once a month I get a check

for forty dollars

for writing four poems

and sending them

to this newspaper

I don’t do it for the money

but I don’t mind when it comes

and it helps get me by 

sometimes it’s dinner

sometimes it’s groceries

or at least half a bag

sometimes it’s part of a bill

all this that I have earned

by crying out to the mountains

crying out to the community

telling of the pines

and the fires

and the sound of the elk

on the wind

to write for you

is payment enough

the money just buys beans

enough food and water

so that I can write again

so that I can have a little energy

to go sit in wonder

beneath the trees

and report it back to you

Alexander Shalom Joseph is an award-winning poet, writer and playwright from Gilpin County, and is the author of seven published books. You can find his work and more information about him at alexandershalomjoseph.com.