Outside / In

Jim LaVilla-Havelin

August 2, 2026

across a dozen years

working writing with 

young people in juvenile detention

there were times

I would go to them

straight from

teaching at the 

Young Women’s Leadership Academy 

the disparity of joy, of opportunity, of hope -

  enough to break 

                  my heart 

and in their words, their stories, their inventions -

           the girls could, listen, play, 

           let language percolate and 

                    blossom -

              they could be 

                   young

behind the wire

words from their whirlwind,

            memories battled for air

                  came up gasping, 

      just old enough

                     to survive 

        the whorl and

                      rattle

Jim LaVilla-Havelin is an educator, editor, community arts activist, and the author of eight poetry books, including 2025's A Thoreau Book and Mesquites Teach Us to Bend. He co-edited the University of Houston Press volume on Rosemary Catacalos, serving as her literary executor.

A creative writing teacher for 50 years, LaVilla-Havelin has taught diverse populations, from juvenile correctional centers to senior programs and high schools. He served as Poetry Editor for the San Antonio Express-News for over a decade and has coordinated San Antonio’s National Poetry Month for 18 years. He received the 2019 San Antonio Distinction in the Arts.