in 2002, which is the year Story Line published Wil's book Light For the Orphans, the winner of their Nicholas Roerich First Book Prize.

http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showthread.php?t=346

I believe the book is out of print, but there was news of Story Line's revival at the West Chester conference this year, and with it, the re-printing of the Rebel Angels anthology. Perhaps Story Line will also bring back Wil's book.

Wil and I met that same year, 2002, in Beaumont, Texas when he read at Lamar University. As I recall, once the reading was over, I stood around talking with Sam Gwynn till he could introduce us, and all of Wil's copies sold. It must have been that Wil ended up selling me and inscribing the copy he had used for the reading, or Sam proffered his. In addition to Wil's inscription, a number of pages have notes on them -- certain words underlined, cryptic questions. While most of my poetry books are kept downstairs grouped together in the drawing room, for nearly ten years, this one has held a spot of honor in my own room upstairs, on a high shelf.

Here is another poem from Light For the Orphans, one of my favorites. Thanks for the First Things poem, Paul.


A Christmas Card
by Wilmer Mills
(Story Line Press, 2002)

Another building in the snow,
Not mine, but much the same. I thought
You'd like the scene.
It snowed all day
And sifted thickly down despite
Sunlight that broke for moments, catching
The frozen motes in disarray.

My town's electric ornaments
Announce the season, green and red,
Storefronts in frost and sidewalks tight
With ice like scenes on tacky prints
To signal Christmas time.
I've said
My prayers for the road, and heading home,
I know that close to Baton Rouge
I'll pass the oil refineries
And see their miles of lighted chrome,
So hideous, beautiful and huge.

I'll pass the city factories
And all their man-made constellations,
Lantern mantles, year-round bulbs,
Like stars to bring a prince or plowman
Back to the birthing place.
It cramps
The heart, like a joke that Paw Paw tells
Until he cries, all part of the plan,
Ecstatic sadness, dirge and song.
They draw me back. I won't be long.

[Alex Pepple]

Beautiful poems! - Paul and Jennifer, thanks for posting them. Although I never had the chance to meet Wil while he was alive, it's a gift to be able to do so now, indirectly through the legacy of his fine work.

...Alex

[R. S. Gwynn]

Wil actually bought back the rights to his book from Story Line and was reprinting it himself as a POD uncer his own imprint. It's hard to say how many copies remain.

[Gregory Dowling]

Yes, thanks for posting these. I didn't know Wil at all well; we talked just a couple of times at West Chester but he made a great impression. He was a unique character and a fine poet. He is much missed. I hope his book will become available again.

[Joseph Bottum]

Ah, I hadn't heard the news. A sad, sad thing, our loss of Wil. Prayers for him and his family.