“Some Words for the Week”

A cloud in the perfect imitation

of the shape of a snail

hangs low over the traffic

the green and red neon

blotting out the stars

and as I wait at the light

I notice the cloud

and I think of laying on a hillside

lush with the summer green

looking up at the sky

with my lover

in no rush at all

but the world is covered in snow

and the summer

seems impossible

and the light changes

and I put my foot on the gas

and soon the cloud

has fallen into formlessness

like everything eventually does

Alexander Shalom Joseph is a writer from Gilpin County. He has two published books and one more forthcoming in the Fall of 2022. For more information and to subscribe to Alexander’s Newsletter go to alexandershalomjoseph.com