Given the length of the lines in this poem, we suggest reading it on a computer screen or in the landscape orientation on your phone. Even so, depending on the size of your phone, line breaks may occur that adversely affect the look and experience of the poem.

In order to view the poem as the author intended it to appear, we strongly encourage you to click on this link (which will take you to a PDF): A Fine Poem

A Fine Poem
Paul Willis

found by the college baseball field

Schmidt—for flipping Jones off in the chop, 25¢

Mullen—for walking across the prepped infield, 25¢

Clark—forty minutes late to practice after class, 50¢

Nogales—for leaving his glove, 75¢

Mullen—for missing second, $1.00

Jones—for hook-ups in Isla Vista, $1.00

Beauregard—for hopping the fence in cleats on a tarp, $1.00 for each hop

Mullen—for not knowing it was Tuesday, 25¢

Wallace—for getting yelled at by a person on a golf cart, 25¢

Murphy—for not sliding into second base, 50¢

Stefani—for sliding cleats-up into Murphy, 25¢

Wu—for taking a drink that was meant for a golf tourney during the 18-inning game, 50¢

Lokey—for pulling the roller with a rake and looking stupid, 25¢

Hammond—for saying his most attractive quality was his nipple hair, 50¢

—
Paul Willis has published seven poetry collections, the most recent of which is Somewhere to Follow (Slant Books, 2021). Individual poems have appeared in Poetry, Ascent, Writer’s Almanac, and the Best American Poetry series. He is a professor of English at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.

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Have you read these poems:
They Used to Say by Mary Ellen Shaughan
In the Beginning by Norbert Hirschhorn

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